Need and Importance of Mentoring Program in Pre-Primary Education

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the need for a mentoring program in pre-primary education institutes, particularly focusing on the Australian context. It highlights the importance of such programs in equipping teachers with the skills to effectively utilize digital tools like ELLA apps, which are increasingly vital in modern classrooms. The report outlines a suggested mentoring program, detailing its objectives, duration, and the use of situational mentoring. It also addresses the challenges faced, such as cultural diversities between mentors and mentees, and proposes techniques to overcome these obstacles, including fostering positive relationships and effective communication. Furthermore, the report discusses methods for evaluating the program's effectiveness, emphasizing the assessment of teachers' understanding of digital tools, student engagement, and parental feedback. The conclusion underscores the benefits of mentoring programs for both teachers and students, emphasizing their role in professional development and improved learning outcomes.

PRE PRIMARY EDUCATION INSTITUTES OF
AUSTRALIA
NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF MENTORING
PROGRAM

Table of Contents
MENTORING PROGRAM FOR PRE PRIMARY EDUCATION INSTITUTES....1
Need for mentoring program.............................................................1
Suggested mentoring program.........................................................2
Challenges faced in mentoring program...........................................3
Techniques to cope up with the challenges in mentoring process...4
Evaluation of mentoring program......................................................5
References.........................................................................................................7

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
MENTORING PROGRAM FOR PRE PRIMARY EDUCATION INSTITUTES
Need for mentoring program
Most of the teachers need mentoring program to
understand the different aspects of the digital tools
so that they can teach the students in more
sophisticated manner. ELLA apps provides a digital
plate form of learning to the little children because
most of the researchers stated that attractive
learning with eye-capturing graphic make the
student more interested in learning and remove the
boredom of the classroom teaching (department,
2020).
With the help of mentoring program, the
teachers of pre-primary schools will be able to teach
the students effectively. The new teachers are not
familiar about the use of digital apps. Moreover,
experienced teachers may also sometimes find it
difficult to deal with the unique features of the digital
apps. Because of all these reasons mentoring
program is very essential to ensure about the proper
use of learning apps (University, 2020). This program
is designed to use even by those teachers who do not
have any type of formal training related to learning
the language (Spooner-Lane, 2017).
1
Chapter
1

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
Mentoring program is needed to improve the
effectiveness of the teachers by guiding them about
the use of digital apps. The mentoring program is
also enabling the teachers to learn about the
psychology of small children so that they will be able
to make the learning process enjoyable and
attractive (S White, 2017).
Suggested mentoring program
A mentoring program should be developed in
which a mentor is a group of experienced teachers
who are familiar in using the digital apps and other
learning tools for the pre-primary students of the
schools. All teachers who are teaching to primary
sections are eligible to receive mentoring program (S
White, 2017).
The major objective of mentoring program is to
make the teachers capable in handling the different
types of digital apps so that they can teach the
students in a better way by taking help of digital tools
and other learning tools (Spooner-Lane, 2017).
Only co-operative management of the schools is
required to receive the mentoring program for the
teachers. The time duration of this program is only
fifteen days. The program may be repeated after every
four months to check the progress of the teachers and
to observe the learning environment of the school
(Spooner-Lane, 2017).
2

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
The ‘Situational mentoring’ method will be used to
guide and support the teachers. In this type of
mentoring, the mentor has a specific goal to achieve in
terms of development in mentees. The resources
which are required for mentoring program are only
the digital mobile, internet connections and display
screen (C, 2020).
At the initial level, mentor introduce himself and
clarify about his objectives of mentoring so that the
mentees may have a clear idea about those knowledge
and skills which they are going to inculcate
throughout the mentoring program (L Orland-Barak,
2020).
By describing the various features of digital app
‘ELLA’ the mentor establishes a favorable
environment of learning and cultivating the essential
traits inside the teachers (department, 2020).
Challenges faced in mentoring program
Cultural diversities in the profile of mentor and
mentees are the major reason behind the difficulties
arises in the mentoring process. If the mentor belongs
from a different background then communication and
understanding problems may arises (S White, 2017).
Most of the time mentees are incapable in
understanding the guidance and instructions of
mentor because of diversified culture. The proper
implementation of digital applications is also
3

