Karen Hagan

That magic bag of tricks

'When things don't go right, every beginning teacher needs a mentor with a bag of tricks that contains some much appreciated suggestions,' according to Karen Hagan, a new scheme teacher at Macquarie Anglican School in Dubbo.

Karen, who had moved into science teaching after several years working as a design engineer, found that her mentor, Chris Garner, always came up with an array of strategies in response to any difficulty Karen encountered. These strategies covered areas as diverse as behaviour management, setting up and managing science practicals, aspects of personal presentation and demeanour when addressing classes of students, as well as a myriad of ideas on learning approaches, resources and materials.

Chris Garner

Although Karen's industry background provided her with deep knowledge of her teaching subjects, it did not prepare her for passing on that knowledge to students. 'It was an eye-opener for me that my passion for science wasn't enough to take the students along with me,' reflected Karen. Chris encouraged Karen to see the bigger picture by developing her understanding of learning in its broadest sense, rather than learning related only to subject knowledge.

The mentor relationship created a two-way line of professional communication. Chris offered advice about the most fundamental aspects of the teaching and learning process without causing embarrassment or making Karen feel she was being undermined. Chris modelled ways of documenting lesson plans and programs, advised on classroom procedures and routines, gave guidance about teacher/student interactions, discussed program content and the time needed to achieve syllabus outcomes, and worked collaboratively with Karen and another new scheme teacher in their classrooms to solve problems. As Karen commented: 'Chris was always straight, never demeaning and always had a strategy to offer.'

By talking through problems and delving into the bag of tricks for possible solutions, Karen found that there were always small victories to be had from even the most difficult classroom situations she encountered during her first year of teaching.