This post is written by Khoi Tan Minh Vuong (Mentor), with reflections from Kankamon Tadoo (Mentee)
As a mentor within a professional development program in Thailand, my ultimate goal is guiding a teacher-researcher to reflect on and articulate their own learning. This was especially true at the conclusion of an Exploratory Action Research (EAR) project with my mentee, Kankamon. We had a chat to wrap up the project and this post has been constructed from our notes. Our final reflective conversation revealed less about specific findings and more about the foundational mindset a mentor can help nurture. Below is our dialogue along with my (Khoi’s) commentary on the mentoring prompts that seek to facilitate this learning journey.
Khoi: Hi Kankamon. It is the end of the EAR project, and congratulations on your journey with EAR! How are you feeling so far?
Kankamon: At first, I was worried that this research would be academic, but when I actually started doing it, I found that it was very straightforward. It is simple and focuses on solving problems encountered in the classroom through collaboration between teachers and students.
Mentor note: I began with an open and celebratory question to set a positive and reflective tone. This is to show that the end of a project is not evaluation, but rather an invitation for the mentee to articulate their own sense of growth. This helps shift ownership of learning fully to the teacher.
Khoi: Can you please share more on how straightforward EAR is? Also, how can EAR boost collaboration between teachers and students?
Kankamon: EAR is unlike any other research methodology. It doesn’t require references or calculations, and EAR doesn’t need to create new instruments or innovations. Just simply knowing what happened in class, how to fix it, and whether it was successful, is enough to focus on actually solving problems in the classroom. And it boosts collaboration in the exploratory stage – teachers have to communicate with students in any way to obtain information for their research.
Mentor note: Here, I probed gently to push him from a general feeling to a specific principle of his practice – collaboration with students – which became the central theme of his learning. Rather than explaining EAR to the teacher, the mentor’s role here was to prompt articulation. When teachers can explain the process in their own words, it signals deeper understanding and confidence.
Khoi: To me, the most standout characteristic of yours is your drive to become a better teacher. For example, when we were exploring your classroom, you expressed a really strong interest in getting to know how you asked questions in the classroom. You used classroom observation, reflective notes, and focused group discussion with your students to gather data for this. Can you please elaborate on this?
Kankamon: Because a classroom is not just the teacher’s, I believe in a simple principle: the principle of coexistence. We need to listen to each other. When something happens in the classroom or a problem arises, asking questions is better than having one person assume it by themselves. With English classes, it’s important to know whether the problem is the student’s or the teacher’s. The data that I gathered from the three tools revealed that part of the reason why teaching was not successful was from the teacher. This helped me understand how I should improve or what methods I should use to develop in the classroom.
Mentor note: Here, I intentionally identified and articulated Kankamon’s core motivator, which is his drive to improve. By linking this to his flexible approach in choosing tools to explore the classroom, I helped him see his personal attributes, like openness and courage, as vital professional resources rather than just personality traits. This reflection reinforces the connection between his deliberate actions and his evolving professional identity.
Khoi: Another impressive point is when you saw the answers from those tools. Students could express some concerns in their feedback for their teacher. You didn’t express any negative emotions towards this but rather positive feelings in terms of wanting to improve yourself. Can you share why you had more positive feelings here?
Kankamon: I have always believed that teaching should not be limited by teachers. At some point, if teachers do not accept advice, they will not be able to develop themselves. And the person who can best help them reflect is the learner.
Khoi: Really impressive! Were there any inspirations or any role models that you saw or know of that helped you develop this growth mindset?
Kankamon: Of course, my role model is my mother, as she is also an English teacher and teaches in the same school bureau. My mother always told me that English is one of the subjects that many students dislike because it’s difficult. Therefore, one thing that can make students like this subject more is paying attention and looking for the real problems. The real problem is something teachers will never know unless they ask students directly with honesty.
Mentor note: This moment was a critical moment to highlight his growth mindset. I intentionally separated reaction (emotional) from response (professional), inviting him to articulate the mindset I had observed developing. A key mentoring responsibility is to create emotional safety so feedback becomes information not threat. This allows growth to happen without forcing it. Moreover, connecting personal history to professional growth can help reinforce personal values.
