Provide socially embedded, collaborative professional learning — mentoring, dialogue and reflective practice — for late-career teachers¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 against) · 2 studies (1 review, 1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Because the review identifies late-career teachers' "preference for socially embedded and collaborative learning opportunities, such as mentoring, dialogue and reflective practice", professional learning provision for this group should be built around collegial, dialogue-based and reflective formats rather than solely formal programmes. Mentoring should be designed as mutual learning, since the review criticises the typical one-way framing in which only the mentee learns.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Opportunities for collegial interaction, dialogue and reflection embedded in teachers' workplace contexts

Constraints¶

• Mentoring as typically implemented is one-way, with only the mentee learning, which the review identifies as a misfit for this group

Target Learners¶

• Late-career teachers aged 50 and above

Target Learning Goals¶

• Continued professional growth and well-being in the later stages of teaching careers

Affordances¶

• Jdr Model Late Career Teacher Learning

Claims¶

• Mentoring of late-career teachers is typically treated as a one-way relationship in which only the mentee learns, not a shared learning experience [-W]
• A structured feedback-and-reflection cycle (pre-lesson plan review, immediate verbal comments, written feedback, take-up time, and open-ended questioning) supported the mentee's reflective development [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Provide job-embedded professional learning with coaching, and keep coaches nonevaluative

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Brouhier, Q., Raemdonck, I., & März, V. (2026). Professional Learning of Late-career Teachers: A Systematic Literature Review. Educational Research Review, 50, 100757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2025.100757