Online Mentoring as a Tool for Professional Development and Change of Novice and Experienced Teachers

Abstract

This chapter examines the results of an investigation carried out by the researchers from a Brazilian public institution and experienced teachers (mentors) that aimed to produce knowledge on teacher professional development and learning, investigate educational processes of mentors interacting with novice teachers by e-mail, evaluate the continued education methodology adopted, and contribute to existing knowledge on online continued teacher education. The main sources of data were email communications between mentors and novice teachers, the mentors’ and novice teachers’ reflective journals, and the researchers’ observations from weekly meetings between the mentors and the teachers. The development of the online Mentorship Program has been a much more complex enterprise than a face-to-face equivalent program would have been because it demands entirely new logistics, but it promoted the establishment of professional and affective bonds among the participants, the broadening of professional knowledge, the mastery of online adult education technologies, and the participants’ professional growth.