Mentoring For Wellbeing In Schools

This volume of the Perspectives on Mentoring Series explores the role of mentoring in promoting wellbeing of both mentees or proteges and mentors in K-12 school settings. At its core, mentoring is about helping, advising, supporting, and guiding mentees and proteges to gain a wide variety of skills, abilities, and/or attributes. Another outcome of mentoring, less often discussed, is the positive impact it can have on the mental health and wellbeing of both the mentor and mentee. Of particular interest for this edited volume is how mentoring can promote mental health, build resilience, and develop capacity to maintain and sustain emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing for all in the K-12 school settings. The notion of wellbeing, in general, includes both hedonic aspects of feeling good (positive emotions) and eudemonic (conducive to happiness) aspects of living well that entail experiences of positive relationships, meaningfulness in life and work, senses of mastery and personal growth, autonomy, and achievement. This edited volume expands and adds to the existing literature on mentoring in schools, by offering a collection of works that examine the connection between mentorship and wellbeing. This volume includes chapters that describe effective mentoring for wellbeing, detail positive approaches to mentoring youth, offer recommendations for growing the wellbeing of pre-service teachers, early career teachers, and mid-late career teachers, illustrate approaches to growing a community of educators through mentoring and developing teacher leaders as agents of change and facilitators of wellbeing, and discuss studies and models for nurturing and promoting wellbeing among and through school leaders in national and international settings. Through these chapters, authors advocate for greater attention to how to support and nurture wellbeing as central to mentorship efforts in K-12 school settings. ENDORSEMENTS: "Mentoring for Wellbeing in Schools shines light on wellbeing in studies of mentoring in K–12 education. This collection provides researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike with a rich array of wellbeing in mentoring relationships—not as an add-on feature of mentorship but rather an essential aspect of mentors’ support and role. As demonstrated from various perspectives, a culture of wellbeing in schools has multiple benefits for people and organizational cultures, including teacher and leader preparation. Readers, especially those concerned with the flourishing of schools in a pandemic world, will walk away better prepared to make mentoring work." — Carol A. Mullen, Virginia Tech "Effectively marshalled by Kutsyuruba and Kochan, respected international authorities on mentoring, the authors provide a wealth of examples and guidance on much-needed means of promoting wellbeing and human flourishing in schools. Given the vast number of threats and impediments to the wellbeing of students, trainee teachers, established teachers, and principals worldwide, this work is extremely timely. Arguably, it should be compulsory reading for school principals, mentors, teacher educators, mentor trainers, education researchers in these spaces, and – perhaps more importantly – anyone who holds public office and makes or has the capacity to influence decisions which impact the work of school teachers and principals." — Andrew J. Hobson, University of Brighton, UK

This book explores the role of mentoring in promoting wellbeing of both mentees or protégés and mentors in K-12 school settings.

Too often, autistic students and those with mental health needs struggle with higher education, often dropping out of courses because they do not receive the informed support that would help them to succeed. This much-needed manual addresses the provision of effective support via mentoring in order to build students' confidence and enable them to take control of their lives. Its aim is to help students maximise the opportunity provided through the mentoring and academic study skills hours available to them. In addition, the manual and the tools it contains provides a starting point for all mentors and support staff to help students navigate their way through what can be a very confusing, anxious and challenging time by providing key focal points for discussion and related activities.

Your essential guide to wellbeing in education. Despite many school leaders and teaching and non-teaching staff working hard to support children’s and their own wellbeing, more needs to be done. This book provides you with the necessary tools and strategies to navigate your way through the changing educational landscape and shape the schools of the future. Written by a diverse range of experts in the field, it explores how all school staff can support their own, their colleagues’ and their students’ wellbeing, how leaders can lead well and be well, and the importance of relationships within the entire school community to promote personal, academic and professional flourishing. This book will make you think and take you out of your comfort zone. It will inspire discussions and support you - whatever your role in school is - to bring positive change to school policy and culture. Kimberley Evans is an experience teacher and founder of Nourish the Workplace. Thérèse Hoyle is an education consultant, leadership coach and trainer. Frederika Roberts is a Positive Education advocate and former teacher. Bukky Yusuf is a senior leader, science teacher and consultant.

Mentoring Teachers in the Primary School helps mentors of trainee and newly qualified primary school teachers to both develop their own mentoring skills and provide the essential guidance their beginning teachers need as they navigate the roller-coaster of the first years in the classroom. Offering tried and tested strategies based on the best research, it covers the knowledge, skills and understanding every mentor needs. Together with tools for self-evaluation, this book is a vital source of support and inspiration for all those involved in developing the next generation of outstanding teachers. Key topics for primary mentors include: the role of the mentor, mentoring relationships, mentoring in specialist areas, mentoring development. Filled with guidance to support mentors’ own development, as well as the development of beginning primary teachers, Mentoring Teachers in the Primary School is a vital guide for mentors of primary school teachers, both trainee and newly qualified, with ready-to-use strategies that support and inspire mentors.

The Learning Mentor Toolkit provides all of the resources necessary to recruit, train and supervise adult learning mentors looking to support children and young people within the school environment. Packed full of information, this book details all of the necessary training and uncovers how best to ensure that supervision meets the needs of the volunteers, the children and the school. Developed to enable a lead member of staff to find, co-create and train a range of adults from the school community and use these Volunteer Learning Mentors to support children and young people within their environment, the support offered is linked to the five key areas that create positive foundations for mental health and wellbeing: • the ability to create and develop positive relationships • emotional literacy • self-awareness • how our brains can affect learning and behaviour • skills for learning Full of practical advice and resources, this book is the ideal resource for any wellbeing lead or senior leadership team looking to recruit and train learning mentors within their school.

Special education across education programs nationwide is an incredibly high-need teacher shortage area, and mentoring can make a profound difference in teacher retention and effectiveness. Within this handbook, mentoring partnerships will be guided through the first year of a new special education teacher from start to finish. A month-to-month resource for both mentors and mentees, this resource focuses on self-reflection cycles of growth and goal-setting, including self-care strategies. Additionally, the handbook focuses on evidence-based practices in special education tying resources to the High Leverage Teaching Practices (Council for Exceptional Children) providing templates to be adapted to local school districts for K-12 special education program use. The framework of this handbook is to provide evidence-based practices to promote inclusive special education programs where all K-12 students have equity, access, and achievement. New and experienced special education teachers will learn how to effectively promote and integrate inclusive special education programs, emphasizing that special education is not a “place” but instead a “service” comprised of intensive support, collaboration, and accessibility.

The Educators’ Guide to Whole-school Wellbeing addresses challenges faced by schools wanting to improve wellbeing. While many schools globally now understand the need to promote and protect student wellbeing, they often find themselves stuck – not knowing where to start, what to prioritise, or how to implement whole-school change. This book fills that gap. This book provides companionship through rich stories from schools around the world that have created wellbeing practices that work for their schools. It guides educators through processes that help create individualised, contextualised school wellbeing plans. With chapters addressing ‘why wellbeing?’, ‘what is "whole school?"’, change dynamics, measurement, staff wellbeing, coaching, cultural responsiveness, and how to build buy-in, it is the first of its kind. Balancing research and practice for each topic with expert practitioner and researcher insights, this book gives schools access to best-practice guidance from around the world in a user-friendly format, designed for busy educators. What sets the authors apart from the many school wellbeing practitioners globally is their substantial experience working alongside diverse school groups. While many have experience in one school, few work across a multitude of very different schools and clusters, giving these practising academics a unique appreciation for effective, cross-context processes.