The early childhood professional mentoring group: A forum for parallel learning

Novice professionals entering the fields of early childhood education and early childhood special education face many challenges and often feel disconnected from the support system that nurtured them during their teacher education programs (Brindley, Fleege, & Graves, 2000). The Early Childhood Professional Mentoring Group (ECPMG) was established to develop a forum of support for recent graduates of our university's Masters programs in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education, and to create a process for exploring and evaluating the ways that our programs are preparing professionals for practice. In order to gain insight into the process and the value of the group, throughout its 1st full academic year, we, as cofacilitators, conducted a 45-minute debriefing session after each monthly meeting, which was tape recorded and transcribed. During these sessions, we reflected on the group's dynamics, topics or themes presented, and our own ways of participating, collaborating, and making meaning of the experience. Transcripts were coded and analyzed to reveal emergent parallel tracks between the group's process and our own. As group participants were considering ways to address professional challenges supporting children and families and transforming their practice as early childhood educators, we were also considering ways to enhance our program to support new professionals and transform our practice as teacher educators.