Experience in the study of the phenomenon of reverse mentoring in the system of general education

Abstract

Introduction. One of the effective means of developing modern education is reverse mentoring. For its successful implementation, it is necessary to understand this phenomenon by the pedagogical community, in particular, teachers of educational institutions. The purpose of the work is to determine the level of understanding by teachers of general educational organizations of the essential and content characteristics of reverse mentoring. Materials and methods. The study used theoretical (theoretical analysis of the literature, generalization, classification) and empirical (analysis of regulatory documents, questionnaire survey) methods. The questionnaire survey involved 316 teachers of general education organizations (mentors and mentored people) from 8 regions of Russia (Nizhny Novgorod, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk, Ulyanovsk, Sverdlovsk regions, the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District). The average age of the respondents is 36.69 years (ϭ=13.92), the average teaching experience is 12.73 years (ϭ=12.99); 7% men, 93% women. The questionnaire included 21 questions. The obtained data were processed by the methods of content analysis and mathematical statistics (descriptive statistics, Fisher's criterion). Research results. As a result of a questionnaire survey, it was revealed that teachers of general educational institutions are aware of the importance of using different types of mentoring, including reverse (41.5%); believe that they are included in the system of reverse mentoring (63%), but at the same time they do not understand the essential and substantive characteristics of the phenomenon of reverse mentoring. Thus, only 25.9% of respondents believe that within the framework of reverse mentoring, a young teacher teaches a more experienced one, and 24.4% that an older teacher in age, experience or position becomes a ward of an employee who is younger in these parameters. To determine the content characteristics of reverse mentoring, the characteristics of the mentor, identified by the respondents, were of particular importance. Conclusion. Based on the results, the methodological foundations of reverse mentoring were identified and its definition was formulated as a pedagogical interaction in which the mentor has a lower status (age, length of service, position) than that of the mentored person; aimed at filling the deficit of tutored in professionally significant competencies, based on trust, equality and active cooperation.