*** Note to Reviewer - I submitted this Abstract last year for Porto but due to family illness I was unable to attend the conference.  So I am resubmitting the same one this year - just in case you recognise it and think it has already been presented.  Thank you. ***

Like many European countries (OECD, 2005), regulated and formal standards for teachers have been introduced in UK and Northern Ireland thus facilitating accountability measures of individual teacher performance. A competence-based framework of teacher professional development (GTCNI, 2009) spanning initial teacher education, induction and early professional development (up to 3 years full-time teaching) to continued professional development of all experienced teachers is used in Northern Ireland to regulate the entry requirements of teachers in all stages of formal schooling. As a result, novice teachers, those enrolled on pre-service teaching training courses, are required to demonstrate a basic level of competence in the classroom and to plan for their early professional development by setting goals for their first three years of full-time teaching. Consequently the role of the teacher-mentor or teacher tutor in all NI schools has become more clearly defined with responsibility for assisting these early career teachers in continuing to develop as a professional through effective mentoring and guidance against this competence framework.

Despite the existing research evidence (Ingersoll and Strong, 2011) that mentoring improves practice, increases teacher retention and student attainment, improves teacher knowledge and confidence, there is little evidence of these teacher tutors being formally trained as mentors of novice teachers. For many of these busy teachers, there are feelings of isolation in their role of the teacher tutor due to the lack of formal opportunities to collaborate and share experiences of how to support novice teachers in teaching in their school. Recent research by Desimore et al. (2014) emphasises the role of informal mentors providing compensatory and complementary support for novice teachers to supplement the provision offered by the formal mentoring process. Therefore it may be timely to review the existing perceptions of mentors in terms of their provision and role supporting beginning teachers.

As Day (1999) notes, teachers’ professional development should be an intrinsically motivated process of personal growth and this holds true for these teacher-mentors too. Indeed, Knight (2002) recognises the difference between the traditionally, event-driven and formal approach to professional development and the non-formal learning opportunities arising in everyday professional dialogues and conversations as part of a Community of practice (Wenger, 1998). One of the key benefits of a community of practice is the use of a shared language and promotion of reflective practice. Day et al. (2007, p. 102) suggests that “teachers’ sense of personal and professional identity is a key variable in their motivation, job fulfilment, commitment and self-efficacy” as a teacher. This research aims to discover teacher tutors perceptions of their mentoring role and by working within a community of teacher-mentors, these experienced teachers may discover a new professional identity and the associated benefits as listed above. Peer support and being located together in everyday practice can be motivating factors impacting on the successful achievement of personal goals, in this case, being an effective mentor to the student teachers.

The conceptual framework for this study is underpinned by social-constructivism. The theoretical framework used to analyse the data draws on the ‘triple lens framework’ developed by Fraser et al. (2007) comprising professional learning (Bell and Gilbert, 1996), Kennedy’s framework for analysing CPD models, and the quadrants of teacher learning (Fraser et al., 2007). By assuming this three-dimensional perspective of the domain of influence, the capacity for professional autonomy and transformation, and the sphere of action, the ecology of teacher professional development can be uncovered.

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