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The purpose of this paper is to chronicle the efforts of a new White teacher in her first two years of teaching in an elementary school with a largely Hispanic population as she forged connections with her students’ families while drawing on continued, constructivist mentoring from her university professor. The case points to the need for new teacher mentoring programs to include some emphasis on family-teacher relationships.

The new teacher kept a weekly journal of her interactions with families over a two-year period. Notes were taken during and after mentoring sessions. Data analysis was conducted using the case analysis format designed by Miles et al. (2014).

The goal of fostering constructive family-teacher relationships was not fully realized for this teacher in her first year. Through reflections, readings, and discussions in mentoring sessions, she gradually learned to respect the wisdom and expertise of families.

As with all case studies, the results are not generalizable in a traditional sense (Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 2001); however, a larger issue can be addressed in a case (Stake, 1995). In this case, the larger issue is that White teachers working in high-poverty schools are likely to encounter differences between their cultural backgrounds and those of their students’ families. New teachers must determine how to respond in this situation, and mentoring offers support in helping them to act.

Action steps and guidelines developed by the teacher are included, along with a list of selected articles to spur discussions in constructivist mentoring sessions.

Coordinators of new teacher induction programs are encouraged to include a component in their curriculum for best practices in developing relationships with families.

The purpose of this paper is to expand the current conversation on and research into the potential use of technology as a means of transforming mentoring processes and those engaged in them. The authors examine the manner in which technology is being integrated into mentoring endeavors and the advantages and disadvantages of this tool, arguing that the particular attributes of e-mentoring make it an ideal platform for enhancing mentoring processes and outcomes through the use of new mentoring perspectives. They describe a specific mentoring perspective that could be adopted as a means of critically examining some of the opportunities and challenges of using technology as a tool for transformational mentoring, with an emphasis on mentoring in educational environments.

This conceptual paper uses a constructionist perspective to mentoring as a lens to examine how technology influences the mentoring process and investigates the implications of transformational e-mentoring for educational professionals.

The paper contends that e-mentoring may extend mentoring's horizons to include increasingly broad and diverse constellations of mentors for protégés. With proper guidance, the relationships made possible through e-mentoring can fulfill many mentoring functions and transform both mentors and protégés as they learn from one other.

Other than descriptions of mentoring programs that use technological tools, very little research on the outcomes of e-mentoring is available. The paper calls for a greater focus on the outcomes of e-mentoring in future research.

The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of e-mentoring, presents recommendations for using new technologies to enhance mentoring programs in education and argues for the need to reconsider the purposes and structures of such programs.

The paper lays the groundwork for a better understanding of technology's role in mentoring in today's complex, rapidly changing knowledge society.

The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of participants regarding a blended learning training course in Chile (and its e-learning adaptation due to the COVID-19 pandemic) for mentor teachers (MTs). The MT learns theoretical elements of mentoring and in parallel accompanies a newly qualified teacher while receiving support from an online tutor. Opinions are presented from MTs and accompanied teachers (ATs) about the contribution, format and methodology of the course.

A program evaluation with mixed methodology was used. Online questionnaires were sent to MTs and ATs at the end of the course. Returned questionnaires totaled 98 MTs and 20 ATs for the blended learning version and 75 MTs and 54 ATs for the e-learning format. In addition, 11 post-course interviews were conducted in three schools with MTs, ATs and their school leaders.

The course contributed to the development of mentoring skills. Participants highlighted the importance of the face-to-face component of both versions. The theoretical–practical methodology used was positively evaluated. Support and feedback provided to MTs by the online tutor was important for developing skills.

Results are part of a case (n = 247), so general statements cannot be made about the population.

While this program evaluation focuses on a specific context, the results can contribute to the design of effective MT online training courses in other contexts and countries, given the limited body of research on this type of experience.

The course provided is described in detail, which may be useful when designing similar mentor education courses in other contexts.

Mentoring is widely recognised as an effective strategy for supporting the professional learning of teachers and student teachers across different educational contexts. Yet, its effectiveness in initial teacher education (ITE) may be more widely conceived to take account of mentoring as a cultural practice, contributing to a change of professional learning habits and relationships towards collegiate and collaborative reflexivity. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of mentoring experiences between teachers and student teachers, how these are embedded within the established professional learning culture of the school and the opportunities for mentoring to affect professional learning.

Set within the context of a teacher education reform project in Scotland, involving student teachers, mentors and university tutors, the study adopted a critical constructivist theory stance to explore mentoring relationships. A sequential mixed methods approach informed the collection and analysis of data.

