Peer-Group Mentoring for Teacher Development

Supporting new teachers is a common challenge globally and the European Commission has recently emphasised the need to promote a lifelong continuum of teachers’ professional development by building bridges between pre-service and in-service teacher education.
Peer-Group Mentoring for Teacher Development introduces and contextualises for an international audience, a new model for teachers’ professional development; Peer Group Mentoring, (PGM). It is based on the constructivist view of learning, the idea of shared expertise, and the ‘Model of Integrative Pedagogy’ which emphasises the integration of different forms of expert knowledge in professional development.
This book explores the theoretical and practical background for developing the peer-group mentoring model, and provides important contextual information about the Finnish school system in which it was conceptualised, and also about teacher education. It presents several empirical studies on applying the PGM model with primary and secondary school teachers in different school contexts, and outlines future challenges; examining peer-group mentoring in the framework of wider practice architectures of teacher education.
The book is an indispensable reference tool for educationalists and education researchers interested in collaborative and dialogic learning, teacher professional development and school administration.

Hannu L. T. Heikkinen is a Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Tampere, Finland, and at Charles Sturt University, Australia.
Hannu Jokinen is a researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Päivi Tynjälä is Professor in research on teaching and learning in higher education, at the Finnish Institute of the University of Jyväskylä, , Finland.

I Peer-Group Mentoring and Work-Based Learning in the Teaching Profession


1. Teacher Education and Development as Lifelong and Lifewide Learning


Hannu L.T. Heikkinen Päivi Tynjälä and Hannu Jokinen


2. Peer-Group Mentoring and the Culture of Teacher Education in Finland

Hannu L.T. Heikkinen and Jouni Välijärvi

II Empirical Studies on Peer-Group Mentoring
3. The First Years as a Teacher
Eila Estola, Leena Syrjälä & Tuuli Maunu
4. Mentoring as Sustainable School Development
Peter Johnson & Suvi Alamaa
5. Individual and Social Meanings of Mentoring
Anu Hiltula, Leena Isosomppi, Hannu Jokinen & Anu Oksakari
6. Diverse Landscapes of Mentoring
Päivi Mäki
7. Peer-group Mentoring in the Context of Transforming Local Administration
Helena Rajakaltio & Eija Syrjäläinen
8. Multiprofessional Mentoring Groups in Vocational School
Minna Ahokas
9. Experiences of PGM in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Groups
Maria Lahdenmaa & Hannu L.T. Heikkinen
10. Diversity of Mentoring
Leena Syrjälä & Eila Estola
11. Group as a Context for Peer-Group Mentoring
Saara-Leena Kaunisto, Eila Estola & Raimo Niemistö
12. Keys to Success
Sini Teerikorpi & Hannu L.T. Heikkinen

III Towards Collegial Learning

13. Future Challenges
Päivi Tynjälä, Hannu L.T. Heikkinen & Hannu Jokinen

14. Peer-Group Mentoring and the Practices of Teacher Induction
Hannu L.T. Heikkinen and Stephen Kemmis

15. International comparisons and future trends
Paivi Tynjala