Mentorystė ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigoje: mentoriaus profesinio augimo aspektas

LTMentorystė švietimo įstaigoje suprantama kaip paramos modelis, kurio kontekste reikšmingą profesinę patirtį turintis pedagogas ir profesinį kelią pradedantis ar būsimasis pedagogas bendradarbiauja siekdami pradedančiojo pedagogo profesinio augimo ir profesinės integracijos. Pagrindiniai probleminiai tyrimo klausimai: Kuo praktikuojama mentorystės veikla yra reikšminga mentoriui? Kaip praktikuojama mentoriaus veikla siejasi su paties mentoriaus profesiniu augimu? Šiame straipsnyje mentorystė ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigoje analizuojama iš mentoriaus profesinio tobulėjimo perspektyvos, siekiant atskleisti mentorystės veiklos galimybes profesiniam augimui. Darbe pristatomi kokybinio tyrimo rezultatai – išanalizuotas mentorystės veiklos turinys, sietinas su mentoriaus profesiniu tobulėjimu; ištirta mentoriaus profesinio augimo raiška. Tyrimas atskleidė, jog mentoriaus profesinis augimas reiškiasi mentoriaus vaidmens įsisąmoninimu, veiklos tobulinimu ir mentorystės santykių kūrimu, nukreiptu į pradedančiojo ar būsimojo mokytojo profesinės tapatybės formavimąsi ir profesinę integraciją. Pagrindiniai žodžiai: mentorystė, mentoriaus profesinis augimas. [Iš leidinio]

ENMentoring, as one of the key elements of teacher education, is an integral part of pre-service teaching practice. Mentoring in an educational institution is understood as a supportive model in which a teacher with significant professional experience and a pre-service teacher work together to support the professional growth and professional integration of the pre service teacher. What is the significance of mentoring practice for the mentor? How does the practice of mentoring relate to the professional development of the mentor? A review of the literature shows that the professional development aspect of mentoring activities has been little explored. This paper examines mentoring in a pre-school setting from the perspective of mentor professional growth in order to uncover the relevance of practiced mentoring activities for mentor professional growth. The aim of the study was to investigate the professional development of teacher mentors through the practice of mentoring activities in a pre-school educational institution. The study is based on transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1991), suggesting that the professional growth of a mentor teacher occurs through the transformative learning experiences of participating in mentoring. Reflective experience theory (Schön, 1987), which emphasizes reflection on performance, has been used to analyze teacher mentors' performance in terms of the challenges of mentoring. The study is based on a phenomenological research strategy. The research sample was selected on the basis of homogeneous cases – the research participants were mentor teachers from various pre-school educational institutions in Klaipėda. Data collection methods included group discussions (n=4 ) with mentor teachers (n=26) and interviews with preschool managers (n=6). Focus group interviews (group discussions) aimed to identify opportunities for mentor professional growth in mentoring, based on mentors' perceptions.Teachers were asked to share their mentoring experiences, their perceptions of the role of the mentor, to describe their mentoring practices and challenges, to rate the benefits of mentoring for their professional growth and to identify the areas where they felt their competences could be further developed. The interviews with pre-school managers aimed to shed light on the context of mentoring, including the institution's policies, resources, the organization of mentoring processes, and the selection and training of mentors. Data processing and interpretation was carried out according to Braun and Clarke's (2012) qualitative inductive thematic analysis methodology: transcribing the research records; coding the data; searching for themes answering the research questions; reviewing potential themes to assess the sufficiency of the data; defining and naming themes; and drawing conclusions from the analysis of data. Conclusions. The critical discourse on mentoring relationships, the mentor's role and the search for answers to the problem research questions in the context of professional growth reveals that the professional growth of the mentor can be related to the perception of the diversity of mentoring roles, their selection and change, the construction and reconstruction of mentoring relationships, identity, and the transformation of the mentoring processes, depending on the chosen role or the diversity of the mentoring relationship practiced. The review of the critical discourse revealed that recent mentoring research in terms of mentor professional development is characterized by an increasing emphasis on different mentoring roles and the diversity of mentoring relationships, which encourages mentor teachers to engage in learning and to transform their mentoring and educational practices.The empirical study revealed the expression of mentor's professional growth in mentoring in Klaipėda pre-school educational institutions. The results of the research revealed that there are real preconditions for the professional growth of the mentor in mentoring activities. The mentor's experience of professional development occurs in the following mentoring contexts: (1) awareness of the mentor's role; (2) achieving effective mentoring; (3) building mentoring relationships. Keywords: mentoring, mentor professional growth. [From the publication]

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