The Vital Role of Faculty Mentoring

• Structured mentoring programs at business schools enhance teaching effectiveness, encourage innovative strategies, and foster cultures of continuous improvement among faculty members.
• Teaching and learning centers can serve as key facilitators for faculty mentoring programs, offering workshops, collaborative learning opportunities, and ongoing support tailored to faculty development.
• Mentoring programs align with AACSB accreditation standards because they promote teaching innovation, faculty engagement, and continuous professional development.

 
Mentoring has long been a mainstay in professional development, not only at companies but in business school programs. In most cases, schools view mentoring as a way to help students hone their skills and define their career paths—but mentorship can offer just as much value to teachers in higher education.

Campus centers for teaching and learning can be excellent resources for coordinating and delivering structured faculty mentoring programs. Centers for teaching and learning have the networks, resources, and trained staff to provide faculty with the one-on-one guidance they need to hone their skills over time. Mentoring programs also fit well into their missions, which focus on improving teaching effectiveness, integrating innovative teaching strategies, and promoting cultures of continuous improvement. 

At the ESSCA School of Management in Angers, France, we have used our own teaching and learning center, the Institute for Advanced Pedagogy (IAP), to develop five approaches to support our faculty’s professional development. Through a coordinated effort, the IAP makes it more likely that our faculty will take advantage of the development opportunities available to them throughout their academic careers.

1. Assigning Mentors to New Hires

At ESSCA, on way we prioritize faculty development is to make sure that new arrivals receive systematic support from their first day on campus. As part of the onboarding process, the IAP assigns experts to meet with and assist each newcomer through a yearlong six-stage expert mentoring process:

Stage 1—Contact and introduction. Each new teacher at ESSCA receives an email inviting him or her to start mentoring with the IAP. The email message includes a presentation describing the mentoring process and an appointment proposal.

Stage 2—First appointment. During this 45-minute meeting, the mentor and mentee introduce themselves, fill out an initial interview form, discuss the aims and characteristics of the mentoring relationship, plan the frequency of meetings, and schedule a classroom observation visit.

Stage 3—Preparing for the classroom observation. The mentor explains the format of the observation evaluation form and plans the lesson observation. He or she discusses which specific aspects will be evaluated, as well as whether the class session will be filmed.

Stage 4—Classroom observation. The mentor sits in on the teacher’s class without intervening, taking detailed notes. If the observation is filmed, the video will be given to the teacher for independent viewing or shared during the debriefing.

Stage 5—Debriefing. During this conversation, the mentor recommends areas for improvement, ultimately selecting three points for the teacher to work on.

Stage 6—Follow-up and assessment. The mentor provides regular follow-ups and feedback throughout the mentoring year. At the end of that period, the mentor makes a final assessment to evaluate progress and provide support.

At the end of the first year, the school invites mentees to provide their anonymous feedback, which the center can use to improve the program. Going forward, each teacher will continue to receive support from a member of the IAP.

2. Delivering Collaborative Workshops

The first-year mentoring program enables teachers to take a more reflective approach to their professional development, as well as to build their confidence in identifying areas for improvement. ESSCA complements this process with regular workshops that help teachers improve their skills, stay abreast of new educational trends, and learn the latest teaching technologies.

Throughout the year, ESSCA offers workshops that delve into the use of educational technologies, methods of formative and summative assessment, and techniques for engaging students more fully in their learning. Other sessions cover topics such as how to meet learning objectives, structure content, create interactive classroom environments, teach adult learners, teach in intercultural contexts, manage disruptive behavior, manage group work, assess learning, use presentation software, and leverage artificial intelligence for teaching and learning.

Mentoring programs provide beginning teachers with safe spaces where they can ask questions, voice concerns, receive practical advice, and access the tools and resources they need to succeed.

Supervised by pedagogy experts, these interactive and reflective sessions facilitate the exchange of knowledge between peers and provide opportunities for reflection. By participating in these workshops, teachers can acquire new skills, refresh their existing knowledge, and adapt what they learn to their current teaching contexts.

The workshops provide collaborative learning spaces where teachers can discuss the difficulties they encounter in their classrooms and explore solutions together, which breaks them out of pedagogical solitude. These interactions foster a mutually supportive environment and encourage educational innovation.

