Mentorship and Training ESOL Teachers Through a Clinically Rich Intensive Teacher Institute

Introduction

This chapter aims to provide insights into the mentoring of new ESOL teachers for their professional development and growth through various professional activities, which will improve classroom instruction for English learners and encourage family and community involvement. Professional development for ESOL teachers is essential to building support systems for teachers. In ESOL educational contexts, teacher collaboration is essential due to the multiple layers of instruction provided for English learners. Therefore, schools need to support ESOL teachers to actively participate in professional communities to improve their knowledge and instruction for English learners and also improve parental, family, and community engagement. Mentoring within schools and school districts would provide focused and guided professional development that enhances ESOL teachers' ability to build meaningful relationships with other teachers and school personnel and support English learners' families and their learning at home.

Researchers in education have long-established the need for continuous professional development and support for teachers, especially teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. High-quality professional development opportunities for teachers improve instructional effectiveness and increase student learning (Vangrieken et al., 2017; U.S. Department of Education, 2014). Various studies have stressed the importance of reducing first-year attrition by providing beginning teachers with mentoring from teachers of the same subject (Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004). Mentoring relationships can have a positive impact on mentees’ early teaching experiences by providing: self-confidence, classroom management support, guidance on time and work load management, positive student teacher management, self-reflection, problem solving skills, culture of professional support (Delaney, 2012). Currently, mentorship is perceived as a personal and professional relationship in which both participants co-construct their professional identities within a specific context via pre-service or in-service mentorship (Delaney, 2012).

Mentoring is believed to contribute to both the professional development of experienced teachers and the formation of professional networks among teachers (Hobson et al., 2009). This research aims to raise awareness about mentorship and other existing professional development and support networks for ESOL teachers and address the need to make professional development and support networks accessible to in-service and pre-service teachers. Professional support networks in multimodal ways, where a mentor and mentee relationship is indispensable, help create a sense of community and belonging in the profession of ESOL teachers and, therefore, teachers’ continuous professional growth throughout their profession (Otcu-Grillman & Miller, 2021). Likewise, the need for quality professional development exists not only for teacher candidates or novice teachers but also for experienced teachers who must make instructional shifts required to implement college and career-readiness standards (Brown & Kappes, 2012).

Similarly, while mentorship is significant in mentees’ professional growth, mentor teachers may also need mentorship and continuous development. Effective professional development for all teachers, novice or seasoned, who are serving culturally and linguistically diverse students is crucial in continuously providing them with culturally relevant resources and a collaborative network to share not only their intellectual challenges and resolutions but also emotional struggles and coping strategies (Eun, 2011, p. 330). Despite large investments and efforts (Jacob & McGovern, 2015 as cited in Gerdeman, Garrett, Monahan, 2018), schools and districts have long struggled to provide ongoing, effective, and sustained support for teachers’ professional development.