Pedagogical coordinators in mentoring: action promoting professional induction in the context of research-training

Abstract

The lack of public initiatives or programs for professional induction of pedagogical coordinators in Brazil has spurred research based on university-school connections, collaborative experiences, and the training processes of these professionals undergoing professional integration, as is the case of the study reported here. This text aims to analyze how a mentoring process with experienced and novice coordinators became a professional induction initiative. The aim is to reflect on the possibilities for professional induction of coordinators that a researcher with extensive experience in pedagogical coordination, the researcher-mentor, developed by incorporating this experience into research-training based on the premises of action research. Data were collected during training sessions with 42 coordinators with little or no experience in pedagogical coordination, in discussion groups, and on WhatsApp, and were analyzed using Prose Analysis (André, 1983). The results revealed that collaborative university-school and experienced-beginner partnerships contributed to the mentoring process, enabling experienced mentors to improve their practice and beginners to overcome adversity. The conclusion was that defining the training content collectively, based on the trainees’ needs, and using their experiences as material for shared reflection boosts their participation and engagement, allows for the building of mutual trust, common goals, and shared commitment, as well as fostering respectful and democratic interaction between experienced and novice mentors and an investigative approach to professional learning. Regarding mentoring, there are benefits for those involved and the possibility of developing a two-way collegial mentoring experience.