Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in Malta feel they are not sufficiently prepared for the demands of their work (Bezzina, 2007). NQTs encounter new scenarios and practices that differ from the ones they had in initial teacher education (ITE). Although the Faculty of Education has the Masters in Teaching and Learning which provides a strong base for teachers, it is aware that no ITE programme can completely prepare teachers to face the complex, multifaceted and constantly changing working life (Livingston 2014). Thus, the induction period holds the opportunity of professional learning and development because new teachers are still acquiring competences and understandings (Grimsæth, Nordvik, and Bergsvik, 2008) and shaping their unique teacher behaviours. In this important phase of their careers, teachers have the opportunity to build their identity and grow professionally (Flores and Day 2006). Teachers in Malta operate in a highly centralised system with limited levels of agency and autonomy, and frequent opportunities for scrutiny of their practices. This level of control is also prevalent in the choice of textbooks they use and when and how they assess their pupils, culminating in national examinations at the end of compulsory schooling which all schools subscribe to. This research study explores how this ecosystem of policy and practice that characterises the Maltese educational system impacts on the induction experience. NQTs in Malta attain their Permanent Teachers’ Warrant after two years of teaching. The support structure in place varies across schools, depending on the leadership approach and the resources available. When teacher mentors are allocated, they help ease the NQT’s transition from a student-teacher to a ‘regular’ teacher, and an approach characterised by collaboration and co-teaching is often used. The aim of mentoring during induction is to improve teachers’ professional practice by benefitting from the interactions that take place (Van Nieuwenhoven, Vicoso, and Colognesi 2018). The level of teacher professional growth which will be investigated with a small group (6) of NQTs will be based on these teachers’ sense of competence and self-efficacy after being mentored during their first year of teaching, compared to the beginning of their induction. Their disposition to gain new knowledge and skills also as a result of this collaboration will be explored. Insights gained from this study will help educational leaders develop a more consistent and coherent support structure for NQTs which will render their practices, and those of their mentors, more meaningful and sustainable.

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