Affiliation:
1. University of Nebraska, Kearney, USA
2. University of Colorado, Denver, USA
Abstract
This chapter will describe high-quality doctoral mentorship in early childhood education. Given the growing numbers of young children attending inclusive early childhood programs prior to school entry in the U.S., it is imperative that there are well-trained personnel to fill faculty and leadership positions in the early childhood field. The chapter will define mentorship in early childhood education, describe key doctoral mentorship models, elucidate components of high-quality mentorship, and discuss challenges that early childhood education mentors and mentees face. The authors present a case study of an early childhood doctoral training program that utilized key components of early childhood doctoral mentorship, concluding with suggestions for how to best support ECE faculty and doctoral students going forward.