Richard Cowen

The term ‘mentoring’ is used in many different contexts, but in order to establish a definition in the context of teacher education, we may say that ‘mentoring is typically described as a process to help develop teaching practices, involving a nurturing relationship between a less experienced and a more experienced person, who provides guidance as a role model and adviser.’ (Bigelow, 2002; Haney 1997). This definition would seem to encapsulate the essence of mentoring in teacher education and is readily applicable to the context of this research study. The mentor-mentee relationship is by definition reciprocal and collaborative in that, while the mentor provides support, feedback and information, as well as modelling appropriate practice to the mentee, the latter, in turn, engages in a dialogic process by maintaining a flow of information to the mentor in terms of their professional and personal development and concerns as they embark on their initial or early teaching career. As such, the mentor-mentee relationship can be likened to a ‘master-apprentice’ relationship – although it should be mentioned that the mentee can provide an impetus for the mentor to also develop as a more rounded professional. For example, mentoring can be seen as an essential tool of continued professional development (CPD), as the mentor might well be motivated in their role to expand their perspectives within the profession away from the bread-and-butter work of teaching in the classroom.

Richard Cowen describes how to set up listening logs to encourage independent listening practice monitored by the teacher.