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This article aims to contribute to a clearer understanding of the importance of mentor preparation and provide recommendations for effective mentor preparation programmes based on the literature.

A narrative review of a range of literature focussing on the importance and characteristics of effective mentor practice and preparation.

Many mentors working in educational contexts lack adequate preparation, and a shift in mentoring practice from a mentor as expert approach, which mentors are likely revert to without training, to a more collaborative relationship in line with educative mentoring is recommended. Relationship building, working collaboratively and encouraging critical reflection are essential mentoring capabilities, and can be supported by participation in effective mentoring preparation programmes. Characteristics of these programmes include: providing time for mentors to reflect on their personal capabilities and attitudes; strengthening their knowledge about mentoring and learning a range of approaches and tools.

Implications for mentor preparation include consideration of curricula that focus on the nature of effective mentoring relationships, provision of effective observation-based feedback and the facilitation of critical reflection. Blended learning models appear to have potential and organisational leaders need to recognise and value mentoring to ensure that it is prioritised.

This article makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nature of effective mentor preparation programmes.

Teacher education reform in the United States has been an ongoing theme over the past 100 years, particularly since A Nation at Risk in the 1980s, when education became increasingly politicized and less of a public good with which the American public did not tinker. These reforms have four different themes: (1) strengthening the clinical component of teacher education, (2) preparing educators with the tools needed for equity and social justice, (3) participating in heightened accountability demands, and (4) expanding alternative certification. This chapter explores these four strands of reform and concludes they are colliding forces in which the country pours time, resources, and energy. Ongoing collisions on the reform landscape produce increasingly negative consequences for teacher education, teacher recruitment, and retention and America's public schools.

The purpose of this article is to determine the parameters of the preparation process for devulcanized and pyrolytic crumb rubber modified asphalt (DCRMA) and then study the rheological and microscopic properties of DCRMA through experiments.

In this study, a new preparation process for DCRMA was developed, then the penetration, softening point and viscosity tests were employed to determine the parameters of the preparation process. The crumb rubber (CR) solubility, Fluorescence microscopy (FM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis tests were conducted to verify the devulcanized and pyrolytic effectiveness of the preparation process. Furthermore, dynamic shear rheometer and bending beam rheometer were used to characterize the high and low-temperature rheological properties of DCRMA.

The results showed that the penetration balanced the CR degradation and the virgin asphalt aging well and thus could be used as a main parameters control indicator. The CR solubility, FM and FTIR tests proved that the CR has been fully devulcanized and pyrolytic via the preparation process. The DCRMA exhibited better low-temperature and fatigue performance and lower rutting performance than the conventional crumb rubber modified asphalt (CRMA) with the same CR content. Finally, the time–temperature superposition principle could be employed for all binders in this study.

A new preparation process for DCRMA was developed.

There is a national shortage of teachers of color; only 21% of teachers are from an underrepresented group (16% Black and/or Latinx), while 79% are White (National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2019). While there are not a lot of teachers of color in today's classrooms, there is an even lower number of Black male teachers (approximately 2%) (NCES, 2022). These percentages do not mirror the K-12 student population, with 52% identifying as a student of color (NCES, 2019). Research informs us that having teachers of color, such as a Black male yields academic success, decreases suspension rates, increases college matriculation, and provides representation of positive role models for the K-12 students of color as well as White students (AACTE, 2019; Carter-Andrews et al., 2019). Teacher Preparation Programs must implement culturally responsive strategies to recruit and retain Black males into teaching. This chapter will share effective practices for recruiting, retaining, and advising Black male preservice teachers.

The purpose of this article is to unpack more deeply Essential 2: Clinical Preparation. This article offers a comparison of the first and second editions of Essential 2 and also provides resources and activities partners can use and engage in to deepen their work on the clinical preparation of teachers.

This article is being resubmitted so that it can be reprinted with the other Nine Essential articles.

The purpose of this study was constructed a behavioral observation scale for avoiding food waste from the point of view of Chinese cuisine, used as an evaluation tool to examine food waste in the process of food preparation for hospitality students in Taiwan.

The status of food handling in the preparation process was understood through a literature review and interviews. In addition, the indicators that may cause food waste behaviors were established, and the observation and self-evaluation scales of food waste behaviors in the preparation process were developed.

Avoiding water waste, removing excessive edible parts, avoiding waste on seasonings, avoiding cooking for too long and avoiding water stains in the cleaning process were considered by both the observers and the students as items for improvement in the cooking process. The results of this study will help in understanding the intervention in the teaching practice of avoiding students’ food waste behaviors.

