Mentoring in Finland has till 2010 not systematically been organized during the induction phase of the teaching career. One reason for this is a general belief that NQTs have already achieved a high level of professional competence during the pre-service teacher education. However, a number of Finnish research reports have indicated that new teachers need support (cf. Almiala, 2008; Aspfors, Bendtsen & Hansén 2011; Piesanen, Kiviniemi & Valkonen, 2006). The situation is changing, and according to a national report (2007) teachers benefit from being supported continuously from pre-service to in-service with the aid of mentoring as a key component in the induction phase.

The classical convention of mentoring, one-to-one-mentoring, has in Finland developed into a collaborative form of mentoring which is more cost-effective and allows for more flexibility. The Ministry of Education and Culture launched a programme (Osaava Verme) in 2010, and the Finnish researchers in this project are involved with the new initiative.

Theoretically the project draws from three themes, theories about professional identity, teacher socialization and professional learning. The first years of teachers’ work experiences, together with prior experiences, are of particular importance in the formation of the professional identity and seem to strongly influence the whole career (Flores and Day, 2006). Teachers develop their professional identities during the first years as a mixture of experiences from the past, from teacher education and from present experiences as teachers (cf. Feiman-Nemser, 2001). Mentoring has the potential to influence NQTs socialization process in a positive way. Research points to emotional and psychological support as one of the most frequent findings, as well as improved self-confidence as a result of such support. Mentors’ influence is also notable in helping NQTs integrate into school cultures, and it supports developing classroom management skills (Hobson et al, 2009). Timperley (2011) differentiates between teachers’ professional development and professional learning. Professional development refers to short term activities concerning mediating/conveying information and thus not primarily directed to influencing teachers’ practice. Professional learning on the other hand relates to long term active engagement and is directed towards professional knowledge production by challenging earlier assumptions and new meaning making.

The focus in the Finnish national mentor program has been on educating mentors who parallel conduct their own groups of NQTs. In our contribution we will focus on a pilot study in which fifteen of teachers who had gone through mentor education perceived their roles as mentors and how mentor education contributes to mentoring activities.

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