Abstract:

The social and emotional dimension of the human learning experience is a well-known them. Nevertheless, one of the insights that has been sharpened in the field of education against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic is its central signification. No doubt the pandemic frames itself as an extreme case of VUCA- volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous- having global and far-reaching implications for all areas of life. Social and emotional learning is supposed to develop emotional resilience and enhance the ability for coping with the complex reality. The place of social and emotional learning is important not only for students but also for teachers and, in the context of the present study, for teacher- educators in their continuing professional development (CPD). The demand for professional development of teacher-educators in colleges of education in the research world, is resonate and perceived as a justified and well-established claim and is a core facet in defining their professional identity (Laudel & Glaser, 2008). However, there is a gap between the requirement for professional development in research areas and referrals to do so (Czerniawski et al., 2017; 2018). Moreover, the research literature in the field examines various processes of professional development that relate mainly to the mentoring processes of teachers- educators in the early stages of their careers. This research focuses on two different aspects: one is in veteran teachers, senior executives, with research experience. The second aspect is the focus on the social and emotional aspect of their research momentum.This narrative research is aiming for an in in-depth exploration of the meaning teacher- educators assign to their CPD as researchers. We ask: What characterizes their sense of competence in research ? What are their motivations for continuing to develop in the research path? What is the place of collaborative peer research? What mentoring processes take place in this context?

Data were collected using a qualitative-narrative methodology. Open interviews were conducted with six teacher-educators.

The findings show that there no single model that indicates stages in the process of CPD, but rather different stories of professional development in the research field. Yet, all narratives share characteristics of social and emotional learning. The development process is often a broken line that has pauses and stops rather than a consistent and continuous linear line. The proposed explanation in the research literature for this is the resource of time. However, research narrative addresses another explanation, and it is the starting factor. Here comes the main role of the mentor, incidentally here is the Dean of Faculty of Education, in CPD. Findings show that the mentor's ability to crack each mentee's different starting point is the key to successful action.

Keywords:

Continuing professional development, social-emotional learning, mentor-mentee.