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
responsible for effective learning through mentoring
process (C, 2020).
Teachers have to be motivated towards achieving
the goals of mentoring. For achieving success in
implementation and use of digital apps, the teacher
will be able to help the students in learning different
languages and various aspects of culture of the
different countries (department, 2020).
Techniques to cope up with the challenges in
mentoring process
The positive and friendly relationship of mentor
and mentee is very helpful in achieving the real goals
of the mentoring process. Teachers will be able to
understand and implement the digital apps only when
the instruction and guidance of the mentee should be
given in a favorable and polite manner. Effective
communication practices are very much required to
cope up with the challenges in the learning process of
mentoring (University, 2020).
The mentor should also focus on providing the
guidance to the teachers related to understandings of
psychology of the little children, so that teacher can
help the students by making them more engaged and
enthusiastic (Australia, 2020). The self-learning
abilities of the students can also be enhanced with the
help of effective mentoring programs (Spooner-Lane,
2017).
4

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
Mentor should not make the teacher dependent in
the implementation and functioning of digital tools. In
fact, a mentor should promote the mentees to work
independently in order to achieve the objectives of the
mentoring program (L Orland-Barak, 2020).
Teachers may develop certain set of skills that are
highly useful in enhancing the knowledge of the
student. By making the classroom practices more
attractive and inspiring, a teacher can make the
student feel happy and interested in learning (J
Thomas, 2019).
Evaluation of mentoring program
The mentoring program needs to be assessed on
the bases of written test of the teachers regarding the
different functions of the digital apps. Improvement in
the learning process of the students should also be
evaluated by assessing the behavior of the students
inside the classroom. By analyzing the happiness and
engagement of the students, the effectiveness of
mentoring program can be evaluated (Boswell, 2020).
The feedback of the parents of the children could
also be received in order to know the positive learning
environment developed by using digital apps. The
attendance of the students could also be criteria to
measure the effectiveness of mentoring program (S
Gao, 2019).
5

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
A chatting session with the students can also be
used to assessing the progress of the teacher and
judging the effectiveness of the mentoring program.
The need of repetition and modification in mentoring
program should be designed after critically analysed
the effectiveness of mentoring program (K Harker,
2019).
Future mentoring program should be based upon
the analysis of outcomes of current mentoring
program. The proper documentation is needed for
arranging the mentoring programs for the teachers in
future. However it is very clear that mentoring
program is very beneficial for the growth and
development for teachers and students (S Gao, 2019).
6

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
References
Australia, T. u. (2020, February 24). Early Childhood
(Pre-primary School) Educator. Retrieved from
The official website of the university of wetern
Australia:
https://www.uwa.edu.au/study/careers/early-
childhood-preprimary-school-educator
Boswell, J. (2020). Synthesis of Mentoring Programs.
The Wiley International Handbook of Mentoring:
Paradigms, Practices, Programs, and
Possibilities, 427-432.
C, R. (2020, February 24). How many types of
mentoring are there? Retrieved from The website
of blog matrixlms:
https://blog.matrixlms.com/how-many-types-of-
mentoring-are-there/
department, A. e. (2020, February 24). A culture of
language and understanding. Retrieved from The
official website of ella: https://www.ella.edu.au/
J Thomas, J. H. (2019). What teachers express as
professional development needs of beginning
teachers: Voices from the profession. The
Hoosier Science Teacher, 1-12.
K Harker, E. O. (2019). Mixed-Methods Assessment
of a Mentoring Program . Journal of Library, 873-
902.
L Orland-Barak, J. W. (2020). Teacher Mentoring in
Service of Preservice Teachers' Learning to
Teach: Conceptual Bases, Characteristics, and
7

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
Challenges for Teacher Education Reform.
Journal of Teacher Education.
S Gao, K. L. (2019). Learning formative assessment
in the field. International Journal of Mentoring
and coaching in education.
S White, R. F. (2017). Supporting mentoring and
assessment in practicum settings: A new
professional development approach for school-
based teacher educators. A companion to
research in teacher education, 283-297.
Spooner-Lane, R. (2017). Mentoring beginning
teachers in primary schools: research review.
Professional Development in Education, 253-273.
University, V. (2020, February 24). Early childhood
education. Retrieved from The official website of
victoria university: https://www.vu.edu.au/study-
at-vu/courses/browse-for-courses/by-topic/
education/early-childhood-education?
audience=international
8

U S E F U L N E S S O F M E N T O R I N G P R O G R A M
9