Mentoring As A Resource For Professional Development Of Teachers

Abstract

In the context of growing uncertainty in the implementation of systematic reforms and transformations in the field of education, the problem of attracting young teachers to school is becoming urgent. The main idea of the article is the authors' statement that various formats of modern mentoring in the pedagogical environment are promising for securing young teachers in the profession. Mentoring contributes to the translation of the value-semantic attitudes of the teaching profession from experienced teachers to young people, affects the adaptation of university graduates in an educational organization. The purpose of the study is, based on the study of foreign and domestic theory and practice of education, to characterize the main trends in the development of mentoring activities. Methodology, methods and techniques are as follows. A comparative analysis of foreign and domestic literature on positive mentoring practices, a survey of teachers are aimed to identify attitudes to the problem of mentoring, the forms of its organization. The results are systematized main approaches that exist in European countries to the development of mentoring programs. There are analyzed data of the TALIS-2013 survey on mentoring in Germany, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, Montenegro, etc. We characterized the conditions that affect the effective development of mentoring activities: state participation in the development of mentoring programs; the presence of a system of moral incentives for mentors; training of mentors in the system of additional education; monitoring and self-assessment of educational deficits and their replenishment in the mentoring dyad; stable internal motivation for mentoring activities.

Keywords: Vocational training, teacher education, mentoring, professional development, conditions for the development of mentoring

Introduction

Background

Modern education is rapidly developing in response to social challenges. The problem of securing teaching staff in profession becomes urgent for all countries in the context of modern reforms and transformations in the field of education. The necessary sphere of pedagogical universities’ graduates is in isolation from the social environment of the educational organization. Moreover, the young teacher begins his professional career in the "school of uncertainty" (Asmolov, 2015), the school that prepares for life in the uncertain conditions of a non-standard changing world. The phenomenon of the teacher’s social status of uncertainty in modern conditions, its functions, technologies and content of pedagogical activity actualizes the issue of supporting the process of young teachers’ adaptation in school in order to consolidate them in profession. For this very reason, the problem of mentoring in education has been actively raised at different levels of management in recent years. Taking into account the strategic guidelines, development of this idea is possible if there are integral mentoring programs, which will be a key element of integral education development systems aimed at development of the labor market and personnel policy of the area.

Status of a problem

The regulatory framework of the research is the National Project of the Russian Federation "Education", the Order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation (2019) "About the approval of the methodology (target model) of mentoring students for organizations that carry out educational activities in general education, additional general education and secondary vocational education programs, using the best practices of experience exchange between students". The emphasis in this case is also on the fact that each regional educational system should have local mentoring programs that take into account personnel interests of the territory and the specifics of educational organizations’ performance.

Analysis of foreign experience in development of mentoring

Mentoring practices in European countries

It is possible to evaluate the problems of mentoring and working with teaching staff of pedagogical universities’ graduates analyzing effective models and forms that were developed in some European countries in the documents of the European Commission's Guidelines for Policy Makers. Adaptation of young teachers is carried out "as a gradual process, including basic education, an introductory stage in the profession and continuous professional development" (European Commission Staff Working Document SEC…, 2010). Initial teacher education (ITE) involves smooth transition to professional activity. If an educational organization has built relationships with a university graduate properly, then the introductory stage of professional practical activity will contribute to consolidation of teachers in the profession. According to educational analysts, work with young teachers should be within view of all managers, who are interested in stable work of teaching teams without exception.

Practice of adapting beginning teachers in educational organizations in many European countries is based on state programs and projects, which is interesting and important for development of the mentoring system in domestic education. Young teachers go through the so-called "induction", an introductory stage that has many organizational models when applying for a job in an educational institution in almost two-thirds of European countries. The introductory stage (course) is aimed at performing tasks related to professional activities of beginning teachers and activities of experienced teachers. Beginning teachers receive personal help, support, and advice. Such measures are short-term (from a few days to a few weeks) and are usually provided by individual schools for all new teachers (both inexperienced and inexperienced).

