Peer Mentoring Program

HTAV strives to improve the quality of History teaching and support its members to flourish through professional learning, networking and peer mentoring. With this in mind, the HTAV Peer Mentoring Program aims to bring together History teachers at all levels in their professional careers, to create a community of support and experience.

The Peer Mentoring Program enables History teachers to meet, talk and share experiences in a casual setting. Mentors offer 6 to 8 hours of support throughout the year at times that suit everyone. Mentoring can be a coffee meeting, a Zoom call, drinks after a conference or event, an email or a phone call. Offers of assistance beyond the 6 to 8 hours are not expected but can be negotiated privately between the mentor and mentee.

Applications for the program are accepted until Term 1. The application forms are available below.

Mentors will be paired with their mentees no later than Term 2, or when an appropriate mentee is available. At the end of the year, HTAV will seek feedback on both mentor and mentee experiences.

We all seek advice from others in some capacity – a quick question in the staffroom, a chat over coffee at a conference, a query posted to a social media group. Joining the Peer Mentoring Program as a mentor or mentee facilitates these conversations. It will develop insight into your History teaching practice, reinvigorate your teaching skills, broaden your professional network and make a difference in the lives of other History teachers.

Please don’t let thinking ‘I’m not an expert’ prevent you from joining as a mentor. Even a few years of teaching or leadership is a wealth of experience for someone who is starting out.

• Mentoring, Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)
• A Reflective Guide to Mentoring and being a teacher-mentor, Victorian State Government Department of Education and Training,
• The Qualities of Exceptional Mentor Teachers, Edutopia