This symposium seeks to explore and discuss research aimed at investigating and comparing the situation of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) across the Nordic countries and Estonia. The discussion draws on a new project, “Flourishing and Becoming”, with a mixed-methods research design that is the current focus of the Nordic Cross-sectoral network Nordic Teacher Induction (NTI).  

The research network Newly Qualified Teachers in Northern Europe (NQTNE) began in 2004. In 2017, it expanded to include cross-sectoral perspectives through representatives from the main Nordic teachers' unions in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The Faroe Islands joined in 2024. Earlier projects in the network comprise Sustainable Ecosystem of Mentoring for newly qualified teachers (NTI-SEM) and Promoting Professional Development (NTI-PPD). 

The current project focuses on newly qualified teachers, and aims to reframe induction and mentoring around the principle of human flourishing. The concept ‘flourishing’ is understood from an Aristotelian Eudaimonian perspective as a vital goal of education. It emphasizes that education should not only prepare individuals for work but also foster a meaningful and well-rounded life. Drawing on Gert Biesta’s three domains of education – qualification, socialization and subjectification. The project places particular emphasis on subjectification as a central dimension of teacher development and education highlighting teachers’ growth as unique individuals and active agents of change in their communities. The project investigates NQTs in the light of flourishing and becoming in two different work packages, each with its own methodical approach: questionnaire and narrative interview.    

The symposium presents the aim and design of the project, followed by the project’s status and main discussions points. Participants are invited to discuss main concepts, design, and status. We aim to facilitate discussion on how NQT's can be understood in the light of flourishing and becoming and to qualify how different methods can capture this understanding.  

The papers: 

1. Paper 1 presents the development, scope, and impact of the NTI network, highlighting its unique contributions to teacher induction, mentoring practices, and educational policy across the Nordic countries and Estonia. Founded in 2004, NTI has evolved into a robust cross-sectorial collaboration that bridges research, practice, and policy.

2. Paper 2 examines the project’s core concepts of flourishing and becoming, providing a framework for recognising the strengths and resources that NQTs bring as developing professional subjects. Traditionally, research on the induction phase has viewed new teachers from a deficit perspective. It has been assumed that NQTs still have a lot to learn before becoming proficient teachers (Kelchtermans, 2019; Skytterstad et al., 2025). This project instead focuses on their potentials. Drawing from Kristján Kristjánsson (2020) and Gert Biesta (2020), the theoretical concepts of “becoming” and “flourishing” refocus attention on the agency of new teachers.   

3. Paper 3 discusses the current mixed method study the network is conducting. We are conducting narrative interviews to give voice to the newly qualified teachers and their experiences to enable their flourishing and becoming in the induction years across the region. A quantitative questionnaire is conducted to map induction contexts, processes and structures that NQTs have access to within and across region and develop an understanding of how NQTs are actually supported. 

4. Paper 4 discusses the knowledge building and collaborative actions of NTI, how we work, how we bring in new perspectives (apprenticeship of observation)- help new life to flourish. How do we deal with diversity, different foci and dilemmas that arise? Two concrete examples are presented of how these dialogic processes evolve and discusses the potential for deepened collaboration within and beyond NTI, emphasizing the importance of academic generosity (Windsor et al, forthcoming), shared understandings, and the provision of time and space for sustained conversation.

Beijaard, D. et al. (2023). Reframing teacher professional identity and learning. In I. Menter et al. (eds). The Palgrave Handbook of Teacher Education Research, p. 763-785. Palgrave Macmillan Biesta, G. (2020). Risking ourselves in education: Qualification, socialization and subjectification revisited. Educational Theory 70(1), 89-104. Helms-Lorenz, M., Heikkinen, H., Plauborg, H., & Bjerkholt, E. (Eds.). (15 Jan. 2026). Making Sense of European Teacher Induction and Mentoring Practices. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004727557 Kelchtermans, G. (2019). Early career teachers and their need for support: Thinking again. In A. Sullivan et al. (eds.). Attracting and Keeping the Best Teachers, p. 83-98. Springer Kristjansson, K. (2020). Flourishing as the Aim of Education. A neo-Aristotelian view. Routledge. Kristjánsson, K. (2023). The New Flourishing Agenda in Education: A Report on the Current Theoretical State of Play Report commissioned by OECD, Directorate for Education and Skills. Kristjánsson, K. (2025). Flourishing, Education, and the Good Human Life: The Search for a Theoretical and Practical Synthesis. British Journal of Educational Studies, 1-21. Skytterstad, R., Antonsen, Y., Aspfors, J., & Heikkinen, H. 2025. Reframing new teacher induction: Opportunities over deficiencies. Teaching and Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104910 Skytterstad, R., Antonsen, Y., Aspfors, J., & Heikkinen, H. 2025. Reframing new teacher induction: Opportunities over deficiencies. Teaching and Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104910