The mentor pedagogy toolbox: An ecological systems perspective

The authors analyse a range of research on mentoring to reveal clear ‘Lessons learned’ for the mentor system. The role of mentor evolves and is inextricably linked to the specific needs of each student teacher and their relative stage of teacher development. The Gestalt approach is helpful in accenting the social process of mentoring, shining a spotlight on the intricacy of individuals as part of their environment. ‘Mentoring support is most effective when it is adjusted to the needs of student or beginning teachers’. The school-university partnership imbued mutual trust, reciprocal learning, reflective practice and ultimately, a shared, logical idea of teacher education. Culture is etymologically related to terroir, as it has at its root the Latin colere, meaning ‘to till’. The ‘Terroir of Mentoring’, using the words of Resnick. L ‘incorporates a number of linked theories that centre on the whole person and on the relationship between that person and the context and culture in which they learn’.