This study can only be based on the test results of the current observation behaviors. Meanwhile, many factors need to be taken into consideration, such as the differences in the amount of knowledge students have about food waste, the differences in preparation techniques, and other different factors, which may lead to differences in the research results.

The behavioral observation and self-evaluation behavior scales of “exploring food waste behaviors in the preparation process” were developed and implemented for the current status. The differences between the results of the observation scale and the self-evaluation scale were compared. In addition, the behaviors that may cause students’ food waste were pointed out. Then, the direction of the teaching content was formulated, and the curriculum plan integrating the content of avoiding food waste into teaching was evaluated. Furthermore, the scales can be applied to kitchen staff handling food materials to understand the current situation of their food handling, which can be used as a driving tool for restaurants to reduce food waste.

This study examines what constitutes competence and how a novice becoming a competent weaver is enabled by information literacy in the fabric-weavers’ workplace landscape.

Ethnography as a research design was employed using participant observation and semi-structured interviews as the data collection techniques.

Competence constitutes the demonstration of Kente knowledge and mentorship capability enabled by information literacy through access to the on-the-loom and off-the-loom information in the Kente-weaving landscape.

This study explains how the transition from a novice weaver to a competent weaver is underpinned by information literacy.

This is one of the first studies that contribute to the understanding of information literacy in the craft workplace. The study proposes a framework for weavers' information literacy practice.

Insufficient time allocation for the bidding period occurs, causing drawbacks to both parties, the client and the bidder. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the time allocated for preparing a bid proposal as per the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) in the Sri Lankan context.

The study has adopted a mixed method approach and expert interviews and document review to detect, analyse and validate the issues, and solutions based on NCB along with the adequacy of the allocated bidding period used as main data collection tools. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed through manual content analysis and inferential analysis respectively.

Overall, 24 local issues with the existing competitive bidding process and solutions for each were identified. Among the 24 local issues, it was unanimously agreed by all interviewees that three specific issues require attention and improvement. These issues are related to the standard and incompleteness of bidding documents, inaccurate BOQ quantities measured by the consultant or the main contractor, and the excessive number of bidding document amendments by the consultant. It was revealed that a maximum of 42 calendar days (6 weeks) is sufficient for the bidding process while a minimum of 21 calendar days (3 weeks) is insufficient.

The findings of this study would be recommended that Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) understand the necessity of revising the NCB reference to the time allocated for the preparation of bids. By recognising the importance of sufficient time allocation for bid preparation, this research serves as a practical guide for authorities involved in policy formulation, aiding them in implementing revisions that align with the dynamic requirements of bidding procedures.

The purpose of this work was to study the effect of different wood surface preparations on the wetting and adhesion of coating.

In this research, six different chemical preparations to evaluate the photostability and properties of wood coating. Also, the effect of the same wood treatments on the properties of the coating, i.e. wetting, adhesion and the permeability of two types of coatings, was investigated.

As a result, benzoyl chloride and chromic acid were found to be the most effective photostabilizing preparations. Solvent-based polyurethane was more compatible with the prepared wood surfaces compared with water-based alkyd coatings.

Chemical modifications of wood surfaces affected the wetting of various coatings.

Various surface properties could be changed using preparation that affects important coating properties.

Unfortunately, the properties of transparent wood coatings used outdoors disappear through the early years of use, essentially due to the wood substrate’s photodegradation.

Wood is a widespread substrate because of its comfortable handling, availability, proper cost of preparation and its good mechanical strength because of its density. Architects and designers tend to use wood in the construction of green buildings. However, this material is disposed to weathering while using outdoors and it should be solved.

School-level leaders should not be expected to be mired in emotional turmoil and sacrifice their own health, happiness and well-being to do their jobs effectively. While the emotional aspects of school-level leadership have continued to evolve and become increasingly complex since the turn of the twenty-first century, the supports available to these individuals remain outdated, ineffective, and moribund. If mentoring, anonymous telephone support lines and other ‘old school’ approaches for supporting school leaders were still effective, they would not be struggling to deal with the emotional aspects of their work and workload. Further, there is a need to provide ‘just-in-time’ supports that are available to school-level leaders when concerns arise. Absent structural changes, isolated and individualized approaches to self-care cannot mitigate the challenges principals face or the physical, mental and emotional toll associated with their work and workload. Communal strategies and policy levers are recommended in an effort to go beyond mindfulness and other (potentially) individualistic and neoliberal approaches to self-care. This chapter also explores how principal preparation programmes and other formal professional learning opportunities are an untapped resource in terms of strengthening school-level leaders' emotional regulation capacity and building a general appreciation for the emotional aspects of school-level leadership.