Age GapsClaudia received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1986 with an area of concentration in keyboard music performance. Although she wanted to work in the public schools as a general music teacher, she decided to remain at home and raise three children. Her husband, who worked for a successful business firm, was about to lose his job. Knowing that her husband could soon be out of work, Claudia decided to go back to school and get her classroom teaching certificate and begin a new career in education at the age of 44.
“Although I volunteered for many years in my children’s classrooms as a room mother and helper for students who had difficulties with reading, I knew that I always wanted to be a classroom teacher myself. I felt I could contribute my talents and help children learn to love reading and math.”
Claudia completed a Master’s degree program and did her student teaching in a fifth grade classroom. After several interviews, she secured a teaching position in a sixth grade classroom in an elementary school just outside of Philadelphia.
“The school was terrific and very welcoming. I was excited to work with my assigned mentor, Mary, to help me through the many challenges that come with the territory. We met several times to review the curriculum and learning goals before the students arrived. We established a solid relationship and were off to a great start, though it was never made clear to me what Mary’s role and obligations were going to be as the year progressed.”
The school year started and just about caught Claudia off guard. She had several special needs students in her class; three children did not speak English; parents questioned her reading instruction methods. Even though her mentor was just across the hallway, Claudia often hesitated to ask questions for help.
“I felt overwhelmed with the demands of meeting the needs of so many students of diverse backgrounds. Schools had certainly changed. Testing, meeting standards, differentiation, formative and summative assessments were all new to me. During class, I kept a small notebook and would write down questions that would pop up during the day that I would ask my mentor, or at this point, whoever would listen and help out. My mentor, who was actually 10 years my younger, started to show signs of getting tired of me. When I went to her for help, I thought I was walking on eggshells. I knew I had some other allies in school but I found myself so loaded with questions that I became consumed with trying to decide who to go to for help.”
October was fast approaching; that meant parent/teacher conferences, report cards, special education staff meetings, and the expectation to attend a variety of evening programs. Claudia soon switched into survival mode. She felt that since she was an older teacher in the school that she should feel far more comfortable with teaching than she was. She had terrific reviews from her principal, but was starting to feel pressure from her mentor that she should be doing a better job. Ironically, the only advice she was now getting from Mary was, “Just relax and take a deep breath. Tomorrow will be better.”
“Well, truth be told, I did take deep breaths and started to make priorities and not feel I needed to accomplish everything at once. I was also at a turning point with my mentor. Although she was a nice person, I really felt our relationship was not going to develop any further and that I was on my own. With Thanksgiving around the corner, I decided to be thankful for the teaching position I had and to just carry out on my own. The assigning of a mentor was a nice idea, but it didn’t amount to anything when I really needed a mentor’s help. I just hope I can make it to the end of the year on my own.”
Questions
1) All indication prove that Claudia was an outstanding first year teacher, yet her mentor was, in fact, giving her the cold shoulder. How should Claudia have handled the situation knowing that the school year was not even half over, yet it was apparent that her mentor was some what giving up on her?
2) Would it have been more helpful for both Claudia and her mentor to have clearly defined roles and a better understanding of what are the expectations of the school district’s new teacher induction program were?
3) What are some critical issues that could develop when the mentor is ten years younger than the new teacher?
4) Do you think that the cold shoulder effect Claudia was feeling from her mentor was is part due to the fact that Claudia was seeking help and advice from many other sources? Could it be that the mentor decided to “give up” on their relationship?
Another Look
Boreen et al. make a very clear assertion regarding age difference between mentors and mentees:
An age difference of eight to fifteen years is recommended so that the mentor is viewed as experienced. The age difference may be important even for nontraditional beginning teachers…The disparity should not be so wide, however, that a parenting relationship develops. Sometimes, too, age differences can be generational differences. When ages vary considerably, the mentor pair need [sic] to appreciate their differences rather than seek similarities.
The following factors should be considered in forming a mentoring partnership. If possible, a mentor should
-have a minimum of three to five years of teaching experience
-Be teaching in the same content area or at the same grade level as the beginning teacher
-Have a classroom close to that of the beginning teacher
-Be significantly older than the beginning teacher
Interestingly, Boreen et al. stipulate that age, an uncontrollable condition, must be seriously considered when assigning mentor pairs. In many schools there may not be an opportunity to pair a willing mentor and a new teacher with enough of an age difference to accommodate Boreen’s guidelines. Now, more than ever, people are entering the teaching profession at a later age. If a teacher begins her career at 46, that would require a willing mentor that is 54-61 years old. Even if a teacher falls into this age range, what guarantee is there that the grade level, subject area, or classroom location of this teacher is comparable to the new teacher’s? Indeed, the inflexibility of having to be “substantially older” than a mentee may divert the willingness of younger teachers to become mentors. In many schools, being an older teacher is often equated to having many years of experience, but the age of new teachers entering the profession continues to rise, thus providing challenges to mentoring programs that rely on an age gap as a predictor of success in mentoring pairs.
Many businesses have turned to a “reverse-mentoring” model in order to bridge the gap between older employees and their younger colleagues. In this model, it is the younger colleague that instructs the older in new techniques and technology. Consider this anecdote:
Carlos Martinez, 47, is an architect and regional design director at Gensler with 23 years of experience. Six years ago, when he joined the firm-where the median age is about 30-he teamed up with Kate Clemens Davis, now 32 and a senior associate and interior designer.
As he acclimated to the younger workplace, he says, he appreciated her ability to deal with issues in a more off-the-cuff way, a tactic he now uses to his advantage.
While his generation might approach a problem with a full-blown meeting-steno pad and pen in hand-‘she'll parachute to my desk and ask a simple question and we'll have a short discussion on a topic. It's very impromptu. I do the same thing now.’
In this case, a younger person was able to mentor an older person with success. The age gap, in this case, was not an issue.
Regardless of age, the bottom line is that mentors must have significant teaching experience. A 30-year-old may have up to nine years experience of teaching. This individual has a wealth of knowledge to share with a new teacher, even if that new teacher happens to be much older. Although they may be stringent about an age gap, Boreen et al. do make one concession: “while age is significant, the maturity levels of the participants are even more important.” Indeed, an experienced, willing, mature mentor is an experienced, willing, mature, mentor regardless of age.
Boreen, J., Niday, D., Potts, J., & Johnson, M. (2009). Mentoring beginning teachers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Kapos, S. (2007, January 15). Secret weapon: a young mentor. Crain's Chicago Business, 30(3), 23-26. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from MasterFILE Premier database.
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