Cross-National Peer Mentoring in Virtual Exchange: Professional Learning Reflection and Cultural Literacies in Teacher Education

Masardo, Alex ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0169-6794, Alsina Tarrés, Miquel and Mallol-Macau, Cristina (2026) Cross-National Peer Mentoring in Virtual Exchange: Professional Learning Reflection and Cultural Literacies in Teacher Education. In: Handbook of Using Virtual Exchange Across Disciplines Building Global Citizens from Home. Springer, Cham. ISBN 978-3-032-10711-4

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Abstract

This chapter examines peer mentoring embedded in a blended global virtual exchange (VE) during a teacher practicum. It involved undergraduate primary and early years pre-service teachers from a university in England (n=8) and one in Spain (n=8). The initiative aimed to enable structured reflective exchange through peer mentoring as a complementary academic practice and embed the development of cultural literacies within teacher education. The study centered on students’ teaching practicum experiences and unfolded over an eight-month period during the academic year 2018-19. Participants engaged in a blended global learning experience involving sustained reflective dialogue within a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) over an eight-month period that was complemented by reciprocal five-day field visits to each institution. Findings derived from an analysis of the students’ reflective dialogue posts demonstrate that mentoring roles emerged organically through interaction, intercultural contrast and shared professional concerns. Participants alternated between supportive, cognitive and inspirational mentoring functions, prompting reflective disruption of taken-for-granted assumptions encountered during school placements. Although professional themes of pedagogical innovation, classroom management and digital literacies featured prominently, students consistently emphasized the relational and cultural dimensions of the exchange as central to their learning. Empirically, the study draws on cross-national practicum dialogue to illustrate how peer interaction can operate as a form of distributed mentoring among pre-service teachers. Conceptually, it shifts the analytical focus from the exchange of professional knowledge to the interactional processes through which mentoring functions emerge within VE environments. The chapter argues that peer mentoring has been largely overlooked within global VE research and practice. By reframing VE as a peer mentoring ecosystem, it contributes a conceptual advance with relevance for teacher education and other professionally regulated disciplines.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Teacher Education; Peer Mentoring; Professional Identity Formation; Reflective Practice; Collaborative Learning; Supportive, Cognitive and Inspirational Mentoring; Virtual Exchange; Intercultural Competence
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LC Special aspects of education
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education, Health and Sciences
Depositing User:	Charlotte Crutchlow
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2026 08:36
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2026 08:45
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/15935

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