The introductory stage is limited to mentoring in some countries. This is the case in Hungary, Portugal, Montenegro, and Serbia. Depending on the requirements of the land, this course lasts from 1 to 3 years in Germany. The introductory stage is conducted after competitive exams for employment in France and Luxembourg. But the teacher receives a full qualification before. The introductory stage applies only to trainees hired by the Ministry in Slovenia. The introductory stage is organized at a local or school level, and mentoring is mandatory in Sweden. Introductory stages, if they exist, are usually available to all first-time teachers who received public education. Almost 60% of teachers in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom said they had taken part in the official introductory program when they started their professional career in the TALIS survey. Less than 30% of teachers in Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway participated in the induction program. The content work implemented at the introductory stage is not developed systematically everywhere. But the appeal to mentors is available to everyone (European Commission Staff Working Document SEC…, 2010).

Mentoring support is usually understood as professional assistance to young teachers from more experienced colleagues. However, in recent years, mentoring has also been used if the teacher has been out of the profession for a certain time due to various circumstances. Colleagues’ support helps to eliminate educational deficits. Mentoring is most often assigned to young teachers who have received teacher education in countries with mandatory introductory courses. Teachers receive mentors after passing the induction stage in Poland and Ireland. Mentoring is very common in many countries where there is no formal induction model, namely in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland. According to the TALIS-2013 study, it is possible to judge the scale of mentoring. It is considered as a form of support for qualified beginning teachers. The proportion of teachers in the EU under the age of 30 who have mentors is 28.2%. Mentors are usually experienced teachers who are appointed by the head of the school. An important factor in their appointment is their own participation in the introductory stage when they started teaching for the first time. Many countries developed a system of special mentors’ training amongst teachers. For example, the project "Mentoring Support for Teachers starting their Profession" (2015), developed by business leaders and the Ministry of Education, was aimed at developing methodology for mentoring in the country in the Czech Republic. Mentors among teachers receive special training at the university on the program of additional education (160 hours) in Estonia. When appointing them, three years of experience in their own activities is important. The mentoring system is supported by a special training course on the Internet organized as part of the National Introductory Program for Teachers (NIPT) in Ireland. The Latvian project "Innovative and practical training of teachers and mentors: professional development" is well known. More than 1000 mentors of the teaching profession have been trained thanks to it. There are special training programs for mentors in Montenegro for everyone (European Commission Staff Working Document SEC…, 2010).

Thus, the analysis of the European practice of teachers’ professional development reveals common features and trends in consolidation of teachers in the profession. Mentoring and support of beginning teachers is recognized as an important factor in development of professionalism.

Foreign researchers about trends in mentoring

Taking into consideration the large number of sources and literature on mentoring in foreign literature, we will focus on those that are close to the idea of our study and reveal mentoring as the process that enriches and influences professional development of mentors and students. Thus, several researchers define the mentoring process as voluntary partnership between a mentor and a mentee (Petrovska et al., 2018; Rudenko et al., 2020). The mentor tries to improve skills of the beginning teacher that he has already developed in this process. Confidentiality, accessibility, openness, optimism, efficiency, respect are the principles that determine the process of this interaction. The authors believe that the mentoring process is beneficial both for the newly appointed teacher, who draws on the experience and ideas of his colleagues, and for the mentor, who is given the opportunity to understand his own teaching practice, which contributes to enrichment of his professional skills, as part of working with a new colleague at school. Researcher Alabi (2017) shares this point of view noting that mentoring is an important means of developing an educational organization. On the one hand, it motivates the young teaching staff. On the other hand, mentors try to be a role model and strive for self-development. But it is only possible when the relationship between the mentor and the mentee is based on trust and is aimed at mutual assistance. Australian researcher Hudson (2013) considers mentoring as one of the options for implementation of reform measures into the education system, "an underutilized and cost-effective way to involve teachers into professional development" (p. 774). Despite the obstacles, which include the lack of time for mentoring due to the training load, mentoring affects professional development as effective and productive management of the mentor's time. He believes that mentoring should be recognized as professional development. His idea: "investments in mentors’ professional development can help to create pedagogical potential for both mentors and mentees" (Hudson, 2013, p. 775) sounds in unison with the authors mentioned above. Postholm (2012) aimed at the professional development of teachers after they complete basic pedagogical training in his research. He considers cooperation of a young teacher with an experienced teacher to be one of the important criteria for improving the profession. The teachers who participated in his research stated that working with a mentor supported their enthusiasm for teaching and learning, and helped to transform theory into practice. Izadinia’s (2015) conclusions about formation of teachers’ professional identity in an educational organization are interesting. The results of the research lead to the statement that the relations that arise between a mentor and an intern affect development of interest in professional activities among young teachers, create a favorable psychological climate in the team and motivate employees to establish long-term relationships with the employer. The research team (Hoffman et al., 2015) concludes that mentors also need training. Mentors, as it turned out in the course of their research, are not ready for their role in most of cases. They do not know effective methods of students’ teaching that came to practice. They spend more time planning and instructing than reflexive conversations. Young teachers are frustrated when they do not get feedback. In their opinion, training of mentors is a necessary condition for effective mentoring.

