Internationally there seems to an agreement that teacher quality is the most important variable when it comes to pupils’ learning (Teachers Matter OECD, 2005; Hattie, 2009). Professional development has become increasingly important as a way to ensure that teachers succeed in matching their teaching goals with their students’ needs. According to Beijaard et al. 2007, it is remarkable that with so much attention paid to student learning in schools, the issues of teacher learning has until recently drawn relatively little attention from researchers. Having finished teacher education teachers see no more of their colleagues in their class-rooms. They receive no feedback on their practice and make changes mainly through trial and error (Beijard et al., 2007; Hargreaves, 2000). According to Kelly (2006) the most important influence factor in the process of teacher learning or knowing-in-practice are the ways in which the working practice of the school engages them in thinking.

Like other countries Norway is concerned with teachers’ professional development and the development of schools as learning communities through political documents. The latest example is the Parliamentary Proposition 11, (2008-2009) (MER, 2009) with focus on professionalism. One suggestion from the proposition is that every newly qualified teacher in Norway should have the right to have a mentor in school. Accordingly the authorities have granted a lot of money to teacher education institutions in order to educate mentors.

As teacher educators we have initiated and started a mentor course for teachers in schools. The course is run for one year with eight full meeting-days. The participators are given theoretical lectures, but are also challenged to reflect on their own experiences as mentors through mutual supervision. This means that after graduation schools are provided with teachers with high competence in the field of supervision. From political authorities however, little has been said about the future conditions for mentors in schools. In earlier studies we have investigated what the mentors understand by the concept teachers’ professional development and their own contribution to schools as learning communities before they start and after they have finished their mentor education (Helleve & Langorgen, 2010). Results showed that they have a strong wish to participate in school development. They want to be supervisors for their colleagues. The mentors experience that their leadership wants to work systematically in order to make school become learning communities. The problems however, are that in Norway there are too many new reforms. Schools are spread on many different projects that start, but never ends and the principal is ruled by school-owner and external demands.

The research we want to present is a case study from an upper secondary school in Norway. This school with a staff consisting of 55 teaches has 14 educated mentors. During autumn 2010 many teachers, experienced as well as newly qualified, have been involved in supervision activities organized and led by the mentor group. The aim of the study is to investigate how mentors can be a support for newly qualified as well as experienced teachers?

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