Quantitative data point to a diversity of experiences of mentoring amongst teachers and student teachers. Qualitative data provide a nuanced account of participants’ views of their mentoring experiences, pointing to opportunities for revisiting assumptions about learning in the classroom as well as questioning established professional learning patterns.

The authors conclude that mentoring relationships cannot be disentangled from a critical interrogation of the modes of relationships and values supporting professional learning in ITE. Practical implications centre upon preparation and resources to develop mentoring as a tool for learning, embedded within the professional culture of the school.

This study reframes the concept of mentoring as a practice that does not simply reinforce professional expectations but seeks to redefine teacher professional learning, pedagogy and social relationships in school contexts.

This paper aims to determine the impact of mentorship on the development of self-directedness among beginner teachers in their initial years of teaching.

The researcher adopted a positivist paradigm to explore the situation of concern. Quantitative research was conducted, involving the collection and analysis of numerical data. Two closed-ended structured questionnaires were utilised, derived from the 40-item self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLRS) developed by Fisher and King, and a pre-determined questionnaire by Glazerman focused on the first-year teaching experience, induction and mentoring of beginner teachers.

Beginner teachers merely relying on the knowledge obtained from their studies is insufficient to achieve a satisfactory level of self-directedness when starting a teaching career. Most beginner teachers faced significant challenges in their early years of teaching due to the absence of mentoring support. In addition, most indicated that they resume their teaching duties and rely on their district for general support, guidance and orientation. Finally, the results have shown that mentoring positively impacts beginner teachers’ self-directedness.

The first limitation was that this study was narrowed to one South Africa University part-time B.Ed honours students working as beginner teachers in different provinces at primary and secondary schools. As a result, the findings of this research might be interpreted by some critics as one-sided and not representative of the views of most beginner teachers in South Africa who are working. The second limitation of this study is the sample size. In this study, 222 responses were received. As a result, the findings of this research might be considered not representative of the target sample size.

The presence and effective implementation of mentoring programmes in schools can positively impact beginner teachers' professional development and retention during their first years of teaching.

We contend that our research holds significance for international readership as it aims to garner attention towards potential research endeavours in diverse settings concerning mentorship programs for beginner teachers, specifically promoting self-directed learning. Our research offers opportunities to compare our findings with studies conducted in more comprehensive, comparative contexts and foster research possibilities in broader, contrasting contexts.

Based on the findings of this research, the availability and effective use of mentoring programmes would significantly affect beginner teachers' self-directedness, improve their retention rate and alleviate their teaching challenges. This study was the first research on the perceptions of the influence of mentoring on the self-directedness of beginner teachers.

Within teacher education, many experienced in-service teachers routinely mentor pre-service teachers during teaching practicums. Notwithstanding the benefits pre-service teachers are meant to experience from these mentor–protégé relationships and experiences, recent research has demonstrated that mentors, too, may experience some (oftentimes unintended) potential benefits. The purpose of this paper is to further investigate such potential benefits within a Canadian secondary school physical education (PE) context.

The researchers employed a qualitative case study methodology. The three primary data sources included field observations/notes, journals and interviews. More specifically, over a ten-week period, the researchers made 26 field visits, observing two mentors’ interactions with five protégés before, during, and after PE class instruction; collected the two mentors’ ten journal entries, all made in response to researcher-provided writing prompts; and interviewed the two mentors, both individually and together.

The mentor teachers viewed the mentor–protégé relationship/experience as meaningful professional development, recognizing that it approximated a professional learning community. Relatedly, the mentor teachers experienced professional growth with respect to their own teaching identity and teaching practice.

This research could inform those who structure and/or coordinate mentoring research within teacher education programs so that they might place a more purposeful focus upon the potential and/or idealized outcomes for mentors (as well as for protégés). Given the single case study methodology, this research may lack generalizability to other educational contexts.

This research adds to the emerging body of research that investigates how mentoring may provide benefits to mentors. More specifically, this research suggests benefits to mentors relate, especially, to their own teaching identity and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the school‐based learning mentoring of a senior teacher of English in Oman, who was conducting action research into her mentoring practices while engaged in part‐time in‐service language teacher education. The senior teacher realized teachers in her school found post‐lesson discussions in English with inspectors challenging and, using video‐stimulated recall, tried to help them become more reflective.

Qualitative case study research methodology: semi‐structured interviews provide insights into the senior teacher's perceptions of her own development and professional knowledge of reflective practice and mentoring. They also provide oral accounts of her action research, written accounts of which are provided by reflective writing. Audio‐recordings and transcripts of post‐lesson discussions, triangulated with classroom observation, provide evidence of mentoring practices.

