Harnessing the potential of recently retired physics teachers to mentor new physics teachers

Three new physics teachers graduating from a university provider of initial teacher education in England were paired with a recently retired physics subject specialist teacher in order to provide informal mentoring during their first year of teaching. The aim of this was to explore if a mentoring intervention of this kind could support teacher knowledge growth of the new physics teachers and influence their retention in the teaching profession. Qualitative data from the study suggests that substantive content of the mentoring discussions that took place addressed issues of general pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge. The retired teacher mentors were enthusiastic and able to act as mentors. Suggestions emerge for ways of facilitating the mentoring.

Evolution of scientific ideas about giftedness

Currently, working with gifted children is one of the priority areas of work in the country and regions. Special attention is paid to this issue in the construction of an all-Russian system for the identification, support and development of abilities and talents in children and youth. One of the key substantive guidelines and at the same time mandatory for the implementation of state program documents in the system of working with gifted children was the federal project “Success of each child,” implemented as part of the national project “Education.” In a modern school, the issue of individualization of the educational process and the work of identifying and supporting gifted children is becoming more and more urgent - two important priorities of modern educational policy, which are closely related because, on the one hand, work on the development and disclosure of talent almost always requires an individual approach, and on the other hand, any individualization always, directly or indirectly, helps school student to believe in forces. The article analyses scientific ideas about giftedness as a set of personal characteristics that have developed independently of the will of the person himself and, especially, his teacher-mentors; the phenomenon of giftedness is considered in terms of the outstanding abilities of a particular person (child) given to him by nature and requiring timely development and targeted support through professional pedagogical tools. It is proposed to consideration of the author’s definition of an individual educational program (IOP), which involves the construction by an adult of a system of educational activity as a model of the personal world, a personal universe, which at the same time allows this person to realize potential - and is itself the product of his ideas and actions.

Promoting Optimal Induction to Beginning Teachers Using Self-Determination Theory

Reports on drop-out rates and difficulties experienced by beginning teachers require an examination of the motivational processes that characterize teachers at this stage. Support systems for beginning teachers in the induction period in Israel include a workshop and a mentoring process. This study examined how support in beginning teachers’ psychological needs by workshop facilitators and teacher-mentors in schools contributed to their optimal functioning in workshops, schools, and in teaching. Questionnaires were administered to 261 Bedouin Arab and Jewish beginning teachers. Based on structural equation modeling analysis, results indicated that support in teachers’ needs by workshop facilitators predicted a sense of competence and autonomous motivation in the workshops, which in turn predicted autonomous motivation in teaching. Autonomous motivation in teaching was also predicted by the teacher-mentors’ support and in turn predicted teachers’ sense of competence, investment in the school, and sense of self-actualization. The findings have implications regarding the conditions needed to improve the functioning of beginning teachers of various cultural groups and highlight the importance of an environment that supports teachers’ needs during their induction.

Mentoria virtual para estudantes de medicina em tempos de covid-19

Introduction: Throughout the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, schools had to adopt social distancing and remote learning, which, according to recent studies suggest an increase in depression, anxiety and behavioral disorders among university students. Medical training, which has a heavy load of psychological issues had to face this aggravating factor, reinforcing the need for support actions for students, such as mentoring programs. Mentoring programs offer empathetic and developmental support that encourages self-care, well-being and resilience. Experience report: A group of teacher-mentors from a medical school adapted the mentoring activities to a remote model, offering them to upper-level students who had already participated in mentoring, and, separately, to students who were newly enrolled in the medical course. In the remote format, the mentoring proposal was maintained as a “place of conversation”, but on a digital platform. The technical follow-up was carried out by remote meetings of the group of teacher-mentors, and consultation with students through a self-administered online questionnaire. The data obtained were submitted to content analysis. Discussion: From March to December, 109 virtual mentoring meetings were held. The students considered the meetings satisfactory in terms of the quality of discussions, the mentors’ attitudes and the emotional environment. The interactive development varied among groups, but it was observed to be easier in the groups of upper-level students. Among the newly-enrolled students, the recurring topic was the fear of poor performance in the tests, losing the semester, or not learning. Upper-level students highlighted the difficulties of adapting to remote learning and organizing their activities, and the decrease in practical activities. All groups reported fear of the pandemic, of death, of the worsening of parents’ financial situation, and sadness about the loss of relatives to COVID-19. It drew the attention of the mentors the fact that the students, even in a welcoming space, kept the cameras turned off. Conclusion: For mentors and students, virtual mentoring worked as an important student support system. Upper-level students and first-year ones reported feeling cared for, supported and grateful, suggesting that the meetings allowed a good interaction and produced beneficial effects. A limitation of this study was the duration of the experiment. Therefore, it is recommended that the research be maintained.

