(PEER) MENTORING - 2024/5

Module Overview

This module focuses on the concept of mentoring of peers in contemporary higher and professional education. It draws on personal experiences of mentoring in combination with reflection upon the appropriateness of mentoring models and approaches across a range of different disciplines and professional contexts (i.e. Nursing, Psychology, Business and Education) in supporting teaching and learning in higher and professional education. Participants will be encouraged to examine different conceptions of mentoring and how these are applied within different organizations. This will inform reflection upon how context influences the application to, and perceptions of, mentoring and will be supported through critiquing current models in collaboration with peers. Each participant will reflect upon how their personal and professional
values inform their approach to mentoring and will design and / or develop a particular mentoring scheme to explore and then reflect upon how this could be applied to future practice. Completion of the module will support participants to develop a critical understanding, and to be better equipped to guide and shape the role of mentoring in transforming personal and professional development.

Module provider

Surrey Institute of Education

Module Leader

MEDLAND Emma (Sy Inst Educ)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Conceptions of teaching vary from the imparting of expertise to facilitation and there is a complex interrelationship between how this role impacts on, and is influenced by, learning. This module considers how peer mentoring can add to the complexity of our conceptions of the role of the teacher. In so doing, it aims to add a further richness to understanding how the role of the teacher adapts within a higher and / or professional education environment, influenced by different elements that may include the discipline, the mentoring models and individual values.

The Module will consider the following areas:

What is mentoring - definitions and different conceptions:
Here we will consider the different definitions of mentoring and how these can lead to different conceptions. We will look at the broad history of mentoring, how the notion has evolved, what disciplines and examples exist in practice and the
allied notions, such as coaching.

Underpinning themes - transformative learning:
Here we will look at the underpinning themes related to the concept of mentoring. Alongside key aspects of adult learning theories we will consider the key element of transformative learning.

Mentoring in Higher and / or Professional Education - exploring current notions and expectations:
Here we will look at how the notion of mentoring is experienced within higher and / or professional education and in participants particular disciplines and / or professional contexts. This will include looking at national policy and the implications of this for mentoring approaches. How individual institutions implement approaches related to, or influenced by, conceptions of mentoring will be explored, as will how this may be understood and practiced at different disciplinary or departmental levels. This will consider notions of organizational dynamics and relationship to personal / professional
values.

Models used for mentoring:
Here we will explore a range of formal and informal mentoring models that are described in the literature. We will explore both common elements and elements unique to specific models appropriate to contemporary education in order to consider what can be learned from each. These models include: traditional dyadic models, mentoring circles, reverse mentoring, self-mentoring, online mentoring.

Effective peer mentoring - maximizing the impact:
Here we will consider what makes an effective mentor with a view to developing practice by enhancing the impact of peer mentoring.
Participants will consider different approaches, individual virtues and the personal / professional values that shape and support effective mentoring in contemporary education settings.

Challenges for mentoring - where mentoring fits in contemporary higher and / or professional education:
Here we will explore the challenges of mentoring caused by the contemporary landscape that may reward individualism and research over collective, peer supported notions of service. Participants will be encouraged to reflect upon the tensions emerging at the intersection between personal values and broader contexts (i.e. disciplinary / professional / institutional / sector level).

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide participants with the opportunity to demonstrate the module learning outcomes. Thus, the summative assessment (SA) for this module consists of: SA1: A reflection upon your experiences of the mentee-mentor relationship. SA2: A mentoring scheme design given as a poster presentation of your ideas. SA3: A critique of the mentoring scheme. Formative assessment: The module is predicated on a collaborative peer support model of engagement with additional tutor input offering opportunities for a range of formative feedback on ideas and approaches proposed and implemented throughout the module. Formative assessment will be provided in relation to each of the three summative tasks as follows: SA1: Collaborative reflection during the initial synchronous seminar will support participants to begin identifying and analysing the key influences (i.e. prior experience, personal values, disciplinary norms etc.) upon their conceptions of the mentee-mentor relationship. Participants will be provided with an opportunity to share and develop their reflections via the online discussion board prior to submission of SA1; SA2: A draft plan of the mentoring scheme design (i.e. SA2) should be submitted for formative peer and/or tutor feedback, in which participants will be asked to indicate how the focus of SA1 has informed the development of SA2. The poster presented for SA2 will receive peer and/or tutor feedback, which will support participants to begin critiquing their mentoring scheme in preparation for SA3; SA3: Participants will be encouraged to share an outline of SA3 for formative peer and/or tutor feedback, and will be expected to include an evaluation of how the formative feedback received over the course of the module (i.e. peer feedback, tutor feedback, feedback talk in sessions, online feedback in discussion boards, discussions with colleagues outside of the module etc.) has informed the development of the summative tasks and supported the development of their understanding of the mentee-mentor relationship since submission of SA1. Feedback The above formative assessments form the focus of the formal feedback that participants will receive throughout the duration of the module. However, within the context of this module feedback is conceived within its broadest sense to include not only the formative feedback opportunities identified in relation to the summative tasks, but also the feedback talk that takes place within synchronous seminars, within online discussion forums, as well as the module-related discussions outside of formal teaching that may take place with mentees / mentors or colleagues, for example. As such, the discursive approach of the module is built upon feedback as an interactive process that reflects the new paradigm of thinking within the feedback literature (e.g. Carless, 2015) and aims to support the development of participants and tutor's feedback literacy (e.g. Winstone & Carless, 2019).