Domestic experience in the study of mentoring problems

Vitvar's (2019) research convincingly reveals the idea of mentoring importance for experienced teachers and those who are just beginning their pedagogical path. The modern teacher and educator are interested in mastering new formats of pedagogical mentoring that are promising and potentially related to resources for professional development, personalized professional development in joint educational activities, and formation of their image at the municipal level (pp. 43-44).

Authors Chelnokova and Tyumaseva (2018) define mentoring as a special mission in relation to the mentee. Its essence is that the transfer of such qualities as spiritual, intellectual, sometimes physical and material. Personal qualities: the ability to speak, listen, want to interact, tact, correct goal setting, confidence in the truth and correctness of their work (p. 11) are invariably joined to professionalism and experience of a mentor. Researcher O. N. Shilova revealed that young teachers did not always strive to turn to experienced, even authoritative colleagues. Young colleagues are often skeptical of any authorities. So there is no hope for reverent listening to the words of the pedagogical guru by young teachers either (as cited in Chelnokova & Tyumaseva, 2018, p. 204). Therefore, the functioning mentoring system is undergoing internal and external monitoring. Regional mentoring programs and projects are emerging at the present stage. The author confirms that implementation of mentoring as a way to accompany a young teacher when entering the profession and its versatile development requires co-organization of different mentoring models and implementation of different types of mentoring depending on the difficulties and needs of the young specialist, the capabilities of a school, district or a city (Shilova et al., 2018, p. 205). Ichetovkina (2019) suggests organizing the need for development of the system of young teachers’ mentoring in the area that should take into account pedagogical traditions and national culture in her work. She identified the problem of insufficient development of information and methodological base that would contribute to creation of local documents for an educational organization in the field of mentoring (p. 99) in connection with the analysis. Seliverstova and Belyaeva (2019), analyzing mentoring models in the regions, emphasizes that improving efficiency of the young and experienced professionals’ work, taking into account introduction and application of modern mentoring models in organizations (p. 113). The existence of a well-thought mentoring system in the area can be considered not only as an effective form of support for young people, but also as a variant of horizontal career development of a teacher-mentor, contributing to elimination of educational deficits on both sides. The structure of the regional model may include pedagogical universities (Chernyavskaya & Danilova, 2019). Graduates or students’ undergoing practical training are constantly accompanied by university teachers, and the higher education institution constantly monitors the success of its activities. It has an opportunity to adjust the professional training process depending on the identified difficulties (Chernyavskaya & Danilova, 2019). Moreover, a number of researchers are convinced that additional professional education organized by universities is necessary to train experienced teachers for implementation of mentoring activities (Osipov & Irismetova, 2019, 2020). People engaged in mentoring should have certain professional, psychological and pedagogical competencies.