Virtual mentoring for medical students in the Covid-19 times

Introduction: Throughout the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, schools had to adopt social distancing and remote learning, which, according to recent studies suggest an increase in depression, anxiety and behavioral disorders among university students. Medical training, which has a heavy load of psychological issues had to face this aggravating factor, reinforcing the need for support actions for students, such as mentoring programs. Mentoring programs offer empathetic and developmental support that encourages self-care, well-being and resilience. Experience report: A group of teacher-mentors from a medical school adapted the mentoring activities to a remote model, offering them to upper-level students who had already participated in mentoring, and, separately, to students who were newly enrolled in the medical course. In the remote format, the mentoring proposal was maintained as a “place of conversation”, but on a digital platform. The technical follow-up was carried out by remote meetings of the group of teacher-mentors, and consultation with students through a self-administered online questionnaire. The data obtained were submitted to content analysis. Discussion: From March to December, 109 virtual mentoring meetings were held. The students considered the meetings satisfactory in terms of the quality of discussions, the mentors’ attitudes and the emotional environment. The interactive development varied among groups, but it was observed to be easier in the groups of upper-level students. Among the newly-enrolled students, the recurring topic was the fear of poor performance in the tests, losing the semester, or not learning. Upper-level students highlighted the difficulties of adapting to remote learning and organizing their activities, and the decrease in practical activities. All groups reported fear of the pandemic, of death, of the worsening of parents’ financial situation, and sadness about the loss of relatives to COVID-19. It drew the attention of the mentors the fact that the students, even in a welcoming space, kept the cameras turned off. Conclusion: For mentors and students, virtual mentoring worked as an important student support system. Upper-level students and first-year ones reported feeling cared for, supported and grateful, suggesting that the meetings allowed a good interaction and produced beneficial effects. A limitation of this study was the duration of the experiment. Therefore, it is recommended that the research be maintained.

Indigenous Teacher Education Is Nation Building: Reflections of Capacity Building and Capacity Strengthening in Idaho

This article discusses the efforts of the Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (IKEEP), at the University of Idaho, a predominately white institution (PWI) of higher education, and its struggle to create space in higher education for intentional support of Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and Tribal nation building through the preparation of Indigenous teachers. In doing so, we examine the contentious and local work of reimagining education, from the bottom up and top down, to develop leaders to serve the needs of Indigenous youth and communities through the vehicle of mainstream institutions. With data from a multiyear ethnographic documentation, we examine the experiences of IKEEP program administration, teacher mentors, and students through the conceptual lens of Tribal nation building in higher education. Our findings underscore how teacher education programs at PWIs need to engage in a radical shift toward seeing Indigenous teachers as nation builders and to prioritize the infrastructure and programmatic collaboration to support them and their communities as such.

Análisis de datos cualitativos a través del sistema de tablas y matrices en investigación educativa

Este artículo tiene como objetivo aportar sistemas de análisis cualitativo de los datos generados a partir de la información obtenida en entrevistas de grupos focales y grupos de discusión como método de aprendizaje compartido y con carácter conversacional. Se han llevado a cabo entrevistas con dos grupos de expertos en educación, por una parte grupos focales formados por 4/5 profesores-asesores de centros de profesorado; por otro lado grupos de discusión formados por 4/6 profesores-mentores. Se ha utilizado un grupo de cada estrategia grupal para el análisis cualitativo de los datos, siendo los tópicos utilizados en los grupos focales “Ventajas e inconvenientes de la participación de centros educativos en redes escolares” y en los grupos de discusión “Identificación de obstáculos y barreras en el proceso de asesoramiento a docentes principiantes”. En ambos casos se ha profundizado en la conversación sobre sus propias experiencias profesionales siendo analizadas con sistemas de tablas y matrices de las cuales proponemos dos modelos. Se concluye la necesidad de utilizar modelos rigurosos de análisis sistemático de la información obtenida con el objetivo de construir teorías sólidas por parte de los entrevistados sobre los tópicos a tratar en experiencias compartidas para la construcción del conocimiento. This article aims to provide qualitative analysis systems of the data generated from the information obtained in interviews of focus groups and discussion groups as a method of shared and conversational learning. Interviews have been carried out with two groups of experts in education, on the one hand focus groups formed by 4/5 teachers-consultants of teaching centers; on the other hand discussion groups formed by 4/6 teacher-mentors. A group of each group strategy has been used for the qualitative analysis of the data, the topics being used in the focus groups “Advantages and disadvantages of the participation of schools in school networks” and in the discussion groups “Identification of obstacles and barriers in the process of advising beginner teachers”. In both cases, the conversation about their own professional experiences has been deepened, being analyzed with systems of tables and matrices of which we propose two models. It concludes the need to use rigorous models of systematic analysis of the information obtained with the objective of building solid theories by the interviewees on the topics to be treated in shared experiences for the construction of knowledge.