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This paper focuses on exploring the intellectual basis for establishing an academic development program for international doctoral students in social sciences and humanities in Central Europe so as to cultivate a reflective scholarly approach to teaching early on in their academic career. The program conceptions and practices are embedded in the notion that a scholarly approach to teaching integrates the understanding and demonstration of knowledge about teaching and necessitates a continuous learning process about teaching through reflection and through conducting research on teaching in the various disciplines. In particular, taking on board the domains of teaching knowledge which derived from the kinds of reflections on teaching (cf. Kreber & Cranton, 2000; Mezirow, 1991), instructional, pedagogical and curricular knowledge and continuous reflection at the level of content, process as well as premise, are represented in an integrative manner in our overarching program principles and pedagogical strategies. As we see, professionalization of doctoral students' teaching practice in higher education (cf. Lueddeke, 2003) is particularly important in the context of enhanced faculty mobility and internationalization. Therefore, this paper aims to contribute to the literature and practice on establishing academic development programs, especially in academic environments with low institutional support for teaching and lack of formal requirements for professional development.

Competent adult learning facilitators play a vital role in improving the quality of adult learning programmes. This article thus explores common and core competences of adult learning facilitators from the perspective of key stakeholders, such as facilitators, adult learners and administrators. By synthesising previous international studies, we developed a survey and collected data in Mongolia (n = 227). We identified adult learning facilitators' common and core competences focusing on their teaching role. As found, areas of adult learners' needs assessment, communication and motivation should be integrated in professional development programmes in order to aim for a better completion rate and higher participation of target audiences in adult learning programmes.

The aim of this study is to explore how Hungarian university teachers at a faculty of social sciences adapt developmental initiations in mentoring relationships. These relationships are designed to maximise reflective space through various mentoring structures without predefined mentoring roles. This study presents findings from a pilot faculty mentoring programme involving faculty (n = 13) from the same institution who joined on a voluntary basis for 6 months. For the analysis of the programme, baseline and end of programme survey, participants' reflective diaries and transcripts of the final focus groups were used. The content analysis of the qualitative data was supplemented by quasi-statistical descriptive analysis of the quantitative dataset. The relational perspective of the mentoring programme design nurtured (1) the multi-directional nature of the learning cycles, (2) the diverse content of the professional discussions, and (3) the programme impact on the individuals' workplace well-being.

This study examines Hungarian pre-service and inservice teachers' satisfaction (n = 154) with the Mentored Innovation Model (MIM), an online collaborative mentoring model focused on technology integration. The Kano model was applied to results from two surveys to identify conditions in the MIM that most contribute to overall satisfaction with online mentoring. Self-efficacy with technology was identified as a must-be attribute. Online communication was a one-dimensional attribute contributing to linear increase of mentees' satisfaction, although preservice and inservice teachers' perceptions about the mentor's activity in the MIM differed. The results reinforce the importance of online communication during online collaborative mentoring.

This paper explores how conversations among academics in a particular institutional context evolve, starting from the individual development of teachers and shifting in focus to institutional development. Results of our basic survey (N = 55) and semi-structured interviews with teachers (N = 13) who participated in lunch-time conversations on teaching and learning revealed that these encounters support individual academic development in several respects. Our findings also suggest that the evolution of conversations that are institutionally situated but distanced from the departmental context, may create a path to institutional change via collective learning.

In this paper, we outline findings from a research project on mentor teachers' conceptualizations and strategies of mentoring novice teachers for reflective practice. The study was conducted with the aim to explore the qualitatively different ways in which mentor teachers conceive of mentoring for reflective practice and also how they translate this into actual mentoring strategies. We interviewed 10 senior mentor teachers who are certified mentors at Hungarian primary and secondary schools. The transcripts were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach. Mentor teachers were found to oscillate between fragmented and cohesive conceptions of "mentoring for teaching" with varying levels of integrating the notion of reflective practice and addressing mentees as adult learners. Based on the results a structure of conceptualizations and strategies was created.

