Peer coaching and mentorship

Abstract

Peer coaching and mentorship, underutilized approaches for faculty development, can assist faculty in the fulfillment of their multiple academic roles. Strengths of these strategies include their interpersonal nature, the prominence of individualized feedback, and the promotion of self-reflective goals and practices. Peer coaching is an innovative faculty development approach that differs from the usual expert-learner model. It is a highly relational, collaborative, and performance-based learning process that depends on peer-to-peer collaboration and peer consultations. Mentorship allows a faculty member to draw upon the experience, advice, and expertise of a colleague. As a faculty development strategy, mentorship may be particularly useful for developing an individual’s research capacity or facilitating leadership or career development. Drawing upon the relevant literature, the goals of this chapter are to describe the key features and processes involved for each of these faculty development strategies, to illustrate their benefits and limitations, and to consider areas for further development.