3.  Providing Ongoing Support for Beginners

Ongoing support is crucial for novice teachers, who can feel overwhelmed by the demands of their new roles and struggle to forge professional identities. Mentoring helps new teachers reduce stress, increase job satisfaction, and adapt more quickly to the demands of their roles—a topic I explore with my co-author Denis Berthiaume in a chapter appearing in the 2014 book, La pédagogie de l'enseignement supérieur.

Teaching and learning centers can design mentoring programs that provide beginning teachers with safe spaces where they can ask questions, voice concerns, receive practical advice, and access the tools and resources they need to succeed. This not only improves teaching practices, but also invites new teachers to engage in deep reflection on their careers and personal development.

Twice a year, ESSCA’s IAP also organizes a compulsory three-day seminar for new arrivals. During the seminar, teachers take seven workshops on topics similar to those mentioned above, from creating interactive classrooms to using educational technology.

4. Managing the Transition From Novice to Expert

Novice teachers often start their careers with compartmentalized skills. For this reason, they might find it difficult to mobilize a variety of knowledge simultaneously (at ESSCA, we call this the “survival stage”). Mentors can help educators integrate these skills, so that they can use what they have learned more fluidly and effectively in their teaching.

As educators make the gradual transition from novice to expert, they are ready to develop skills related to mastering educational technologies, adopting innovative teaching methods, and improving teaching research. At this stage, IAP experts continue to work with teachers and help them identify targeted learning opportunities. 

5. Promoting a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Teaching and learning centers foster cultures of continuous improvement as a central part of their missions. Whether by organizing discussion groups or creating communities of practice, these centers ensure that teachers remain engaged and motivated. The objective is to encourage faculty to conduct self-evaluations, reflect on teaching practices, identify areas for development, and implement changes.

The IAP leads ESSCA’s teaching community of practice, where faculty from different disciplines meet regularly, both virtually and face-to-face, on themes of their choosing. This provides educators with additional opportunities to hone their skills and improve student learning outcomes.

Mentoring’s Impact—and Challenges

As we have found, mentoring provides immediate support to new teachers as they refine their skills. It encourages self-directed continuous professional development, which has a lasting impact on their career progression.

But mentoring programs also have significant positive impact on academic institutions. When well-trained teachers receive dedicated mentoring support throughout their careers, they become invaluable assets to their schools. They are better prepared to take on leadership roles, and they are more willing to contribute to innovative teaching initiatives. They can more easily adapt to constant changes in the teaching and learning environment.

Over time, they will be positioned to contribute to their institutions’ academic prestige—and eventually to become expert mentors themselves. 

By fostering cultures of continuous improvement, teaching and learning centers encourage faculty to conduct self-evaluations, reflect on teaching practices, identify areas for development, and implement changes.

Despite the many benefits of mentoring, establishing a quality program can present several challenges. For example, it is critical that mentors are well-trained and have the necessary skills to support teachers effectively. In addition, mentoring programs must be continually monitored and evaluated to make sure that they meet the needs of participants and remain aligned with institutional objectives.

Finally, it is critical for both mentors and mentees to view their relationships as development opportunities, not as administrative obligations. This requires that centers put mechanisms into place to recognize and reward mentors and mentees for their commitment to the program. Offering certificates of recognition, bonuses, or additional professional development opportunities can encourage active participation.

Mentoring and the AACSB Standards

AACSB’s accreditation standards place particular emphasis on teaching excellence and innovation, requiring institutions to invest in the ongoing development of their teaching staff. Mentoring is an effective strategic tool for achieving this objective.

There are several key areas of the AACSB standards where mentoring can have a significant impact:

Teaching innovation and continuous improvement. AACSB standards encourage institutions to adopt innovative teaching approaches and engage in continuous improvement. Mentoring helps to disseminate best practices and encourages innovation among teaching staff.

Engagement and impact. Effective mentoring can help educators develop more interactive and student-centered teaching methods. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on student learning.

Faculty development. Mentoring programs inspire valuable opportunities for faculty development and can help accredited institutions demonstrate their commitment to the ongoing professional growth of their faculty.

For higher education institutions, investing in mentoring programs is a winning strategy. It helps teachers acquire advanced teaching skills and progress in their careers, while contributing to educational excellence and innovation.

Well-structured centers for teaching and learning can help business schools take full advantage of mentoring’s benefits. By offering ongoing personalized support, schools can ensure that every teacher is well-equipped to meet the future challenges that will shape higher education.