Rethinking Mentorship in Early Childhood Education and Care

Barbara Pytka is a professor at the School of Early Childhood Education at Seneca Polytechnic and at University of Guelph Humber. All her work experience and educational endeavors have been in the field of early childhood education, especially in pedagogy and curriculum. Barbara's research focuses on the correlation between mentoring and leadership practices and the professional growth of educators.Terry Kelly is a professor in the School of Early Childhood Education at Seneca Polytechnic. She has had a long career rich in opportunities, including work in licensed child care, EarlyON, community and family support, municipal government, international work in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. She also informally mentors ECE grads working abroad and in Canada, and new faculty in her department, all of which is truly reciprocal in nature.

• Part 1: Theoretical Inheritances: Language of Mentorship, Perspectives, and Framing 1. Sharing Our Gifts While Building Relationships 2. From Advocacy to Caring Activism: Centering a Feminist Ethics of Care to Reimagine Mentorship and Advocacy in Early Childhood Education through the Co-creation of Care Collectives 3. Professional Regulatory Perspectives on Mentoring 4. Having and Being a Pedagogical Companion: An Alternative Perspective on Mentoring 5. Take Back Your Time!: Nurturing Voice in Pedagogical Mentorship Part 2: Stories from the Field: Different Perspectives on Mentorship 6. Mentoring Reflections on the Open Sea 7. “Just Students”: A Short Mentoring Story of Immense Possibilities 8. The Multifaceted Nature of Mentoring: Observations from a Formalized Mentorship Program in Ontario 9. Rethinking Mentorship in a Linguistic Minority Context: Innovative Perspectives for Transforming Practice 10. What’s in it For Me and For You?: The Implications of Social Exchange for Creating Meaningful Mentoring Relationships Part 3: Speculative Futurities 11. Incorporating Multiple Voices in Early Childhood Education: A Reciprocal Mentoring Perspective 12. The Materiality of Kinship: Informal Mentoring Practices within Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland 13. Baglady Collective Mentor-ship: Theoretical, Caring, and Disruptive Acts 14. Notes for a Hundred Languages of Mentoring 15. Rethinking Mentorship in Early Childhood Education and Care: Pedagogical Encounters, Ethical Responsibility, and the Possibilities of Becoming 16. Dialogic Mentoring as a Pathway for Exploring Class, Race, and Ethnicity 17. Mentoring with Love: Transforming Relationships Through Play, Connection, and Healing

"This book contributes meaningfully to an important and ongoing conversation that, over the past years, has invited early childhood education to critically unsettle its frames of reference governed by modernity and neoliberal discourses. It offers a diverse collection of chapters that invite critical perspectives on mentoring from an array of different theoretical registers and experiences. It intensifies and expands the emerging constellation of educators, educational leaders and researchers who are committed to reimagining pedagogical possibilities through ethical disruption, relational inquiry, and speculative thought. This is a timely contribution to the literature. It invites educators, scholars, and early childhood professionals to engage in the necessary work to reconceptualize mentorship as a rich, complex, and inventive praxis."Cristina Delgado Vintimilla, Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto, Canada"This book offers a selection of original and diverse perspectives on mentorship in the early childhood education and care sector. The various chapters, exploring different cultural contexts and approaches, expand our understanding of mentoring capabilities and practices in the sector, with important implications for policy and practice."Dr. Kate Thornton, Associate Professor, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand"This book provides a thought-provoking exploration of mentoring. It challenges traditional notions and calls for a repositioning and reconceptualization of mentoring as relational, responsive, collective, creative, collaborative, …perhaps even unpredictable. Viewing mentoring through the lens of various theories highlights the complexities of practice but also broadens the possibilities of how mentoring can be most effective in supporting professional growth. It is a refreshingly engaging book on the topic."Andrea Nolan, Deakin University, Australia"Early Childhood teacher educators will be inspired by this collection of reflective essays, stories and theoretical perspectives to expand and rethink their pedagogical and mentoring practices. Exploring the tradition of mentoring through a variety of lenses allows the reader to consider how to create meaningful, relationship-based futures for our Early Childhood communities of learning and care. Bravo!"Marilyn Chu, Western Washington University, USA "The importance of mentorship in the Early Learning and Care sector cannot be overstated. This text presents a comprehensive collection of research, stories, reflective questions, and discussion prompts that make it an essential resource for ECE students—enhancing their understanding of the profession and their role within it. Furthermore, this text offers opportunities for ECE professionals to advance and enrich their work and strengthen relationships within the profession."Caitlin Wood, Conestoga College, Canada"Rethinking mentorship in early childhood education and care: Diverse perspectives for transforming practice and policy challenges RECEs to reimagine mentorship (required in Ontario), provides insight into accepted ‘truths’ about children and how dominate discourses impact our work. A must read for seasoned and new educators who are striving to embrace complexity and uncertainty in their practice."Ruth Huston, Program Manager, York Child Development & Family Services, Canada