Section archive - Mentoring & Supervision

The review examines ways in which the mentors of trainee teachers can use research as a means of questioning, understanding and improving their own practices. The first part presents an overview of empirical and theoretical research into mentoring relationships. The second part presents four ways in which mentors might engage with the literature.

The paper explores school mentors' perspectives on their role in training student-teachers following an initial teacher education (ITE) program via a flexible learning route. The paper concludes by highlighting some implications for the role of the mentor on a flexible ITE program. It also highlights future evolution of the partnership between Goldsmiths College, University of London and the schools.

The Early Childhood Professional Mentoring Group (ECPMG) was established to develop a forum of support for recent graduates of the authors' university's Masters programs in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education. Moreover, this group was established to create a process for exploring and evaluating the ways that the university's programs are preparing professionals for practice. In order to gain insight into the process and the value of the group, throughout its 1st full academic year, the authors, as cofacilitators, conducted a 45-minute debriefing session after each monthly meeting. During these sessions, the authors reflected on the group's dynamics, topics or themes presented, and their own ways of participating, collaborating, and making meaning of the experience.

The paper presents a reciprocal model of mentoring as an alternative approach to more traditional mentoring models. A mentor, experienced with online course delivery and pedagogy, worked with six online instructors over two academic terms within a reciprocal mentorship model. The model was designed to build a collaborative learning relationship which would benefit each partner. The mentoring was scheduled on a just-in-time basis in response to each online instructor's needs.