Over the past four decades research  has highlighted the importance of mentoring as a way to improve classroom practices of pre-service and in-service teachers as well as increasing their sense of teacher efficacy (LoCasale-Crouch, Davis, Wiens, & Pianta, 2012) and wellbeing (Kessels, Beijaard, Veen, & Verlop, 2008).  Historically most mentoring in educational contexts has been ad hoc, relying on the existing skills and goodwill of more experienced teachers.  However, evidence suggests effective mentoring requires both trained mentors with well-developed skills and understandings (Feiman-Nemser & Carver, 2012), and resources to allow the time to build and maintain the mentoring relationship (Ingersoll, 2012).

The papers in this symposium explore the perspectives of mentors in three different national contexts: Norway, Ireland and Australia. The first and second paper focus on mentors who work with pre-service teachers and the third paper discusses mentors who work with newly qualified teachers. 

The first paper is situated in Norway and explores how school based mentors perceive their role in bridging the gap between practice teaching (knowing how) and university coursework (knowing that) (Korthagen, 2010). Emergent findings from interviews with 20 Norwegian mentors indicate that some mentors saw theory as an important part of teacher education while others emphasised the development of practical skills in student teachers. Some looked upon themselves as teacher educators, while others positioned themselves almost in opposition to the university based teacher educators.

The second paper is situated in a master’s program dedicated to educational mentoring at the University of Limerick in Ireland. The study reports on how over 300 educational practitioners in formal leadership roles ‘problematise’ mentoring and their ongoing quest for alterative discourses to emerge within an aesthetic of productive possibility (Mooney Simmie & Moles, 2012).     Findings are discussed in relation to a ‘Productive Mentoring’ framework (Mooney Simmie & Moles, 2011) and complexity theory (Opfer & Pedder, 2011).

The third and final paper discusses preliminary findings from a large-scale Australian mentoring program preparing 3000 experienced teachers to mentor newly qualified teachers.  Initial findings show the impact of the program includes building a common language and shared understanding around the role of mentor and consolidating a collaborative inquiry approach to mentoring. Additional to this, participants report involvement in the program has rejuvenated passion for teaching, professional learning and mentoring as well as acknowledging of the impact of mentoring on their own learning and development. 

All three studies have implications that go beyond country and continent in relation to understanding perceptions, roles, skills and the broader possibilities that mentoring offers.

Feiman-Nemser, S., & Carver, C. L. (2012). Creating Conditions for Serious Mentoring: Implications for Induction Policy. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 111(2), 342-364. Ingersoll, R. (2012) Beginning Teacher Induction: What the Data Tell Us. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(8), 47-51. http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/93/8/47 Kessels, C., Beijaard, D., Veen, K. v.,& Verlop, N. (April 2008). The importance of induction programs for the well-being of beginning teachers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY. Korthagen, F. (2010). How teacher education can make a difference. Journal of Education for Teaching, 36(4), 407-423. LoCasale-Crouch, J., Davis, E., Wiens, P., & Pianta, R. (2012). The role of the mentor in supporting new teachers: associations with self-efficacy, reflection, and quality. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 20(3), 303e323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2012.701959 Mooney Simmie, G. & Moles, J. (2012). Chapter 7: Educating the Critically Reflective Mentor. In Sage Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Sarah Fletcher and Carol A. Mullen (Editors), 107-121. Sage Publications. Mooney Simmie, G., & Moles, J. (2011). Critical Thinking, Caring and Professional Agency: An Emerging Framework for Productive Mentoring. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 19(4), 465-482. Opfer, V.D., & Pedder, D.G. (2011). Conceptualizing Teacher Professional Learning. Review of Educational Research, 81 (3), 376-407.