Pinky Grace Francisco is the 2024 Kau-Kea’au-Pahoa Complex Teacher of the Year, a candidate for National Board Certification, a Hawai’i State Teacher Fellow, NEA/Hawai’i State Teacher Association (HSTA) Early Leadership Fellow, HSTA CARES (Culture, Advocacy, Respect, Equity and Support) pilot cadre, HSTA EL Contract Committee member, a mentor, and a professional development instructor. After serving as a teacher, then English Learner Coordinator and academic coach at Kau High and Pahala Elementary School in Pahala, Hawai’i, for several years, Pinky now leads Kea’au Middle School’s English Learner Program, with a full teaching load.
Continuing our spotlight on exemplary induction partners doing some of the best work in new teacher support, we talked with Pinky Grace about her induction experience in Hawai’i and her path from mentee to mentor. Her story is truly inspirational. Pinky shared beautiful insights about how Hawai’i’s teacher induction programs supported her, emphasizing the significant role culture and diversity play in a true mentoring mindset. As a teacher of multilingual learners, then English Learner Coordinator for her school, and now a mentor of new teachers and teacher leader involved in many of the state’s induction support programs, Pinky’s journey illustrates a powerful truth (one we’ve seen again and again) — quality mentoring has an enormous impact on a teacher’s classroom, their career, and the entire teaching community.
Her story also reminds us how diverse the pipeline of teachers in the U.S. is beginning to be. Designing induction and mentoring support that addresses the nuanced needs of beginning teachers requires a focus on who new teachers are and how their knowledge and experience can enrich their school communities.
Navigating culture, community, and standards through formal and informal induction support
When Pinky first started working in Hawai’i, she brought eight years of experience as a teacher in the Philippines to the job. But she was new to the U.S. education system and Hawai’i schools. “I am an immigrant from the Philippines. Teaching was not new to me, but it was different, and I was in a cultural ‘dilemma’. I was assigned to help English language learners navigate United States culture when I, myself, was navigating that culture at the same time as well as all the different cultures of my students. My mentor’s presence and availability was what made a difference, that kind of assurance that I can count on somebody else when I need help.”
Pinky took advantage of regular opportunities organized through the Hawai’i Teacher Induction Center for mentees to come together, providing a safe space for new teachers to collaborate and share personal narratives and experiences. She also participated in (and now facilitates) an English learner professional learning community offered as part of the state’s beginning teacher summer academy.
Pinky found the community and validation these convenings offered affirming. “I was not alone in this journey. Whatever challenges I might be facing were also being faced by the other new teachers who entered the system the same time as me.” Working in and with a diverse community of new teachers also provided the opportunity to share ideas to try, she said. “We may be mentees, but we can still help each other out.”
Working in and with a diverse community of new teachers also provided the opportunity to share ideas to try…. “We may be mentees, but we can still help each other out.”
Though she found her mentor’s support invaluable, Pinky said that a big challenge early on was navigating the English Language Development standards because her assigned mentor was not an English Learner teacher. Fortunately, the English Learner Resource Teacher in her complex area reached out to her and provided additional content-area support. “I had this realization about that community thing, that aloha. She was not assigned as my mentor but was willing to be my mentor. Being a new teacher, I didn’t know where to ask for help. That English Learner resource teacher actually filled in that missing piece.”
The fact that Pinky’s assigned and unofficial mentors both received the same mentoring professional learning through the state induction program meant that the support she received was aligned and coherent. “I didn’t see any difference in the way they mentored me. They had the training and the language and now that I am a mentor, I’m making sense of it, how it’s done. I’m making all these connections.”
Pinky says she’s encouraged by the progress the state has made in recent years matching mentors with new teachers in their content areas. “I always believe in capacity building. We say we don’t have a mentor teaching in the same content area, but hey, we have these classroom teachers out there, we just need to ask them. That classroom teacher that you don’t see as a teacher leader would actually grow. You just need to provide the opportunity. I can speak to that because when I was provided the opportunity, I was able to discover my potential. Now here I am.”
Culture and diversity as a cornerstone of mentoring
There are two official state languages in Hawai’i — Hawaiian and English. According to HIDOE’s multilingualism resources, almost 15% of students are multilingual learners, and the top five languages spoken at home are Ilokano, Chuukese, Marshallese, Tagalog, and Spanish. Given the diversity of Hawai’i’s student population, Pinky said her work is “always about culture and connectedness.” Her approach to mentoring is aligned with Nā Hopena A‘o or HĀ, she said, adding: “Here in Hawai’i, unity is diversity. We are diverse, but we can also find commonalities within that diversity.”
“As a mentor and teacher, it’s important to understand that students come from cultures that reflect both individualistic and collective values and mores,” she said. “Consequently, instruction needs to be designed to meet students’ needs with a mix of independent and collaborative work but also with a goal for students to experience other cultures and to learn from them.”
She pointed out that working with diverse adults as colleagues and as a mentor is also part of the equation, putting identity and culture front and center in developing professional relationships. For Pinky, that kind of approach helps teachers to work and grow collaboratively and pursue the collective efficacy required for all students’ success. She referred to the concept of ne‘epapa, describing it as “moving forward altogether, paddling together in one direction, toward our why, which is students at the core.”
… working with diverse adults as colleagues and as a mentor is also part of the equation, putting identity and culture front and center in developing professional relationships. For Pinky, that kind of approach helps teachers to work and grow collaboratively and pursue the collective efficacy required for all students’ success.
Multiplier effect of quality mentoring
Reflecting on her experience, Pinky shared that developing teachers who are skilled at self-assessment and reflection is what sets mentoring apart from other professional learning approaches. It helps new teachers build the professional confidence and instructional competence they need to want to continue in teaching and provides a highly personalized setting where analyzing, learning, trying, failing, and improving are encouraged. To support this, Pinky said, she doesn’t tell her mentees what they should do. “I let them do the thinking and exploring. Actually, it’s a very mutual experience wherein the mentor is also learning from the mentees.”
Pinky described her journey from mentee to multilingual teacher leader as evidence of the impact effective mentoring can have. Her mentors taught her to be self-directed in navigating the new terrain of teaching multilingual learners in another country. She, in turn, is now supporting her mentees on similar paths to becoming mentors and teacher leaders. “I am fascinated with the power of diversity, unique individual capacity, and celebrating small victories. The work that I’m doing with my mentees is creating that chain of support for students. And just like me, as one who has been mentored and then became a mentor, I would like to see my mentees step up and become a mentor one day, creating that ripple of support, not just for students but for teachers and colleagues following in their footsteps.” Read Pinky’s NBCT blog about pivotal milestones in her career.
