Educators

Recent drives to modernise the mental health workforce have been led (in England) by initiatives such as New Ways of Working and informed by the Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (10 ESCs)
(Department of Health, 2004), reflected elsewhere in the UK. Learning materials have been developed to support these and educators encouraged to embed them within curricula. Yet, little  has been said about how such principles could or should apply to the practice of mental health educators themselves. Higher education plays a crucial part in shaping tomorrow’s practitioners; yet educators can receive scant mention when workforce
initiatives are launched. Here, then, we consider the 10 ESCs, examining how these might be put into practice in a higher education context. The pedagogic rationale for this perspective is discussed in terms of Biggs’ (2003) concept of ‘constructive
alignment’, Ward’s (1999) ‘matching principle’ and Eraut’s (1994) analysis of ‘professional education’. Reconceptualising higher education educators as a part (albeit semi-detached) of the mental health workforce may help us move beyond a ‘tick-box’
approach – exploring not only whether the 10 ESCs are reflected in the content of curricula, but how they are embodied within teaching teams.

Education is a developing process, which reflects itself in the changes around the world. The increase in demand for high quality education is changing education and is reminiscent of a continuous process, like a circle, and teachers, who are supposed to be the driving force behind the provision of inclusive and high-quality education for students, have to stay at the cutting edge of new trends of education. They should try to move away from the banking system of education and move towards a discovery learning system. Nonetheless, we assume that teachers’ professional development should be one of the priorities to help educators enlighten and prepare students with the right tools they need to succeed in the world and to contribute to the society. This article reviews the link between teachers’ professional development and students’ academic achievement using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to develop quantitative data extraction from ERIC, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, NCBI, and also Google scholar to provide a quantitative overview of the existing evidence. The review found a significant relationship between teachers’ TPD and students’ academic achievement. The study further suggest more research on TPD, especially on teacher’s research skills. In conclusion, it seeks to suggest that policy-makers invest in teacher professional development as it is a way to improve students' academic achievement and teachers’ personal development.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to explore how mentors can act as change agents for social justice. It examines mentors’ roles in initial teacher education in the lifelong learning sector (LLS) and how critical spaces can be opened up to promote a flow of mentor, trainee teacher, learner and community empowerment.

Design/methodology/approach
– Two thematic literature reviews were undertaken: one of UK LLS ITE mentoring and the other an international review of social justice in relation to mentoring in ITE and the first year of teaching. Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, field and habitus (Bourdieu, 1986) are used as sensitising tools to explore LLS mentors’ practices and the possibilities for increasing the flow of “pedagogical capital” between mentors, trainee teachers, learners and communities, in such a way that would enable mentors to become agents for social justice.

Findings
– LLS mentors and trainee teachers are uncertain about their roles. In the UK and several countries, mentoring is dominated by an instrumental assessment-focused approach, whereby social justice is marginalised. In contrast, what we call social justice mentors establish collaborative democratic mentoring relationships, create spaces for critical reflection, support trainees to experience different cultures, develop inclusive critical pedagogies, and generally act as advocates and foster passion for social justice.

Research limitations/implications
– While the literature reviews provide timely and important insights into UK and international approaches, the existing literature bases are limited in scale and scope.

Practical implications
– A model for mentoring that promotes social justice and recommendations for mentor training are proposed.

Originality/value
– The paper addresses the omission in policy, research and practice of the potential for mentors to promote social justice. The proposed model and training approach can be adopted across all education phases.