Mentoring Jewish Educational Professionals
Source: Making Jewish Education Work - Report 2
This report includes insights from evaluations of programs that offer mentoring through various frameworks. It draws upon findings from evaluations of five different mentoring programs conducted by JESNA’s Berman Center for Research and Evaluation. These programs served a broad range of populations from within the field of Jewish education. Beginning teachers, established teachers and educational leaders engaged in mentoring through these programs.
Additionally, the findings from Berman Center evaluations of these programs are contextualized and extended with empirical data from research conducted under the auspices of the Association of Institutions of Higher Learning for Jewish Education (AIHLJE).
Despite the marked differences in context and populations served, commonalities emerged among the mentoring components of these programs. The universal aspects of these programs form the basis of this report.
By combining original research with findings from Berman Center evaluations, this report offers insights that surfaced from across the broad field of Jewish education.
Five instructive lessons emerged. It was learned that mentoring relationships are most beneficial when:
• Orientation and training are provided to both mentors and mentees.
• Mentor and mentee pairings are thoughtfully coordinated.
• Roles and expectations are clearly defined.
• Multiple avenues of frequent communication and feedback are available.
• Mentoring programs are thoughtfully managed and evaluated in an ongoing and systematic manner.
The report emphasizes that each of the lessons derived from mentoring experiences in Jewish educational settings is supported by scholarship from the broader field of education.
The report does not include in-depth and detailed descriptions of each mentoring program. Instead, it provides a summation of the sources’ common characteristics.
Reviewed by JTEC Portal Team