GoReact is now part of Echo360!
K12
A short video clip showing how mentoring programs use GoReact to support existing practices and keep coaching conversations at the center
This induction program integrates GoReact with their established Mentoring Matters model. The program employs cognitive coaching to enhance candidate reflection. GoReact facilitates this process, guiding deeper learning through self-reflection. Watch the full session here.
Sean McCarthy:
But our primary driver for over 20 years now has been mentoring matters. And our mentors are basically trained to use cognitive coaching strategies during their weekly collaborations with candidates. And again, they’re taught how to do that primarily through this text. What we wanted to make sure we did was integrate what we were already practicing with our GoReact observations, not supplanted or not making it this additional piece. So that is really where our primary training comes in. And one of the things that’s part of our Mentoring Matters programming is this kind of template for coaching.
I’m not going to spend too much time on it, and a lot of you may be familiar with it already, but it’s just that idea that on the coaching spectrum, you can go from where the mentor is doing most of the work and the collaborating or consulting stance to where the candidate is doing the bulk of the cognitive work in the collaborating or ideally the coaching stance. So we encourage our mentors to stay on more of a coaching stance where they’re more focused on asking effective questions rather than giving direct statements or telling the candidates what they need to be doing or improving because again, that elevates their capacity to problem solve. And this template that we provide gives them some effective tools for being good listeners, for asking questions. We have question stems, and then there are also outlines for the three types of conversations most mentors engage in.
It’s usually either a planning conversation with the candidate, a problem solving conversation or a reflecting conversation depending on where they’re at in the inquiry process. And it just reminds them to do things like, okay, activate and engage the candidate. Then you’re going to explore and discover, and you always want to do this piece at the end where you organize and integrate the conversation so that you’re doing something with it. There’s some kind of follow up, Laura Lipton says, if you don’t include this step, then it’s just an episode. Nothing may come of that conversation. It might be a great conversation, but how are they going to use this exploration of their video to actually make a difference and to move forward in their practice?