MENTORING IN PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASPECT OF MENTORING

Abstract

Mentoring in an educational institution is understood as a model of support in which an educator with significant professional experience and a pre-service or future educator work together to support the professional growth and professional integration of the pre-service educator. The main research questions are: How is the practice of mentoring meaningful for the mentor? How do mentoring practices relate to the mentor's own professional development? This paper analyses mentoring in a pre-school setting from the perspective of the professional development of the mentor, in order to reveal the potential of mentoring activities for professional development. The paper presents the results of a qualitative study: the content of mentoring activities in relation to the mentor's professional development is analysed; the expression of the mentor's professional growth is explored. The study revealed that mentor professional growth is manifested in the awareness of the mentor's role, the development of performance and the creation of mentoring relationships aimed at the formation of the novice or future teacher's professional identity and professional integration.