I am intrigued when I hear leaders who have been through our coaching seminars say they are “called to mentor and coach their staff.” I think their intention is to use both roles to support and help teachers grow professionally in their instructional knowledge and skills. Do these terms mentoring and coaching represent two different leadership perspectives or are they mutually inclusive?

Let’s look at the terms mentor and coach. Mentors are often described as wise sages. They are defined as counselors, trusted guides, or tutors. Mentors are generally assigned based on the premise that they have had more experiences and possess greater knowledge and skills than the person they are mentoring. Conversely, the International Coach Federation defines coaching as “a partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” Both roles are designed to help teachers navigate the calm and storms of teaching and to explore options and the consequences of decisions. School leaders are cast in the role of both mentor and coach for their staff.

Mentoring can be compared to the art and science of teaching. Both mentoring and teaching are broad concepts with a wide diversity of meanings. For example, instructionally, teachers can present deductive focused content—top down, lecture, teacher-controlled lessons or they may elect to use inductive lessons—a bottom up, student-driven approach. The same is true of mentoring. Deductive mentors serve as advisors telling teachers what must be done and often specifically how they are to do it. Inductive mentors hold up the standard for student success while honoring teacher discretion in how they instruct. Inductive mentoring is closely aligned to the mindset of a coach leader.
The chart below compares some dimensions of the two types of mentors—deductive and inductive–with that of a coach. No line between the inductive mentor and coach illustrates the flow between these two leadership focuses.

To enhance the chart, what descriptors would you add for the dimension of feedback? For data collection?

What other dimensions would you add to this comparison chart?

Where do you see your mentoring skills? How are you intentionally leading with the mindset of a coach who, at times, mentors when needed?

By Edna Harris, PCC