‘Assertive Mentoring’ scheme to counter ‘laddishness’

last updated:June 2009

We chose this case study because it shows how a particular form of mentoring had a dramatic effect on low achieving pupils. The mentoring scheme aimed to tackle issues of ‘laddishness’ and ‘macho’ image particularly among low attaining boys, but also with some girls. Teachers acted as mentors to students using a highly structured and formalised model which they called ‘assertive mentoring’.

The ‘assertive mentoring’ (AM) scheme was developed in a Darlington secondary school. The scheme was identified by researchers from Cambridge University as the main reason why the school made dramatic progress – increasing its 5+ GCSE A*-C results from 38% in 1998 up to 96% by 2007, and raising the school to 32nd in the country for KS2-4 contextualised value added scores.

How was the scheme run?
The AM strategy aimed to engage under-achievers in their own learning, supporting them to opt out of ‘laddish’ behaviour without threatening their status in the eyes of their peers. The strategy included:

1. Student target setting and tracking
Students had targets set at the beginning of Years 7 and 10. These were regularly reviewed and altered when necessary. Subject teachers were encouraged to raise targets upwards, never downwards. The Assertive Mentoring Senior Leader (AMSL) challenged targets where appropriate.

2. Assigning mentors
All students were assigned mentors. Mentors used the target data to challenge their mentees. Crucial to the effectiveness of mentoring was its assertive style. The regular one-to-one conversations between mentor and student were:

• evidence driven
• business like, and
• had direct benefits.

The mentoring meetings were used to review targets and to design interventions which broke down barriers to learning. Mentors checked to ensure these were implemented and making an impact. Students were not allowed to give up on themselves.

How were mentors trained?
Mentors were trained to use six ‘Key Principles of Influence’ to help pupils identified as low attaining to change their attitudes and attainment. The six principles are:

• reciprocity – obliging a student to return a ‘favour’
• social proof – drawing students’ attention to good things that others are doing
• authority – using your authority as an ‘expert’ to create a leadership position in the relationship
• liking – helping to encourage positive friendships among students
• consistency – getting the student to commit and encouraging loyalty to the mentor, and
• scarcity – highlighting the special value of the mentor-mentee relationship.

What effect did assertive mentoring have on students?
Below is a summary of one case history, showing how AM strategies were successfully deployed.

Gus was a ‘laddish character’ in Year 10. He messed around in lessons if he got the chance, becoming frustrated when, in his view, the teacher was ‘boring’ or ‘picked on him’. Gus revealed his frustrations with his Maths teacher to his mentor. He thought the teacher was mocking him. Gus said he couldn’t do Maths, and that was his teacher’s view. He admitted he was seriously under-achieving and said that there was no chance of the situation changing.

Actions
The mentor gave Gus a ‘get out of jail free’ card for Maths only. This gave him permission to remove himself from confrontation rather than to ‘kick off’ with the teacher in the classroom. He was to seek out his mentor to ‘sound off’ to in private. His mentor approached his teacher in order to ‘broker this deal’, getting the teacher to see the student’s perspective without undermining the teacher’s position. The mentor suggested some other strategies which the teacher could use in the classroom e.g. more Maths challenges in lessons, friendly competitiveness, and rewards linked to performance. Gus valued the efforts of the school to put things right. Gus was promised rewards (attendance on school trip) if his Maths grade predictions improved, sanctions if they did not.

Results
Gus was not flaring up in lessons. This had a calming impact on the others in the class. The Maths teacher saw Gus and others responding better. The ‘deal brokering’ was working. Teaching became easier and the teacher became more ambitious in his teaching. Gus tried harder and his predicted GCSE grade improved. Gus was even prepared to accept that his Maths teacher might have a legitimate view of the situation. This represented quite a shift in attitude. In June of year 10 Gus had been predicted by his Maths teacher to get an E grade in the GCSE. He actually achieved a B grade in his final GCSE.

Conclusion
The target tracking and AM scheme showed that even the most challenging of students could be moved on. The outputs showed clear improvements for all students. Some movements were dramatic. Since mentors began to be aware of the ‘principles of influence’ and use them systematically, teachers adopted them for everyday classroom use.

Assertive Mentoring relied entirely on the relationship between teacher and student. Progress was only made by students when a mutually respectful and trusting relationship had been established.

Reference

Farrar, E. (2008) Using assertive mentoring to counter laddishness. National Teacher Research Panel conference paper. Available at:

Research Summaries from the Teacher Research Conference 2008