This series of symposia presents research on practices of induction and mentoring of new teachers in Europe. It is organised as a set of four sessions, the first three of which will be held at the ECER2022 conference in Yerewan and the last one at the subsequent ECER PLUS. Through the sixteen presentations, diverse insights into the practices of mentoring and induction in different countries are introduced. This diversity can be described as a kind of ‘ecology of practices’, where induction and mentoring practices live with other educational and social practices, forming a living, dynamically evolving whole.

Such a perspective on induction and mentoring is represented by the theory of ecologies of practices which is applied as our theoretical framework. It is based in particular on the work of an Australian practice theorist Stephen Kemmis (e,g. Kemmis & Heikkinen 2012; Kemmis 2022), but an ecological perspective has recently been applied to education also by a number of other scholars (e.g. Barnett & Jackson 2019; Godfrey & Brown 2019). The set of symposia is based on the idea that induction and mentoring practices interrelate with one another in the same way as living organisms in nature. Thus, concepts derived from ecology are applied, with given limitations, to the study of mentoring practices. One of the key questions is how to build resilient and sustainable systems for induction and mentoring in the European countries. A sustainable mentoring system is embedded (‘nested’) within the broader educational ecosystem including the national agreements of the teachers’ working conditions (e.g. salaries, working hours etc.). The symposium focuses on analysing how mentoring can find its ‘ecological niche’ (or not) in the respective educational ecosystems. We will also discuss whether this means that national programs are more influenced by political and economic interests than academic and scientific evidence.

Induction and mentoring are nested within municipal, regional (van der Pers & Helms-Lorenz, 2021), national and international educational professional development practices (Helms-Lorenz et al., 2019). In other words, mentoring practices inhabit a given ‘ecological niche’ in each education ecosystem. Niches are evident for the distribution of resources and for individuals to thrive in systems they fit in best. The relevance of induction and mentoring practices and its research requires “ontological synchronization – i.e., continuous tuning to what is happening and matters at hand, and what future is being generated, including what values and judgements (practitioners, researchers, policymakers) perpetuate in society” (Akkerman, Bakker & Penuel, 2021).  

The symposium is rooted in the collaborations that have been developed within the EERA Network 1 (Professional Learning and Development) during the last couple of decades. For the past ten years or so, there have been symposia and sessions on mentoring and induction in every ECER Conference. On this basis, Network 1 has launched a project entitled Ecologies of Mentoring and Induction in Europe (TIME) with the financial support of EERA. This symposium aims at developing further this network project.

Part 1. starts with an introduction to the theory of ecologies of practices which provides the theoretical basis of the project (Heikkinen 2020). Then, a perspective from Denmark of teachers who remain in the profession after the induction period is introduced. This is followed by studies on the Nordic and Dutch mentoring ecologies. Part 2. introduces local conditions of mentoring in Romania, Israel and Poland. Part 3. continues the presentation of Israeli mentoring research and examines the importance of mentor training in Norway and provides an overview of mentor teachers’ knowledge and practices in Sweden. Part 4., held online in ECER PLUS, presents research on ecologies of induction and mentoring in Malta, Scotland and Austria.

Akkerman, S. F., Bakker, A. & Penuel, W. R. (2021). Relevance of Educational Research: An Ontological Conceptualization. Educational Researcher, 50 (6) , 416-424. Barnett, R., & Jackson, N. (2019). Ecologies for Learning and Practice: Emerging Ideas, Sightings and Possibilities. Milton Park: Routledge. Capra, F. (2005) “Speaking Nature's Language: Principles for Sustainability”. In M. K. Stone and Z. Barlow. (Eds.) Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (pp. 18–29). San Francisco, CA:Sierra Club Books. Godfrey, D., & Brown, C. (Eds.) (2019). An Ecosystem for Research-Engaged Schools: Reforming Education Through Research. Milton Park: Routledge. Kemmis, S. 2022. Transforming Practices: Changing the world with the theory of practice architectures. Singapore: Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/9789811689727 Helms-Lorenz, M., van der Pers, M., Moorer, P., Lugthart, E., van der Lans & Maulana, R. Supporting Beginning Teachers 2014-2019: Final report. Teacher Education department University of Groningen. Begeleiding-Startende-Leraren-Eindrapportage-2014-2019-3. Plauborg, H., Wieser, C., Petersen, K.B. & Laursen, P.F. (2022): Teachers who stay in the profession, Pædagogisk indblik, Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag Olsen, K. N., Bjerkholt, E. & Heikkinen, H. (Eds.) 2020. New Teachers in Nordic Countries: Ecologies of Induction and Mentoring. Damm Academisk. Oslo: Kappelen Damm Akademisk. van der Pers, M. & Helms-Lorenz, M. (2021). The Influence of School Context Factors on the Induction Support as Perceived by Newly Qualified Teachers. Frontiers in Education, 6, 744347. 10.3389/feduc.2021.744347