Abstract:
This study investigates the mentoring practices that occur through open dialogue on Facebook and explores the perceptions of both early childhood beginning teachers and online mentors regarding the influences and dependencies that they are currently experiencing with this social media platform. Usage of social media for the purposes of professional engagement in Australian based early childhood forums has seen rapid growth in the last few years due to a significant lack of effective or accessible leadership and mentoring training (Fleet, Soper, Semann, & Madden, 2015). Mentoring, particularly ad-hoc mentoring in both virtual and real-time spaces can both be positive and problematic (Clarke, 2018) but is concerning when coupled with Facebook addiction as it can impact upon the self-efficacy and professional identity of teachers. Vishwanath (2015) states that habitual use of Facebook may increase the user’s exposure to attacks whilst also create a dependency leading to a decrease in self-regulation regarding this social medium.
This study investigated, through a national survey on Facebook, the perspectives of 85 early childhood teachers (32 beginning teachers and 53 mentors) of their engagement on Facebook and its influence on their sense of efficacy as a teacher, their individual identity as teachers and professional identity of the early childhood sector in Australia.
The engagement the teachers had with Facebook indicate varying dependencies with 47.2% of the beginning teachers checking the forums daily. Mentoring through Facebook is highly valued by beginning teachers as they become reliant upon this medium to understand their role as a teacher. A total of 77.4% of mentor teachers turn to Facebook as a platform to mentor other teachers. Issues arise however, when the online engagement is not necessarily from mentors who have had specific training in mentorship. Over 84% of the beginning teachers found that some mentors are opinionated and dogmatic about their ideas with some teachers feeling that such mentors contribute to their negative experience on the Facebook forums. However, only 30% of mentors turn to Facebook to offer moral support to beginning teachers who have had negative experiences. Hence, it is crucial that mentoring programs and initial teacher programs incorporate policies and strategies around the use of social media, not just for ongoing professional workforce identity, but also for the continued wellbeing of the sector.
This study investigated, through a national survey on Facebook, the perspectives of 85 early childhood teachers (32 beginning teachers and 53 mentors) of their engagement on Facebook and its influence on their sense of efficacy as a teacher, their individual identity as teachers and professional identity of the early childhood sector in Australia.
The engagement the teachers had with Facebook indicate varying dependencies with 47.2% of the beginning teachers checking the forums daily. Mentoring through Facebook is highly valued by beginning teachers as they become reliant upon this medium to understand their role as a teacher. A total of 77.4% of mentor teachers turn to Facebook as a platform to mentor other teachers. Issues arise however, when the online engagement is not necessarily from mentors who have had specific training in mentorship. Over 84% of the beginning teachers found that some mentors are opinionated and dogmatic about their ideas with some teachers feeling that such mentors contribute to their negative experience on the Facebook forums. However, only 30% of mentors turn to Facebook to offer moral support to beginning teachers who have had negative experiences. Hence, it is crucial that mentoring programs and initial teacher programs incorporate policies and strategies around the use of social media, not just for ongoing professional workforce identity, but also for the continued wellbeing of the sector.