This paper outlines findings from a research project on Hungarian foreign language (FL) teachers' conceptualizations of helping senior language learners to develop their autonomy in learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to explore the applied instructional approaches to teaching older adults and developing their learner autonomy in- and outside the classroom. In particular, we investigated interviewees' perspective on one-to-one counseling for autonomous learning, a method for out-of-class development. Results show that instructional methods entail characteristics of communicative language teaching but also consider older learners altered cognitive abilities and their different interests of language learning. As for the conceptualization of learner autonomy-development, learner-centeredness as an overarching notion is present when deepening general language skills but also when promoting learner autonomy. We also found that participating teachers would draw careful attention to the importance of raising self-awareness in learning, particularly when promoting learner autonomy in one-to-one counseling.

This paper presents data about the successful use of the Mentored Innovation Model for professional development for a group of Hungarian teachers (n = 23, n = 20 in two iterations), which was employed in the CALIBRATE project in order to enhance their ICT skills and pedagogical competences needed for participation in a multicultural, multilingual educational innovation process. This model relied on the three basic constituents of an online community of inquiry: cognitive, social and teaching presence. Satisfaction regarding the model was explored through the observation of perceived (subjective) values provided by the participating respondents in order to identify the role of the virtual learning environments employed, activities of the facilitator and the participants' self-perceived social presence in the success of the training process. Mentoring was identified as a key factor of success in the in-service training process. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)

This paper outlines the findings from a research project on students' conceptions of learning in a series of international online collaborative seminars that involved partner institutions from Europe and the US. The lead institution was an international, graduate university in Europe. The study was conducted with the aim of exploring the qualitatively different ways in which graduate students conceive of learning in an international, interdisciplinary and multimodal setting. Of the 82 participants in the seminars, 42 students in social sciences and humanities volunteered to be interviewed. The transcripts were analysed using a phenomenographic approach. A hierarchical system of qualitatively different conceptualisations was created; according to which students conceptualised internationalised learning as (1) a process to integrate information, skills and knowledge, (2) international encounters designed to harness diversity of views and (3) an opportunity for interdisciplinary learning. The varying forms of fragmented and cohesive conceptions are also discussed.

This paper aims to explore how faculty in business and related fields perceive adaptivity and their own adaptive expertise in a university based in Central Europe. We focused on the qualitatively different ways in which faculty members’ adaptive expertise can be conceptualised. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 participants, the transcripts were analysed using phenomenography. As a result, qualitatively different conceptions of adaptive expertise emerged, namely (1) Openness, (2) Abilities and (3) Actions – Attention and Reflections. The hierarchical levels within each aspect are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mentored Innovation Model is an online collaborative mentoring model developed in Hungary to help teachers integrate technology in their classrooms in meaningful ways. It combines an online modular approach of formal pedagogical ICT training with an informal online community experience of sharing, developing and critiquing of shared learning resources during teacher education coursework. In this article we describe its implementation with pre-service teachers to support them with technology integration in their teaching. We then discuss the usefulness of the model for teacher education based on the results of a technology self-efficacy and mentoring satisfaction survey with 116 pre-service teachers.

This study examines online mentor roles and effects with the online mentoring process in computer-supported collaborative learning environments in communities of in-service teachers. Interest in the online mentors' activity encompassed their participation in the online interactions, the influence of their activity on participants' patterns of interaction, and their varying facilitating styles. Transcripts of interactions among a small group (n = 8) and a larger group (n = 20) of in-service teachers and their mentors were analyzed at the macrolevel and microlevel: at the macrolevel by Social Network Analysis and at the microlevel by content analysis (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer 2001; Zhu 2006). Based on the analyses, the researchers identified mentor approaches such as interactive and directive. The researchers detected relations between mentor approach and network interaction structures and also between mentor presence and participants' cognitive engagement. Mentoring in collaborative in-service teacher communities was found to be an alternative to the more traditional mentoring dyads. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)

Our study explores online international mentoring that supports novice faculty at geographically distant universities. Interview data with 30 mentees were analyzed using an inductive analysis method to describe how online mentoring supports young academics in their development as novice teachers, and to identify how they perceive this transformative experience in their own professional contexts and how an online setting may provide a context for the mentoring experience. Analyses showed that mentees have qualitatively different conceptualizations of the mentoring process, the role of the mentor, and the transformative potential of these professional relationships. A model of transformative experiences was thus created to describe the various cycles through which professional development in an online faculty mentoring program may evolve. Beyond generic implications, the particular dimension of how physical distance impedes mentors' authenticity in mentoring has been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]