Partap College of Education Hosted International Webinar on Learning via Mentoring

on
08.11.24

Celebrating the silver jubilee this year, Partap College of Education, Ludhiana
being the head quarter of International Professional Development Association
(IPDA), hosted IPDA India and IPDA England collaborative international event
on “Developing Professional Learning via Mentoring for Teacher Training: An
International Perspective”. The webinar aimed to explore the significance of
mentoring in learning, the challenges of mentoring and sharing international best
practices to overcome those.
The event was graced by the virtual presence of Lizana Oberholzer, Chair, IPDA
England, Dr. Balwant Singh, Chair, IPDA India, Pauline Smith IPDA England, Dr.
Manpreet Kaur, Secretary, IPDA India. Eminent speakers from IPDA England
Derek Boyle, Stuart Mitchell and Sue Giacoletto and from IPDA India MS. Anju
Dhawan, Principal, Manav Rachna International School, MS. Parvinder Kaur,
Principal, Partap Public School, MS. Roshni Handa, mentor Sat Paul Mittal
School, Ludhiana illuminated the sessions with their research and experience on
mentoring. Principals and mentors from other schools and all the teacher educators
of the college also attended the webinar enthusiastically.
The welcome note was presented by Lizana Oberholzer followed by the
introduction to the mentoring theme of this collaborative event by Pauline Smith
and Dr. Manpreet Kaur. Dr. Kaur focused on the diversified social, financial,
linguistic back ground of both the mentor and the mentee in Indian context which
as a whole affect the mentoring procedure and the outcome. She described the dual
mentoring model which is prevailing in Indian teacher education system while
Pauline Smith highlighted on managing stress level and increasing the retention
ability of the mentee and creating a perfect mental relationship between the mentor
and the mentee through continuous mentoring. She emphasised on empowering
schools for mentoring new teachers.

Then the speakers from India presented their valuable and insightful speech on
‘Enhancing teacher development through structured mentorship programmes’ and
‘The mentoring approach at Sat Paul Mittal School’. Speakers from England
presented their profound and informative speech on ‘Mentoring, Professional
Learning and Teacher Training in England’ and ‘Reviewing mentor development
courses in UK. Later on, discussion by the whole group took place to find out the
solutions for overcoming the challenges of mentoring. The presidential remarks
were elaborated by Dr. Balwant singh where he focused on the challenges of
mentoring discussed in this event, proposed some solutions and summed up with
the key points.