The scholarship into the roles mentors can play in academia has tended to focused on mentoring younger scholars' research careers, but there is a growing body of work exploring how mentoring and other forms of peer support can also help post-secondary instructors become better teachers (see, for example, Boyle and Boice, 1998; Kanuka, 2005; Kanuka 2006; Reder and Gallagher, 2006). Whether it be through traditional one-on-one mentoring relationships or mentoring circles, communities of practice or the Instructional Skills Workshop, less-experienced instructors can learn from more-experienced instructors, and instructors at all levels can learn from each other's ideas, strategies, successes and failures. I clearly cannot do anything I had planned to do, since my one-hour workshop was cut down to 20 minutes. What I will do instead is have a one-page handout of the workshop for participants, which I will review with them and answer any questions. They can then take that suggested format back to their home institutions and run a workshop themselves. This will help them begin a dialogue as to which peer support programs might be welcome and effective at their own institutions.
Boyle, P., & Boice, R. (1998). Systematic mentoring for new faculty teachers and graduate teaching assistants. Innovative Higher Education, 22, 157–179.
Kanuka, Heather. (2005). Does mentoring make a difference? Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, #39. Centre for Leadership in Learning, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.
Kanuka, Heather. (2006). Mentoring provides benefits for faculty and institutions. Teaching and Learning Exchange. University of Alberta. Edmonton, AB.
Reder, M., & Gallagher, E. V. (2006). Transforming a teaching culture through peer mentoring: Connecticut College’s Johnson teaching seminar for incoming faculty. To Improve the Academy: Resources for Faculty, Instructional and Organizational Development, 25, 327-344.
