Stories of Mentoring Teacher-Research
Click on the cover image to download this collection, co-edited by Richard Smith, Seden Eraldemir Tuyan, Mariana Serra and Erzsébet Ágnes Békés and published by IATEFL Research SIG in association with MenTRnet in December 2024.
About the Book
Teacher-research – research initiated and carried out by teachers into issues of importance to
them in their own work – has great potential benefits but can also appear challenging to embark
upon and sustain. In recent years, the value of teacher-research mentoring – sharing knowledge,
skills and experience to encourage and empower teachers to carry out their own research – has,
accordingly, begun to be better recognized.
This book breaks new ground by bringing together 20 separate reflective accounts of
mentoring by facilitators of classroom inquiry in a wide variety of contexts worldwide, mostly in
countries of the Global South. In this, the book both mirrors and draws upon the knowledge
generation and sharing which has been occurring within MenTRnet (https://mentrnet.net/), an
international network for teacher-research mentors that has been built up since 2021, now
numbering around 300 mentor or prospective mentor members across the globe. In association
with IATEFL Research SIG, this book is MenTRnet’s first publication.
About the Editors
Richard Smith (Professor of ELT & Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick) is known for his
work supporting teaching and learning in Global South public education contexts, particularly in
the context of British Council projects in Latin America and South Asia. Within these, he
pioneered the development of Exploratory Action Research and an innovative framework for
mentoring teacher-research. He is the founder and chair of the International Festival of
Teacher-Research and of MenTRnet.
Seden Eraldemir Tuyan is an experienced educator at Çağ University in Turkey. She has
mentored groups of EFL teachers in in-service contexts and practicums. She has been
co-moderator of Mentoring Teacher-Research sessions on the Electronic Village Online platform
and now for MenTRnet. She has published on the psychological perspectives of ELT,
social-emotional learning, and continuing professional development, including teacher-research
and research mentoring.
Mariana Serra is a teacher and a licentiate in English working at the University of Buenos
Aires. She won the Aptis for Teachers Action Research Award three times. She has co-moderated
Electronic Village Online sessions on Teacher-Research for Professional Development since
2020 and the sessions on Mentoring Teacher-Research in 2023 and 2024. She helped to
develop the Enhancement Mentoring approach with the other three co-editors, and she is a
co-founder of APIBA Teacher-Research SIG.
Erzsébet Ágnes Békés is a Hungarian English teacher residing in Ecuador. She previously
worked for BBC English and the World Service’s Hungarian Section. She has worked on a
Voluntary Service Overseas assignment in Ethiopia, where she set up English Language
Improvement Centres. She also taught English in Ecuador’s Amazonian region to members of an
indigenous tribe. In recent years, her main interests have been mentoring teacher-research and
supporting the publishing efforts of her mentees.
