Leadership capacity development in the Australian early childhood sector. Re-energising through mentoring

Mentoring is a leadership capacity development strategy for experienced early childhood teachers (ECTs). Being a well-trained mentor, who is supported to undertake the role can contribute to re-energising experienced ECTs and enhance the early childhood sector workforce. However, little is known about the benefits of outsourcing mentoring as most research refers to in-house mentoring. This paper reports on the mentors’ experience of a two-phase on-line mentoring program in Australia supporting new early childhood teachers. The study design was framed by the theory of Community of Practice involving academic mentors, experienced teacher mentors and novice teachers as mentees. Mentors’ reflections indicated that knowledge and skills accumulated during this program shifted their understanding of mentoring and contributed towards creating short and long-term service-level changes. This paper offers a provocation for new possibilities in mentoring in the early childhood sector.