Problem Statement

The analysis of sources in this area leads us to the problem of how to organize effective mentoring, which would be the driver of professional development. Most likely, mentoring should be comprehensive and motivating for both experienced and young teachers. Educational deficits are eliminated through mentoring on both sides. So both sides should be in the focus of attention. In this regard, it is necessary to pay close attention to the problem on the part of state and methodological services, to introduce additional educational programs for mentors, and to stimulate their activities. Behavioural effects for each of the parties are possible only when they are socially and professionally approved, and teachers involved in this process will see a real practical result from their activities.

Research Questions

The promotion of this idea will be successful if the following questions are answered.

1. What "lessons" from domestic and foreign experience can contribute to development of mentoring in the system of teacher education?

2. What is the attitude to mentoring among teachers?

3. What conditions should be created at the municipal level for the institution of mentoring to develop throughout the vertical of the regional education system?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this article is to identify the main trends, conditions and forms of mentoring development in the domestic education system in comparison with international experience

Research Methods

Theoretical and empirical methods

To test the research hypothesis, we used theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis of domain information) and empirical methods (expert methods, survey, methods of mathematical statistics, content analysis). To substantiate the ideas that formed the theoretical basis of the study, a comparative analysis of foreign and domestic scientists’ works was carried out. The comparative analysis of publications and scientific literature allowed us to systematize the leading ideas and practical experience of effective mentoring in teacher education, to formulate the conditions for development of mentoring activities in elaboration and implementation of mentoring programs. More than 55 sources included in the RSCI scientific citation database and international citation systems were studied for this purpose.

Proceedings and description of the experiment

Experimental confirmation of the data introduced in the article was carried out by 1) identifying the area of difficulties in professional activities of young teachers; 2) identifying a professional position of experienced teachers and their readiness to implement the function of a mentor; 3) analyzing judgments of young teachers about the role of a mentor and the forms of interaction with him. The above mentioned positions were identified by the questionnaire method, and the answers to the questions were analyzed. The conducted empirical research allowed us to get answers to the questions of interest that are important for further research. A survey was conducted among 147 young teachers (primary school teachers and subject teachers, working experience of young professionals from 1 to 3 years, age from 19 to 30 years) from 24 urban and rural schools (primary and secondary); 140 mentors (teachers with work experience from 10 to 52 years and aged from 33 to 73 years). In addition to the basic data (school, gender, age, position, work experience), the questionnaire contains closed-type questions – an assessment scale by which teachers determine the level of research expectation parameters, as well as open-type questions on the essence of working with a mentor. Then the answers were ranked by the same respondents according to their significance (10-point scale).

Findings

We will turn to the results obtained in the course of the study, which was aimed at finding out the educational deficits and difficulties among young teachers. The data obtained as a result of the survey will become objective foundation for building the forms, methods and content of mentoring activities. The figure shows the types of difficulties, which young teachers experience (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Results of answers to the question "What knowledge, abilities, skills or abilities did you lack in the initial period of pedagogical activity?" (%)
Results of answers to the question "What knowledge, abilities, skills or abilities did you lack in the initial period of pedagogical activity?" (%)
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Indirect observation carried out in the process of professional development, in which teachers had to decide on the choice of relevant courses for them, supplemented the problem under study. Young teachers were asked to evaluate and rank relevant courses for them in the process of professional development from 1 to 10 (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Rating of selection of practice-oriented seminars to improve their professional competence
Rating of selection of practice-oriented seminars to improve their professional competence
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Didactic aspects of pedagogical activity and interpersonal communication take leading positions in the rating of a young professional’s complex problems. According to the respondents, the most problematic one was conflict-free interaction with students and their parents (38.3 %), calendar and thematic planning of educational work (25.5%); methods of conducting extracurricular activities (23.4%) in the organization of the educational process. We will consider the results of the survey that identified the needs of novice teachers in mentoring and the opinions of mentors about this need now (Table 1).

