Professional Mentoring For Early Childhood And Primary School Practice

Informed by current theory and practice, this book adapts a practical approach to mentoring that is grounded in real life experiences. Written in an accessible style, it explores the key concepts, characteristics and considerations of mentoring and mentoring relationships in early childhood and primary education contexts. With a focus upon mentoring as it applies to practicum during initial teacher education, as well as teacher induction, different models and approaches to mentoring, including dyads, triads, peer mentoring, critical friends and communities of practice (CoP) are introduced and evaluated. Engaging with theory, practical scenarios, key learning and reflection points throughout, the book invites the reader to reflect on the mentoring process from different perspectives to build the critical skills required by mentors and mentees alike, to create or enhance a culture of mentoring within their organisation. Written from the perspective of both mentors and mentees, the book is a valuable resource for those in the Further and Higher education sectors, as well as early childhood and school-based mentors. It is relevant to experienced mentors, who may wish to affirm their existing approach to mentoring, or want to explore, discover and embrace new and improved ways of working with a mentee. This book is also essential reading for anyone interested in mentoring, providing a wealth of information, insights and effective strategies for those who may be thinking of undertaking a mentoring role.

Mentoring is a fundamental and increasingly important part of professional learning and development for teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. This book is a much-needed resource for mentors, leaders and teachers in early childhood education. It is the first of its kind: a wide ranging compilation that explores the thinking, pedagogy and practice of mentoring in early childhood education. The editors have drawn on writers from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia who have carried out recent research into mentoring, as well as experienced mentoring practitioners. Topics cover M ori perspectives, different mentoring frameworks and approaches, and mentoring for a range of educators including student teachers. The final part discusses complexities and future directions for mentoring, and seeks to engage with decision makers outside the education sector. This book fills a significant gap in the literature internationally. It comes at what has been described as a time of seismic shift in approaches to teacher learning and development, when professional mentoring is needed more than ever. Throughout the book, writers make a powerful case for improved education programs to build the professional skills, knowledge and confidence of mentors."

This book provides an introduction to the theory and practice of mentoring, coaching and supervision in the context of early childhood education and care. Written by a team of scholars from the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and the USA the book includes a range of annotated case studies to exemplify important issues from around the world. The chapters are organized around four key principles: · Embedding professional one to one support within the setting · Maximising performance and professional development · Self and collaborative reflection for leadership · Managing and leading change Topics covered include discussion of the differences and similarities between mentoring, coaching and supervision; management and leadership in early childhood settings; safeguarding and child protection. Alongside the annotated case studies each chapter also includes a summary of key points and questions for further discussion.

Developing Mentoring and Coaching Relationships in Early Care and Education is the ideal resource for anyone charged with guiding teachers as they encounter real world challenges in today's early childhood programs and can turn to this practical new resource as they work with supervisors and teacher-leaders to achieve greater professional effectiveness while bridging the gap between the vision for quality and actual practice. The book is packed with helpful reflective questions, illustrative mentoring and coaching scenarios, and ready-to-implement planning tools. The focus is on encouraging reflection on current practices in order to achieve quality programs, meet teaching standards, and promote positive outcomes for children in these times of rising standards and, in many cases, lower levels of support.

The Induction of Early Childhood Educators presents new strategies for reducing the number of educators who are leaving the field within the first five years of work. Based on new research carried out with beginning early childhood educators in British Columbia, Canada, Laura K. Doan proposes a set of new best-practices in mentoring and inducting novice early childhood educators. The book offers a clear insight into the needs, identity, challenges, joys, frustrations, isolation, triumphs and support that all new educators face. The chapters cover a range of theoretical approaches such as communities of practice, teacher efficacy, adult learning theory, and professional identity development and show how these can be applied to mentoring, observations, feedback and continuing professional development. While the primary research was carried out in the Canadian context, Doan shows how best practice can be applied elsewhere with examples from around the world.

Mentorship is a catalyst capable of unleashing one's potential for discovery, curiosity, and participation in STEMM and subsequently improving the training environment in which that STEMM potential is fostered. Mentoring relationships provide developmental spaces in which students' STEMM skills are honed and pathways into STEMM fields can be discovered. Because mentorship can be so influential in shaping the future STEMM workforce, its occurrence should not be left to chance or idiosyncratic implementation. There is a gap between what we know about effective mentoring and how it is practiced in higher education. The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM studies mentoring programs and practices at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It explores the importance of mentorship, the science of mentoring relationships, mentorship of underrepresented students in STEMM, mentorship structures and behaviors, and institutional cultures that support mentorship. This report and its complementary interactive guide present insights on effective programs and practices that can be adopted and adapted by institutions, departments, and individual faculty members.

This book describes, problematises and theorises professional practice research in a range of Australian settings to provide evidence of robust, wide-ranging and contemporary approaches to professional experience in initial teacher education. It presents the latest research and evidence from those currently involved in innovative programmes designed to provide alternatives to meet local challenges during professional experience in teacher education. As the professional experience process is framed quite differently across Australian teacher education programmes, these cross-institutional accounts of collaboration, innovation and success make a major contribution to the field, both nationally and internationally. The book was developed from a research workshop funded by an Australian Association for Research in Education grant and organised by the Teacher Education Research and Innovation Special Interest Group.

With the future of education being disrupted and the onset of day-to-day uncertainties and challenges that have to be solved quickly, teachers are now turning to professional development communities/support communities where they can share and learn about effective practices to use in the classroom. While transitioning to blended or online learning and keeping up with the technological advances in education, these communities provide an essential backbone for teachers to rely on for support and updated knowledge on what educational practices are being utilized, how they are working, and what solutions have been found for the ever-changing climate of education. Research on the benefits and use of these communities, as well as on the latest educational practices, is essential in teacher development and student learning in the current culture of a rapidly changing educational environment. The Research Anthology on Facilitating New Educational Practices Through Communities of Learning contains hand-selected, previously published research that provides information on the communities of learning that teachers are currently involved in to seek the latest educational practices. The chapters cover the context of these communities, the benefits, and an overview of how this support is a necessary tool in today’s practices of teaching and learning. While highlighting topics such as learning communities, teacher development, mentoring, and virtual communities, this book is essential for inservice and preservice teachers, administrators, teacher educators, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in how communities of practice tie into professional development, teacher learning, and the online shift in teaching.