Session Information
10 SES 03 C, Research on Teacher Induction and Early Career Teachers
Paper Session
Contribution
Internationally it is recognised that new teachers need some kind of support, and mentoring has become a key strategy (Jones, 2010). However, who should be a mentor and what kind of role is it? The literature questions if a good teacher automatically is a good mentor (Bullough, 2005; Jones, 2010). Furthermore, mentoring is difficult to define as it depends on the purpose and the context in which it occurs. The current paper focuses on how to prepare mentors for this rather vague role, a question that is rarely addressed in the literature. Within the European context there has been a strong focus on mentees, not on mentors and their needs. It has been a focus on why mentoring, not on how and by whom. A European project including twelve countries revealed that the majority of mentors had undergone minimal training (Jones, 2010; Jones 2009). While mentors are more likely to employ effective mentoring when they have been prepared for the role, mentor preparation is rather sparse and underdeveloped and we need to know more about the impact of mentor programs (Hobson et. al., 2009) which is what we want to investigate in this study. In a review article Hobson et al. (2009) conclude that preparation of mentors should be treated as a priority area for policy-makers, researchers and teacher educators. We find this especially important as mentoring has both its benefits and its costs. There is a ‘dark side of mentoring’ related to poor mentor practice (ibid.).
The current study was conducted in Norway, where all new teachers from the autumn 2010 are supposed to be offered mentoring in their schools (White paper 11, 2008-2009). As a follow up, the government has funded formal mentor education with academic credits administered by teacher education institutions. Still, many new teachers are not offered a mentor, and if they are, the mentor is often an experienced colleague or the school leader. In our research project we want to study why teachers in upper secondary school participate in a mentor education (15 ects) given by the University of Bergen, the academic year 2010/2011, and how they perceive the education? What do they learn and what parts of the education do they find useful? Does mentor education matter? As it is the employers’ responsibility to offer new teachers support, we have also examined how the teachers’ employers both at the school level (the principal) and at the level of the municipality (which is in charge of secondary schools) understand the mentor role. Do they encourage teachers to participate in mentor education, and what do they expect from the education? The study enables us to see if mentor students and their employers share a common understanding.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Bullough, R. V. (2005). Being and becoming a mentor: school-based teacher educators and teacher educator identity. Teaching and Teacher Education 21, 143–155. Hatch, A. (2002). Doing qualitative research in education settings. State University of New York Press. Hobson, A.J.; Ashby, P.; Malderez, A.; Tomlinson, P.D. (2008). Mentoring beginning teachers: What we know and what we don't. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25,207-216. Jones, M. (2009). Supporting the supporters of novice teachers: an analysis of mentors’ needs from twelve European countries presented from an English perspective. Research in Comparative and International Education, 4(1), 4-21. Jones, M. (2010). The needs of mentors. In K. Smith & M. Ulvik, Veiledning av nye lærere. Nasjonale og internasjonale perspektiver. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. White paper 11 (2008-2009). Accessed Jauary, 20. 2011: http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/kd/dok/regpubl/stmeld/2008-2009/stmeld-nr-11-2008-2009-.html
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