Module aims

• Reflect upon the role of prior experience, personal and professional values in shaping conceptions of the mentee-mentor relationship.
• Provide an overview of the different definitions of mentoring and how these are translated into a range of applied models across diverse disciplines and practice-based environments with peers.
• Encourage participants to develop an approach to peer mentoring that can be applied and critiqued within a higher and/or professional education learning environment.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:
encourage each participant to explore different conceptions of mentoring as they may apply within the different disciplinary / professional locations they inhabit, which is underpinned by the programme's core value of respect where the sharing of personal experience will allow participants to feel heard and valued. The aims are therefore to provide opportunities that are meaningful to each individual, providing an opportunity for professional reflection and to inform the transformation of approaches, which is underpinned by the programme's core value of challenge that will enable participants to critique entrenched attitudes within their contexts. The strategy is based on providing participants with an
overview of different conceptions of mentoring and their evolution in relation to their own practice. This will serve to scaffold experience and enable the interrogation of examples in order to apply key design principles in the planning of an approach that could be tested in practice.

Exploration and planning of this approach will be carried out independently. However, online synchronous and asynchronous activities will provide opportunities for collaboratively sharing, critiquing and developing responses to broaden as well as deepen both participant's and tutor's understanding. Therefore, the core programmatic values of humbleness, dialogue and trust will be demonstrated through tutor commitment to mutual learning through dialogue with participants that will create a trusting community of learners. The 'critical friend' perspective of peers and teaching staff
will help ensure the developments are meaningful and significant to participants while also being grounded through effective evidence and justification.

Synchronous seminars will be used to introduce material, to explore different applications and examples and subsequently to develop a space to share and debate how meaning can be applied and contested. These will be regularly scheduled to bring participants together to present and discuss their ideas and to offer different interpretations of the
ideas presented.

The methods will include:

Synchronous seminars: that will begin by allowing an opportunity to exchange experience, agree definitions and approaches to the learning and teaching environment for the module itself, with subsequent synchronous seminars aiming to support debate and discuss ideas;

Guided learning: asynchronous materials will be provided to participants to closely scaffold their learning in between synchronous seminars. The materials will include key literature with guiding questions, short recorded material, peer discussion boards and peer review;

Independent learning: will include teaching and learning practice related to mentoring as appropriate (i.e. on the PGCert, or within disciplinary / professional context), as well as engagement with self-selected resources related to professional context, and preparation for the assessment tasks.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: GCAM022

Other information

The MA in Higher and Professional Education is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow participants to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas: Digital Capabilities: Participants will be supported to develop their own digital capabilities through searching for relevant literature, engagement with online discussion forums, and presenting their assessed tasks using a variety of formats (e.g. written assignment, poster presentation). Employability: The development of greater insight into the nature of peer mentoring within own disciplinary / professional context through engagement with relevant literature and exposure to a variety of perspectives / contexts will equip participants with the tools to interrogate their mentoring / coaching practices and challenge entrenched attitudes that can stifle development. This insight will provide participants with the skills to engage in evidence-informed developments to practice and the second summative assessment task will result in a mentoring scheme applicable to participants¿ own contexts. Resourcefulness and Resilience: The module requires participants to interrogate the mentoring approaches adopted by their higher and/or professional contexts and to consider how a mentoring scheme might be developed or applied in practice. This will require the interrogation of current practices and application of evidence-informed reflections that could underpin future innovation to practice. Through the dialogic approach adopted by the module leaders, and support for the development of a community of learners, the module will create safe spaces for participants to embark on this journey and provide a range of theoretical lenses that can inform the development of greater insight into mentoring practice and the ability to be able to justify the development of new mentoring approaches. Furthermore, throughout the module, participants will be encouraged to reflect upon their learning journey and to recognise how the nature of their disciplinary / professional contexts mediates the outcomes of the mentoring process and experiences. Sustainability: Reflection upon the nature of mentoring within participants own context is central to this module and this insight will scaffold participants to be able to apply evidence-informed justification to be able to justify, develop and potentially apply mentoring practices within their context. This insight will provide participants with insight into how their personal experiences, values and beliefs, as well as the key influences of the broader context can serve to shape and influence how mentoring is conceived and applied. At the heart of the mentoring process is the aim of supporting development, which will support development of greater understanding of what quality education means within participants¿ contexts. The module also provides a foundation for the development of academic writing and presentation, scaffolded through engagement with literature relevant to own context, feedback and self-reflection, which then feeds into the inter-related summative tasks.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2024/5 academic year.