Just another meeting?: Investigating mentoring for early childhood teachers in Victoria

IN A TIME OF REFORM FOR children’s services in Australia, this paper explores the current
mentoring programs on offer to the early childhood sector in the state of Victoria. The
commissioned research involved the mapping of existing mentoring programs, supported by
an extensive literature review. A thematic analysis of the data identified the following aspects
as impacting on the success of the programs: the value placed on mentoring; the mentor’s role;
the level of support and training for mentors; the availability of resources; the divisions between
mentoring and other management functions; tailoring of mentoring to individual professional
desires and needs; and the presence or absence of formal evaluations to inform the future
success of programs. The questions raised by this research prompt further consideration as to
what mentoring for early childhood practitioners should look like in the future, especially related
to collaborative practice and the balance between autonomy and guidance.