Table 1 - Results of the survey "From whom do you expect support and help if you experience difficulties in professional teaching?"
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Young teachers expressed an attitude to mentoring as necessity (91.5%). Only 8.5% are not sure that it is important. However, the mentors were less optimistic about this issue. Only 70 % are convinced of the need of a mentor for a young teacher. 20 % felt that it is not important, and 10 % found it difficult to give an assessment. Mentors want to see a young specialist who can deal with problems independently at the same time (52.5%). The teachers’ opinion about the forms of mentoring is interesting. Both young teachers and mentors expect less help from virtual communities, from university teachers, from the methodological services of the district, college, from the school of a young teacher. Mentors prefer the school of a young teacher and the methodological services of the district – 37.5 and 52.5%, respectively (27.7% and 38.3% of the corresponding young teachers’ responses) in this case. Virtual communities and university teachers were the least popular among the subjects of support (up to 30 % among both young teachers and mentors). According to the results of the survey, we can see that the emphasis on the need for almost all the proposed support measures is more expressed among mentors than among young teachers. At the same time, there are practically no differences in opinions about the importance of mentoring activities. Its significance is highly evaluated among all categories of respondents.

Conclusion

Discussions

The second condition is associated with the creation of open educational environment in each educational organization in which there is a place for educational initiatives, educational activity of both mentors and trainees. Educational organizations are placed in a situation of creating models and mentoring programs within their competence, choosing methods and forms of interaction between teachers and young professionals, taking into account the conditions of the organization. In our opinion, this process should be based on the existing domestic and foreign experience and rely on the following stages of work when creating local programs and models. They are formation of a subject teachers’ base and class teachers who have a desire to be mentors; training of mentors in the system of additional education; formation of mentoring pairs based on the principles of voluntariness and personal interest. This also includes definition of individual terms and an individual mentoring plan; development of incentives to achieve positive results of mentoring activities informing the professional community about the professional achievements of the mentor and the young teacher.

The third condition is aimed at developing methods for stimulating mentoring activities in professional community. In our opinion, development of mentoring can be successful if the area implements the rating of mentoring teams belonging to the same institution. It promotes mentoring through conferences, festivals, and forums. It is possible to implement the system of multifunctional mentoring: a mentor-subject teacher, a mentor-tutor (individual support); a mentor-coach (success coach); a mentor-mentor. The conditions for development of mentoring can be clarified and supplemented taking into account the traditions and peculiarities of the area. But their understanding and constant analysis of this activity will contribute to launch of regional programs and their successful functioning. It will become a reserve for the professional development of a young teacher.

Conclusions

The mentoring process is particularly important for teachers who are in the beginning of their career. Hence the importance of interaction between beginning teachers and mentors, who will be able to use their own knowledge, skills and practical experience to introduce beginning teachers into the teaching profession and school life. The mentoring process creates a number of prerequisites for professional development of a beginning teacher and a mentor teacher. Voluntary partnership benefits both the newly appointed teacher and the mentor, who, as part of working with a new colleague at school, is given the opportunity to reflect on their own teaching practice. An accomplished teacher gives a professional start to a young teacher by sharing not only their didactic and extracurricular experiences, but also their skills and relationships. The professionalism of mentors should be supported by their additional professional development in this area. A variety of reflexive interaction practices, rather than instruction, is the essence of professional mentoring. An important direction for development of this issue is to conduct a large-scale study of the expanding practice of domestic education in the field of mentoring in terms of methods and forms of partnership development in the future. This will not only contribute to enrichment of educational activities, but also bring professional pedagogy closer to creation of a professional mentor standard, substantiating the methodological foundations of his work functions. It is important that a young mentor teacher will be able to find the right solution in any difficult situations, believe in their own strength, gain experience, and make it their own property in the process of engaging in interaction with a mentor. Thus, the modern educational space – the "school of uncertainty" - can be an objective factor in formation of a new generation of teaching staff based on partnerships and mentoring.

Acknowledgments

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-013-00126 А.

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06 December 2021

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Rudenko, I. V., & Sarkisova, I. V. (2021). Mentoring As A Resource For Professional Development Of Teachers. In E. Bakshutova, V. Dobrova, & Y. Lopukhova (Eds.), Humanity in the Era of Uncertainty, vol 119. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 394-404). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.12.02.49