A teacher mentor is usually understood to be a more experienced teacher who shares their knowledge and supports someone with less experience (Jaspers, Meijer, Prins and Wubbels, 2014). The mentor may have multiple roles as providing support, inducting the new teacher into their workplace environment and guiding professional development (Harrison, Dymoke and Pell, 2006). According to Kardos and Johnson (2010) “mentoring, when done right, can stabilise the shifting ground on which new teachers try to stand” (p.24). Mentor support includes informal activities, such as discussions and meeting outside the school day, which are preferred over more formal support such as mentor observations (Parker, Ndoye and Imig, 2009).

This symposium is focused on the mentoring of student and new teachers and how this enhances, not only their learning and integration into the profession, but also the professional learning of the mentors. The aim of the symposium is to contribute to a discussion of mentoring for student and new teachers. By addressing this from different perspectives we see a broad picture of the challenges and opportunities involved in mentoring. Questions that arise from the presentations include: What are the benefits of mentoring for student and new teachers? What are the benefits for mentors by the practice of mentoring? What are the barriers to mentoring and how can these be overcome? How might a reflective practitioner model of mentoring overcome these barriers?

The symposium consists of three presentations. The first presentation focuses on the barriers to effective mentoring drawing on studies from Croatia, Ireland and Scotland. Common barriers were differences in teachers’ and mentors’ values and opinions which can lead to personality clashes and can be described as the “fit” between mentor and mentee, organizational aspects relating to mentoring for example a lack of time, communication and information and physical proximity to the mentor. Inadequate training for the mentoring role was a barrier found in more than one study as were issues related to power, status and position within a school.

The second paper examines how teacher mentors can promote reflection in their mentees. This can be done by mentors creating spaces for mentees to reconstruct and make meaning out of experience; by mentors demonstrating their own reflective processes and actions and their benefits; and by documenting their teaching performance in the classroom. Studies from Malta, Norway and Ireland reveal varying degrees of critical thinking and reflective practice, indicating that this mentoring model promotes the mentees’ professional growth and can significantly enrich their understanding of teaching and learning.

The final paper concludes with the investigation of how mentoring can benefit both mentors and mentees. For mentors it can reduce professional isolation, enhance their teaching and learning, develop their ability to reflect, their mentoring skills and knowledge and improve partnership-working with universities. For mentees it can reduce feelings of vulnerability. For both mentors and mentees, mentoring increases the quality and amount of collaborative professional learning.

These three papers contribute to debates that focus on: the barriers to mentoring, the benefits of mentoring and the role of the reflective practitioner model of mentoring. Mentoring for student and new teachers is a common phenomenon in many countries and research on mentoring has been from a variety of perspectives. While there has been much reseach on the benefits to mentees of mentoring the added focus of the benefits to mentors is valuable.

This project comprises a synthesis of research undertaken in Croatia, Ireland, Malta, Norway and Scotland, but it is also of key significance for many other countries where the mentoring of student and novice teachers is as a tool for personal and professional development.

Harrison, J., Dymoke, S. and T. Pell, (2006). Mentoring beginning teachers in secondary schools: An analysis of practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(8), pp. 1055-1067. Jaspers, W.M., Meijer, P.C., Prins, F. and T. Wubbels, (2014). Mentor teachers: Their perceived possibilities and challenges as mentor and teacher. Teaching and Teacher Education, 44, pp.106-116. Kardos, S.M. and S.M. Johnson, (2010). New teachers’ experiences of mentoring: The good, the bad, and the inequity. Journal of Educational Change, 11(1), pp. 23-44. Parker, M.A., Ndoye, A. and S.R. Imig, (2009). Keeping our teachers! Investigating mentoring practices to support and retain novice educators. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 17(4), pp. 329-341.