The senior teacher developed creative and flexible solutions to the challenges she faced, in the process gaining confidence and assuming mentor identity. Various factors helped, including a supportive environment, the in‐service teacher education course and engagement with video‐stimulated recall.

Despite methodological limitations, including limited observational data and use of self‐report, there are implications for socio‐cultural contexts where English has a semi‐official role in mentoring discussions and where there are moves towards reflective models of teacher development.

Video‐stimulated recall may be a particularly effective tool for supporting learning mentoring in contexts where loyalty to the “in‐group” encourages sharing. To facilitate learning mentoring, the creation and maintenance of supportive environments appears crucial.

Learning mentors seeking fresh ideas, teacher educators and school managers will find this useful.

Social constructivism in teacher education highlights the importance of social interaction between preservice teachers (PTs) and their cooperating teachers (mentors) for effective mentoring. Mentoring relationship between PTs and mentors had to take a different path due to the pandemic when face-to-face education shifted to online education. The purpose of the present study was to explore online mentoring experience from the perspectives of PTs.

The methodology was qualitative. 35 randomly selected PTs were interviewed after the completion of an eight-week online school experience course. Data obtained from focus group interviews were analyzed using pattern coding.

Overall, the PTs mostly had a positive online mentoring experience. They reported receiving sufficient contextual and technological support when needed with limited professional support. However, they expected their mentors to allocate more time and their university supervisors (USs) to control practicum schools and to provide more online teaching samples and guidelines. They indicated that when they did not receive supports this was entirely due to the pandemic.

This research could inform USs and mentors who coordinate mentoring programs at schools and universities so that they might take an urgent step to restructure mentorship training, putting emphasis on the online aspect. Given the number of the participants, this research is limited in scope.

This research contributes to a body of research that investigates how online mentoring may be more effective. To create positive online mentoring relationships, following suggestions are provided to mentors: providing ongoing online support to PTs to overcome online mentoring challenges, spending an extra hour with PTs for reflection and making use of multiple contexts for PTs' professional ownership.

In recent years mentoring has been promoted as an essential, yet complex, new teacher induction dynamic. Mentors generally develop their knowledge of this role in isolation and in situ, and despite extensive research in the field few studies investigate how mentors learn. Therefore it is important to continue to examine the complex aspects of learning to mentor. The purpose of this paper is to focus on understanding the knowledge, attitudes and skills required by mentors to simultaneously focus on their own learning, new teachers’ learning and student learning.

In this New Zealand study the authors examined a pilot programme aimed at shifting mentoring practices to an educative model. Through a two-year professional development intervention, 22 participant mentors inquired into, analysed and documented their practice. Data were gathered through learning conversations, action research documentation and reflections. They were analysed using qualitative methodology.

Evident was a shift in mentoring practice from a focus on the transmission of knowledge-for-practice to inquiry into knowledge-of-practice. Change was observed after sustained and serious engagement with evidence about mentoring practices. However the shifts did not come easy, nor were they assured.

This study is not without limitations. Transferability is potentially problematic. The pilot study was well resourced, therefore expecting the implementation and outcomes to transfer to other contexts without similar resourcing maybe unrealistic.

The findings contributed to the development of a mentoring curriculum and national guidelines for mentoring new teachers.

While the findings emerged from a situated context, the theoretical and practice issues reported are matters for international attention, particularly the matter of transitioning from a well-practiced, efficient teacher mentor to an adaptive educative mentor.

Mentoring is an essential tool for teacher education, not least because it allows knowledge and experience sharing. Research findings suggest a close relationship between mentoring and the well-being of those involved. However, little is known about this relationship or the mechanisms involved. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issues.

Through an integrative literature review, important links between mentor and mentee well-being and certain aspects of mentoring are explored. The results of the review are then synthesised into a theoretical framework.

The framework developed here posits that the well-being of teachers relates to the quality of mentoring. This includes teachers' perceptions of mentoring and their decision to get involved, their contributions to functional mentor–mentee relationships and the selection and use of mentoring styles that support both mentor and mentee well-being. Moreover, the framework hypothesises that the quality of mentoring received by mentees is related to their well-being, which is in turn connected to their professional development. Most of these relationships appear to be bidirectional, meaning that mentee well-being also contributes to mentoring quality and mentor well-being. Finally, it is hypothesised that the well-being of both mentors and mentees is connected to the school context in which the mentoring takes place.

This work provides a novel, comprehensive framework for future examinations of the connections between well-being and mentoring. It synthesises the prior work on this topic by integrating findings from both the mentor and mentee perspectives into a single framework.