August 2021 Parenta magazine

The art of mentoring in the
early years: part two
In the first part of this short series, we looked at how mentoring can help in early years settings and how
different staff members may need mentoring, be they new starters, apprentices or more established
staff taking on new roles. We also looked at the quality of the feedback that mentors give and how
that can be improved by being more targeted to the situation and more specific for the person.
Mostly, these conversations are pleasant, consisting largely of ‘even better if’ suggestions. However,
occasionally, you may have to have a more serious, or difficult conversation with the mentee, and
we’ve given you some pointers below about how to do this successfully.
3
Do they just need more practice to
master the skill?
If this is the case, then remember that
everyone is different and learns in different
ways and at different rates. Remember to
praise their effort rather than focus solely
on the outcome and tell them what they do
well first, not just that they put the nappy on
the wrong way round. Did they do a good
job of building rapport with the child first,
putting them at ease? Did they clean the
child well and follow your procedures for
nappy disposals etc? If they did, then you
can praise that, then ask them to practice
what they need to do better – perhaps on
a doll so that they feel more confident.
Each of these approaches recognises
that there is something missing from the
trainee’s knowledge or skills, but all are
couched in terms that also offer a solution,
and a solution that you can work through
together. It will not feel like you are pointing
the finger of blame at them, which can
cause a lot of distrust, ill will and ultimately,
a breakdown of the relationship.
a better job and to work together to find a
solution. Even if you feel that the solution
is that the person would be better suited
to working in a different job entirely, your
approach should be that you are helping
them, in a similar way that you would help
a child to manage their poor behaviour
from a place of compassion, not revenge.
3
Take time to understand the facts in the
full situation and collect information from
colleagues if you need to.
4
Listen to all sides of the story and really
seek to understand what went wrong
without jumping to conclusions and
looking at your own actions too – were
there policies that were missed, not fit for
purpose, or was your training inadequate
in some way?
6
Depending on the situation, you may want/
need to have another neutral observer
in the room as a witness to what is said
and/or to record the details for your
records. In certain circumstances, the other
person may request or have a right to
this too, such as having a union or legal
representative with them.
7
Make sure you follow your own policies
and procedures for any disciplinary action
you need to take, which means you should
already have robust and appropriate
policies in place for dealing with staff,
complaints, or disciplinary procedures in
advance.
Hopefully, mentoring will be a positive and
productive working relationship for early
years settings that benefit everyone, and
with good training, effective mentoring,
and support, difficult situations will be rare.
What is the problem?
Inevitably, even with the best trainees,
there will come a time when you
need to address an issue, correct a
misunderstanding, or draw something to
their attention that you or they may feel is
a negative or serious issue. Safeguarding
issues cannot be left to resolve
themselves, for example, and need to be
picked up straight away and dealt with
properly. But there are many reasons why
trainees may get something wrong or
not do it exactly as you would like, and
the trick here it to try to understand the
whole situation so that you can unpick any
misconceptions and redress any lack of
knowledge before wading in with a tirade
of everything they did wrong! People don’t
start apprenticeships knowing everything
you need them to know – they are on a
learning journey with you.
So, if you need to deal with a
delicate issue, consider these
questions first:
1
Was the trainee’s actions/ behaviour
due to a lack of knowledge?
If you put someone in a car and tell them to
drive, but you haven’t told them which is the
brake, clutch, or accelerator, you can’t expect
them to stop at a red light! If this is the
case, then you can approach this from the
standpoint of “I think we may have a slight
misconception here that we need to clear
up” or “We may need to go over some of
our previous training again to make sure
that you have remembered all the relevant
things here.”
2
Was the intention behind the
unwanted action a good one?
A lot of us do things from time to time
with the right intention, but the way we
go about doing them is perhaps not the
best one. If this is the case, then you can
approach the situation from the point of
view of “I can see what you were trying
to do here, and that was good, but
perhaps you might consider XYZ
instead because ...”
How to handle serious
misconduct
If there has been a serious breach and the
apprenticeship or the person’s employment
is in jeopardy, then you should still use the
above criteria, but think also about the
following:
1
Do you need to include other people in the
discussion, such as a line manager, setting
owner, or Designated Safeguarding Lead?
Make sure you are prepared to answer
questions about your own role as mentor,
as well as that of your mentee.
2
Remember the reason you need to have
the conversation is to help the person do
5
Keep your composure and remain
professional, using a calm tone of voice
and choosing your words carefully. Avoid
emotive language and talk about the
behaviour rather than attacking them as
a person.
Mentoring is always about helping
someone get from where they are
currently, to where they want to be,
whether that is about their skills,
experience, or knowledge, and good
mentoring will undoubtedly play a large
part in determining the successful outcome
for the mentee.
26 August 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | August 2021 27