The Potential of Peer Mentoring in Professional Learning

Educators care about learning - both the learning of the young people they are working with, and their own, as professionals who are keen to build their skills.

They are very comfortable learning from one another and that can be leveraged to support on-going learning.

The collaborative nature of peer mentoring is the basis of its effectiveness. Using peers as mentors looks to be effective at developing knowledge and skill of their colleagues in their workplaces. And by enabling individuals to share insights from their training, peer mentoring allows more staff to develop their abilities without requiring everyone to attend the professional learning.

A collaborative study conducted by the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) underlined the value of peer mentoring.

ALNF Co-Founder and Executive Director, Mary-Ruth Mendel, said collaborative learning environments support quality professional development, benefiting both adult and child learning. 

“We know that children need many, many opportunities to grow their oral language and early literacy concepts. Children’s growth flourishes when educators form a community of practice and share knowledge and skills; reflecting on how they can respond, in a practical way, to expand each child’s learning.”

The experimental trial, conducted in Western Sydney, explored peer mentoring as an alternative to a professional learning approach where all or most staff are trained (direct participation). The study involved 37 teachers and educators from 10 ECEC services, comparing peer mentoring with direct participation in training.

“The collaborative nature of peer mentoring in this study not only transferred new knowledge and skills to mentees but also enhanced the confidence and effectiveness of the mentors. This mutual exchange underscores the potential value of peer mentoring in fostering a culture of continuous improvement,” says AERO CEO Dr Jenny Donovan.

In the study, peer mentoring involved select staff receiving external training and then sharing their knowledge with colleagues internally in a way that worked best for them, individually. In contrast, direct participation involves most or all staff attending training directly.

While peer mentoring can successfully transfer skills and knowledge, it requires appropriate planning and support.

Dr Donovan emphasises the importance of ongoing professional learning, “Professional learning is crucial for refining and improving teaching practices, but it can be resource intensive if a large number of staff participate in off-site training. Our collaborative study with the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation demonstrates that peer mentoring, when implemented with careful planning and support, can be a promising alternative to direct participation. This is, of course, beneficial for education providers looking to maximise the impact of professional development while managing limited time and resources efficiently.”

The study highlights the need for careful selection of peer mentors, along with effective staff and time management, to improve the success of peer mentoring as a means of sharing skills and knowledge from professional learning programs.

“Our study showed that services found it easier to manage the responsibilities of peer mentoring when they selected someone with existing mentoring skills or selected someone in a role that gives them sufficient opportunity to work alongside mentees. Our study also showed the importance of workplace support in ensuring mentors and mentees have the skills, opportunity and time to engage properly in the process. This includes opportunity to engage in activities such as modelling best practices, observing practices and then providing feedback and time for critical reflection.

“An effective peer mentoring program can take various forms and should be tailored to fit the service's needs. Our findings indicate that strong leadership support and dedicated time for participants to share insights, model best practices and engage in feedback conversations are required for success.”

Dr Donovan added, “It is, however, important to note that successful peer mentoring programs require appropriate skills, strong collaboration, and a supportive environment fostered by service leadership. Services should carefully consider their needs and circumstances when considering a peer mentoring approach.”

For more information on the study and its findings, please visit the AERO website.