Professional Development through Mentoring

Book excerpt: In their book, Othman and Senom provide a unique insight into the challenges faced by novice English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and establish how mentoring can provide effective support for new teachers’ professional development. The book demonstrates the theoretical background for viewing mentoring as a process crucial to novice teachers’ development, particularly to the teachers’ ability to succeed and grow in a specific workplace environment. Using case studies from a Malaysian context, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of how mentoring can serve as a strategy to facilitate the transition of novice ESL teachers from a teacher education programme to life in real classrooms. Through its case studies, the book will examine both theoretical and practical issues for mentors, teacher educators, policymakers, and administrators when mentoring new ESL teachers. This book will be valuable to researchers who are particularly interested in exploring novice teachers’ identity development, and experienced teachers to help guide new teachers through the socialization process in their schools.