East Java

Helping Teachers through Mentoring

OFTEN, teachers have difficulties in implementing what they have learned during training. The classroom environment is very different from the training environment. To help teachers to cope with this, DBE3 facilitators conduct a mentoring program for teachers after the training. In this program the facilitators help teachers to apply in their lessons what they have learned in the training.

This is what is happening in Tuban district. The program started with a district facilitators’ coordination meeting, which was attended by 14 district facilitators. In this meeting which was held on August 18, they discussed technical matters related to mentoring. They agreed to implement the mentoring program through the MGMP, which was divided into three clusters. After that, the mentoring program will be followed up in the schools.

At the MGMP cluster one meeting, which was held at SMPN 1 Merakurak, the participants learned about mentoring procedures. They then made a program for mentoring, discussed the syllabus and lesson plans and talked about issues related to teaching and learning. More or less the same procedures took place at the cluster two and three meetings.

Pasuruan Prepares Three Phases of Mentoring

Following BTL2 training, Pasuruan district encouraged the MGMP to run activities focused on developing relevant learning. All the district facilitators in Pasuruan agreed that mentoring would take place in the ten partner schools -- divided into three clusters – and it would done in three phases.

In the first phase, district facilitators led MGMP meetings with teachers from partner schools. At this meeting, facilitators helped teachers to prepare the material for teaching in their classrooms. Facilitators helped teachers in applying what they have learned in the training. They also made an agreement with the members of MGMP on visiting schedules to observe the learning activities in the classrooms.

In the second phase, facilitators paid visits to schools and observed the lessons in the classrooms. In the third phase, facilitators held discussions with class teachers about the lessons they had organized. The discussion focused on students’ work, the learning processes and problems that occurred during the lesson. This reflective session continued with preparation for the next lesson. The facilitators helped teachers with this too.