When embarking on any journey, it is good to have companions that you trust who you can lean on.
After all, Frodo would never have gotten to Mordor without the Fellowship!
While you don’t have to defeat orcs or fight epic battles in order to gain your teaching certification, you’ll find the support you receive from your tribe will be invaluable.
So, how do you find that support tribe so you don’t have to go it alone?
Simply keep reading to find the answer to that question.
How To Find Your Support Tribe – You Don’t Have To Do It Alone
The People On Your Team
You’ll find that there are a number of people that you draw on for support throughout your provisional teaching journey. That tribe might consist of the following people:
Your Mentor
As you know, you will be assigned a mentor to guide you throughout your certification. They will become a trusted form of support offering advice, feedback and educative mentoring. For more info on how your mentor will support you, check out my recent blog on the role of a mentor here.
https://steppingforwardtosuccess.co.nz/mentors-role-provisional-teaching/
Colleagues
Building positive relationships with other teachers and staff at your early childhood centre can be invaluable. Collaborating with colleagues can provide you with different perspectives, ideas, and strategies to enhance your teaching practice. Plus, they are experiencing the same daily highs and lows as you, so you can provide support for each other throughout the working week.
Learning Communities
It can feel overwhelming to embark on this journey alone. But, if you join a learning community, you will have the support of other provisional teachers who are at the same stage of their professional career as you. It is the perfect place to connect with other professionals. Together, you can share ideas and gain support from the expert advisors running the community.
The Roadmap to Success community could be the perfect place for you to find an online home with other like-minded provisional teachers. You can gain access to this valuable community via purchasing the Roadmap to Success resource which helps you and your mentor work through the certification process simply and effectively. Check it out here.
Friends And Whanau
A huge part of your tribe will be the people that support you outside of your Centre. While they may not understand the intricacies of what you have to do to gain your certification, they will provide invaluable and unending emotional support. Often your biggest cheerleaders, lean on your loved ones to gain strength, motivation, and an external perspective from those who have your best interests at heart!
Where Do You Find Them?
So, where do you find your amazing support tribe? Well, the great news is, you probably already know a bunch of them. Obviously, your biggest cheerleaders, your friends and family, you will already be very close with. You just need to set some expectations with them so that they can support you in the way you need.
Support from whᾱnau can look different for everyone. It might mean taking on some of the load at home so you can focus, it could be more emotional support where they look out for your needs, or giving you the permission and space to focus on your certification work. Support might also look different from week to week as everyone’s schedules and priorities shift. Just ensure you keep plenty of open and honest communication with your home team to keep the support constant.
You will also find a wealth of support within your Centre. Your mentor is likely there as are your colleagues. Collaborate together and communicate openly about what you’ve got going on so that collectively you can support and advise each other.
Finally, the online space is an excellent place to find provisional teachers in the same position as you. It can be incredibly comforting to talk to others undertaking the same certification requirements. If you are looking for the perfect online space, then the Roadmap to Certification support group has a number of like-minded provisional teachers from all over NZ.
What Support Can Your Tribe Provide?
The range of support available to you is huge. It will range from the emotional support of your friends to the specific inquiry goal help your mentor provides. It’s all about being open to accepting the support and knowing where to turn when you need help.
Your mentor and colleagues at your centre will be able to support you professionally with:
- Guidance and feedback on strategies, goals and planning
- Sharing best practices, resources and ideas
- Professional development to enhance your knowledge and expertise
- Encouragement and emotional support
- Help to navigate policies and procedures specific to your Centre
- Engaging in reflective practice to identify areas of improvement and to set goals
- Sharing educative mentoring experiences
- Building confidence in your teaching abilities
- Sharing coping strategies
- Advocacy and problem-solving for any challenges that arise
The Roadmap To Success
While you may have excellent support from your Centre and at home, sometimes it can be really helpful to connect with teachers who are currently at the same stage as you in their careers. That is where a resource like the Roadmap to Certification can be invaluable.
In the first instance, the Roadmap is a written resource to use in conjunction with your mentor. Together, you can use the resource to navigate the certification period, making the process simpler and more effective for you both.
In the second instance, the Roadmap also provides access to further online support. You will gain a month of personalised support from myself, an experienced ECE educator and coach, to answer any and all of your questions about the certification process. You can gain access to a private Facebook group where you can connect with others on the certification journey. I post often in this group with helpful tips and info about provisional teaching.
If you think this resource could be a helpful asset for you, find out more about it here.
Remember, support will always be available if you are open to receiving it!
Check out the Roadmap resource here: https://steppingforwardtosuccess.co.nz/roadmap-navigating-ece-provisional-teaching/
Click here to read more about the Roadmap or click here to purchase the Roadmap to Certification ebook for Provisional Certified Teachers. Alternatively, if you are wanting to learn more about my packages, reach out today.
Useful links:
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