The term mentoring has traditionally been associated with mentors being senior in age and experience. However, as more people are entering the workforce or changing career paths at midlife, it is becoming increasingly common for the mentor to be close in age or younger than their protégé. There has been limited research that has examined the affects and outcomes of non-traditional age relationships in mentoring. The aim of the current study was to shed light on the limited existing literature surrounding the role of age in mentoring. Specifically, it aimed to investigate how age affects mentoring relationships in an academic setting, and what factors may be contributing to this. Participants consisted of students enrolled in postgraduate academic papers (Masters Dissertation, Masters Thesis and PhD) and their assigned academic supervisor. In total, 95 students and 89 supervisors were recruited from three universities with a total of 80 matched student and supervisor pairs. Two surveys were developed, one for postgraduate students and one for their academic supervisors. The student’s survey consisted of demographic questions, a measure of psychosocial and career mentor functions, and a measure of student competence. The supervisor’s survey consisted of demographic information, a measure of psychosocial and career mentor functions, and a measure of human capital investment. The results of the research indicate that within an academic setting, age difference does not have any aversive affects on the processes found in mentoring relationships. In future, mentoring literature needs to expand the conceptualization of mentors and protégés to encompass the increasing existence of varying age relationships. This would enable research to identify the challenges and unique strengths associated with age diversity in mentor relationships.

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Elementary school teachers teach a variety of subjects requiring a range of content and pedagogical knowledge, and substantial professional development to support this knowledge often is lacking (Clements & Sarama, 2008). Mentoring, an important aspect of professional development, is particularly useful for developing content and pedagogical knowledge. However, content mentoring, i.e., mentoring support in a specific content area such as mathematics, has received little attention in research on elementary teachers. To address this gap in the research, this study examines support in a master’s program that provides mentoring specifically in mathematics for elementary school teachers. Using a sequential explanatory design, this mixed methods study employs the Mentoring for Effective Mathematics Teaching (MEMT) survey with twenty-six (26) graduates of the program. The 34-item Likert scale survey reveals perceptions of their mathematics mentoring experience. In order to obtain a deeper understanding of the perceptions, four (4) of the teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. This last data source provides additional insights into the role of school context in mentoring. The results reveal qualities of mentors that inservice elementary mathematics teachers found to be important beyond mathematics content knowledge, specifically, differences in school contexts that impact elementary mathematics teachers’ mentoring experiences. The results suggest direction for future research on mentoring for elementary school teachers who teach mathematics.

This study examines the perceptions of new teachers regarding the benefits of full-time mentorship based on one particular new teacher induction program. Six new teachers and three mentors were interviewed in this study. Data indicated that full-time mentors could effectively introduce new teachers into the teaching profession if certain conditions were present. New teachers perceived the following benefits from effective full-time mentorship: increased confidence in their abilities, opportunities for non-evaluative observation and feedback, practice teaching of lessons prior to administrative evaluations, support with resources and materials specific to their situation, and the opportunity to ask critical questions in complete confidence. However, these benefits were not perceived when an unmanageable mentor-to-teacher ratio was present. One finding not prevalent in the literature was the characteristic of disassociation whereby teachers new to the profession had difficulties disassociating their professional work lives from their personal lives. The suggestion is made that further study is warranted to determine if the characteristic of disassociation could be used as a predictor of new-teachers at risk of leaving the profession. This study concludes by making eight recommendations for improving full-time mentor support and new teacher induction.

Primary science education is a key area in the curriculum, yet primary science education is still less than adequate, both in the number of teachers implementing a primary science syllabus and the quality of primary science teaching. Mentoring may support both teachers in their roles as mentors and preservice teachers as mentees to develop their primary science teaching practices. This research investigated mentoring for developing preservice teachers of primary science, which was divided into two stages. Stage 1 was concerned with the development of an instrument aimed at measuring preservice teachers' perceptions of their mentoring in primary science teaching. Stage 2 involved developing a mentoring intervention based on the literature and the instrument developed from Stage 1 of this research, and further investigated the influence of the intervention on mentoring practices. Stage 1 involved a survey instrument developed from the literature and a small qualitative study. This instrument was refined after pilot testing and then administered to 331 final year preservice teachers. Stage 2 involved pilot testing a mentoring intervention, which was then implemented with 12 final year preservice teachers and their mentors over a four-week professional experience (practicum). Using a two-group posttest only design, these 12 final year preservice teachers (intervention group) and 60 final year preservice teachers (control group) from the same university were compared after their four-week professional experience program. The survey instrument developed from Stage 1 was used to measure both the control group's and intervention group's perceptions of their mentoring in primary science teaching. Stage 1 results indicated that five factors characterised effective mentoring practices in primary science teaching and were supported by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The final CFA model was theoretically and statistically significant, that is, X2(513) = 1335, p < .001, CMIDF = 2.60, IFI = .922, CFI = .921, RMR = .066, RMSEA = .070. These factors were Personal Attributes, System Requirements, Pedagogical Knowledge, Modelling, and Feedback, and had Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of .93, .76, .94, .95, and .92, respectively. Stage 2 findings indicated that mentees involved in the intervention received statistically significant more mentoring experiences in primary science teaching on each of the 5 factors and on 31 of the 34 survey items. It was concluded that the mentoring intervention provided mentors and mentees with opportunities for developing their primary science teaching practices. Additionally, this approach simultaneously targets mentors and mentees' teaching practices and was considered economically viable.

Thesis (MArts(ReligionStudies))--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (MArts(ReligionStudies))--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Akron, School of Communication, 2007. / "December, 2007." Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed 02/27/2008) Advisor, Kathleen Endres; Faculty reader, N. J. Brown; Department Chair, Carolyn Anderson; Dean of the College, James Lynn; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 3, 2008). Directed by Carl Lashley; submitted to the School of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-192).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 3, 2008). Directed by Tom Martinek; submitted to the School of Health and Human Performance. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-142).