Khoi: For the action stage, you suggested using role play in your classroom to help students become more engaged. I was quite concerned at first because role play is quite tricky with many details to consider. However, knowing you as a reflective teacher, I agreed with your suggestion. In our last reflection session, you shared that role play was not successful. How does this make you feel?
Kankamon: When I found that role-play was unsuccessful, I was disappointed. But I have looked back on myself when I was in high school. Role-play was very hard because it has a lot of detail and students must remember the script. So this makes me know that role-play is one of the difficult activities for the speaking class, and it is not good for improving student confidence.
Mentor note: This reflects a key mentoring balance: acknowledging a mentee’s ownership in their decisions in doing teacher research while providing a safe space for post-action reflection. I referenced my initial trust in his reflective capacity to frame the “failure” as a natural part of the learning cycle. In other words, mentoring does not mean preventing failure. It means helping teachers learn from failure without losing confidence or motivation.
Khoi: I see! In this sense, it is important for teachers to “look back” on their previous experience as a student to help understand our students better. From our time working together, I can proudly say that you are one tough teacher who will never back down from challenges. In this case, the challenge has been feedback from students. You have managed to use this to drive you to become a better teacher. Can you please reflect on how you have developed this habit?
Kankamon: As I mentioned before, I always want to get feedback from students so that I can understand the real issues. Because sometimes when teachers analyze it by themselves, they may not get comprehensive information, which students can provide more clearly and accurately. This led me to the idea that if teachers can create a safe zone where students can reflect on their feelings, it will be beneficial to the classroom. However, I always tell students that reflecting on feelings must also be based on manners. And if teachers are willing to open their minds to listen to students’ opinions, they will receive a lot of good and diverse information.
Khoi: Thank you so much for your sharing! Keep on thriving!
Mentor note: I synthesized his insights into a generalizable teaching principle. My final question (Can you please reflect on how you have developed this habit?) aimed to help him consolidate this new habit, moving from a single event to an enduring professional practice.
From the dialogue, we can clearly see how Kankamon demonstrates a strong example of a growing and collaborative teacher mindset. This journey is not only about a teacher changing classroom practices, but about a teacher, supported by a mentor, developing greater resilience, reflectiveness, and openness to collaboration. Kankamon views the classroom as a shared space between teachers and students. Because of this belief, he actively seeks student insights as a key resource for professional growth. Feedback is not taken personally. Instead, it becomes meaningful data that informs his development as a teacher. The role-play episode further illustrates how failure does not equate to weakness. While unsuccessful classroom ideas naturally trigger disappointment, this story does not end with emotion alone. With reflective support, Kankamon revisited the experience, examined the reasons behind the outcome, and deepened his understanding of both the activity and his students. Reflection, rather than avoidance, became the pathway forward.
My role as a mentor throughout this journey was not to direct or correct, but to hold up a mirror (to ask questions) that helped Kankamon recognize his own growth and to affirm that his drive to improve was already a powerful professional asset. This mentoring journey illustrates how a mentor can facilitate learning without controlling it. From early on, I recognised Kankamon’s strong internal motivation to become a better teacher. Because of this, many mentoring decisions came naturally; trust in his drive allowed space for autonomy, risk-taking, and honest reflection.
Although our conversations flowed naturally, they were guided by a flexible, intentional structure. I chose to save certain affirmations and insights until the end of the project, so that they could be offered as a form of consolidation (something for him to carry forward into his future professional development). Through careful questioning, affirmation, trust, and emotional support, the mentoring process helped the teacher-researcher remain deeply connected to his core purpose: the ongoing pursuit of becoming a better teacher.
About the Author(s)
Khoi Tan Minh Vuong
Khoi Tan Minh Vuong is an English instructor and teacher trainer at the School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. His research interests include teacher’s professional development and applied linguistics.
Kankamon Tadoo
Kankamon Tadoo, an English teacher at Chitaree Welfare School, Thailand, teaches grade 10-12 students. He believes in fostering respect within the classroom and improving his students' English skills especially for Hill tribe and underprivileged students.
