Mentoring is a fundamental and increasingly important part of professional learning and development for teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. This book is a much-needed resource for mentors, leaders and teachers in early childhood education. It is the first of its kind: a wide ranging compilation that explores the thinking, pedagogy and practice of mentoring in early childhood education. The editors have drawn on writers from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia who have carried out recent research into mentoring, as well as experienced mentoring practitioners. Topics cover Maori perspectives, different mentoring frameworks and approaches, and mentoring for a range of educators including student teachers. The final part discusses complexities and future directions for mentoring, and seeks to engage with decision makers outside the education sector. This book fills a significant gap in the literature internationally. It comes at what has been described as a time of seismic shift in approaches to teacher learning and development, when professional mentoring is needed more than ever. Throughout the book, writers make a powerful case for improved education programmes to build the professional skills, knowledge and confidence of mentors. Following a section about the contributors, a Foreword, a Preface, and Acknowledgements, the following contents are included: Part One: Mentoring and professional learning: (1) The impact of mentoring on leadership capacity and professional learning (Kate Thornton); (2) Becoming an effective mentor in early childhood settings: One programme in action (Barbara Watson); (3) Mentoring and reflective practice: Transforming practice through reflexive thinking (Elizabeth Rouse); (4) Te Whariki: A socio-cultural framework for mentoring (Viv Shearsby); and (5) Fostering pedagogical leadership through peer mentoring groups (Raewyn Penman and Kathryn O'Connell-Sutherland). Part Two: Maori perspectives: (6) Applying te ao Maori considerations within mentoring relationships (Jenny Ritchie and Carol Smith); (7) A Maori perspective of mentoring for early childhood settings (Kuni Jenkins, Meremaihi Williams, Emily Sinclair, Paeakau Harris, Heeni Jenkins and Pearl Waaka); and (8) Kia tiaho Tamanuitera: A metaphor for mentoring (Jacqui Brouwer, Gail Pierce, Julie Treweek and Tristan Wallace). Part Three: Mentoring student teachers: (9) Dual roles: Mentoring and assessment in the early childhood practicum (Karyn Aspden); (10) Contextual factors that affect the mentor-mentee relationship (Cheryl McConnell); (11) 21st century mentoring for 21st century teachers (Nicole Downie); and (12) Ka puta ki te ao marama: Te huarahi o nga kaiarahi piri--Into the world of light: Mentoring teachers' journeys (Margaret Kempton, Rosemilly Piasi Teaheniu, Arapera Witehira, Susana Smith, Margarette Cantwell and Winnie Korina). Part Four: Mentoring through appraisal and registration: (13) Mentoring with integrity: A story of teacher registration (Diti Hill and Mele Vete); (14) Mentoring provisionally registered teachers in neoliberal times (Bradley Hannigan); (15) Awakening beginning teachers' passion through mentoring (Celeste Harrington); (16) Mentoring through the appraisal cycle: How our team became intrinsically motivated professional learners (Vicky Wilson); and (17) Who's learning here? Mentee or mentor? (Janet Dixon and Emma Stanic). Part Five: Mentoring complexities and future directions: (18) Politics and practices: Critical provocations for meaningful early mentoring (Andrew Gibbons, Sandy Farquhar and Marek Tesar); (19) Supporting and strengthening practice with teachers of priority learners: Mentoring and managing change (Claire McLachlan, Chrissy Lepper, Karen Mackay, Alison Arrow and Tara McLaughlin); (20) Mentoring Australian early childhood teachers: Belonging, being and becoming (Andrea Nolan and Anne-Marie Morrissey); (21) Relational-cultural theory: Future possibilities for mentoring in early childhood education? (Shirley Harris and Kaye Kara); and (22) Mentoring as a navigational change compass: Attending to the personal transition process (Michele Morrison and Jenny Ferrier-Kerr). An index is included.