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and enactments of mentoring that continue in many institutions. These reimagined
spaces of mentoring acknowledge notions of working dialogically, learning to be,
the importance of context and the possibilities for online mentoring. Together, these
reimagined spaces contribute to an understanding of the praxis of mentoring.
It is timely for the mentorship of both preservice and beginning teachers to be
considered in a more expansive way. Too often mentoring is considered as an iso-
lated activity akin to supervision, in which a designated mentor and a mentee are
given structure and time for conversations that are conceived of as an induction into
‘how we do things here’. By way of contrast, mentoring may be considered as:
- A broad activity that takes place in a wide range of contexts and arrangements
yet always involves the opening up of a communicative space in which mutual
learning takes place. - Involving the greater community of teachers. Even when it is enacted as a one-
on- one dialogue between a mentor and mentee, it is both influenced by and influ-
ences this greater community. Richer mentorship programs can be developed
through conscious involvement of this greater community. - An intersubjective activity that extends beyond the boundaries of professional
activity. A consciousness – and perhaps playfulness – around this role of mentor-
ing in developing individuals, who are learning to be, can give nuance to the
pedagogical approach of mentors and contribute to a higher quality of praxis of
preservice and beginning teachers. - Playing a role in transforming the profession through dialogic interactions as an
influential way in which knowledge, understanding and values are negotiated
and developed by teachers. A high quality of praxis in mentorship contributes to
a high quality of praxis in teaching, a base for the profession to continue to adapt,
grow and transform. - An integral part of professional experience and the process of becoming in which
a teacher learns to be.
Mentoring relationships involving preservice, early career and mentor teachers
cannot be prescriptive or defined by fixed expert-novice relationships. The learning
needs of each participant in the relationship and the context of the learning must
always be considered. Mentoring relationships are more fluid and flexible when
learning needs are met through a differentiated approach that is sensitive to educa-
tional setting in early childhood, primary school, secondary school and tertiary con-
texts. Within the various spaces for mentoring discussed in this chapter, ‘learning to
be’ emerges as an important consideration for the effectiveness, sustainability and
transformative potential of mentoring relationships.
D. Ta lbot