Session Information
01 SES 04 A, European Perspectives on Teacher Induction and Mentoring (Part 1)
Symposium to be continued in 01 SES 06 B
Contribution
This symposium presents research on understanding the manifestation of practices of induction and mentoring of new teachers in Europe. The symposium is organised in two sessions with eight presentations. Through these papers, diverse insights into framing practices of mentoring and induction in different countries will emerge. This diverse picture can be viewed as an ‘ecology of practices’, where induction and mentoring practices thrive and concur with other educational and social practices, forming a living, dynamically evolving whole. The idea to frame and study practices as if they were ecosystem is one of the theoretical lenses that has inspired this European network - to such an extent that the name of the network reflects this focus. The ecological perspective has been applied recently by a number of other scholars in educational research (e.g. Barnett & Jackson 2019; Godfrey & Brown 2019). The perspective applied in this symposium is based in particular on the work of Australian practice theorist Stephen Kemmis (e,g. Kemmis & Heikkinen 2012). This theory suggests that educational practices like induction and mentoring interrelate with one another in the same way as living organisms do in nature. Thus, concepts derived from ecology can be applied, with given limitations, to the study of mentoring practices. Induction and mentoring are nested within municipal, regional (van der Pers & Helms-Lorenz, 2021), national and international educational professional development practices (Helms-Lorenz et al., 2019). In other words, mentoring practices inhabit a given ‘ecological niche’ in each education ecosystem. Niches are evident for the distribution of resources and for individuals to thrive in systems they fit in best. The relevance of induction and mentoring practices and its research requires “ontological synchronization – i.e., continuous tuning to what is happening and matters at hand, and what future is being generated, including what values and judgements (practitioners, researchers, policymakers) perpetuate in society” (Akkerman, Bakker & Penuel, 2021). A sustainable mentoring system is embedded (‘nested’) within the broader educational ecosystem including the national agreements of the teachers’ working conditions (e.g. salaries, working hours etc.). The symposium focuses on analysing how mentoring can find its ‘ecological niche’ (or not) in the respective educational ecosystems. We will discuss to what extent national and regional programs are influenced by political- economical, teacher and student interests and scientific evidence.
References
Akkerman, S. F., Bakker, A. & Penuel, W. R. (2021). Relevance of Educational Research: An Ontological Conceptualization. Educational Researcher, 50 (6) , 416-424. Barnett, R., & Jackson, N. (2019). Ecologies for Learning and Practice: Emerging Ideas, Sightings and Possibilities. Milton Park: Routledge. Capra, F. (2005) “Speaking Nature's Language: Principles for Sustainability”. In M. K. Stone and Z. Barlow. (Eds.) Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (pp. 18–29). San Francisco, CA:Sierra Club Books. Godfrey, D., & Brown, C. (Eds.) (2019). An Ecosystem for Research-Engaged Schools: Reforming Education Through Research. Milton Park: Routledge. Kemmis, S. & Heikkinen, H. (2012). Future perspectives: Peer-Group Mentoring and international practices for teacher development. In: H. Heikkinen, H. Jokinen & P. Tynjälä (Eds.) Peer-Group Mentoring for Teacher Development. Milton Park: Routledge, 144-170. Helms-Lorenz, M., van der Pers, M., Moorer, P., Lugthart, E., van der Lans & Maulana, R. Supporting Beginning Teachers 2014-2019: Final report. Teacher Education department University of Groningen. Plauborg, H., Wieser, C., Petersen, K.B. & Laursen, P.F. (2022): Teachers who stay in the profession, Pædagogisk indblik, Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
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