Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) seek advice from more experienced colleagues and are considered as learning through participation, including observing other teachers and receiving…
Abstract
Purpose
Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) seek advice from more experienced colleagues and are considered as learning through participation, including observing other teachers and receiving feedback. In many education systems around the world, induction programmes are developed to support these new teachers in needs ranging from pedagogical to the practical. The induction programme in Malta has been in place since 2010 and offers support to NQTs through their mentor, a member of the school management team, and their college principal. The purpose of this paper is to examine the benefits of mentoring as experienced by a group of NQTs and their mentors in select Maltese schools.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss and Corbin, 1994), the reflections and online conversations with 15 mentors from 10 schools, who were given the role of supporting an NQT in their school for one scholastic year, informed this study. This approach was used because grounded theory seeks to derive its explanations from the data of the phenomenon itself and encourages systematic, detailed analysis of the data. Codes were developed from the transcripts, which were then compared against the research questions, using an inductive approach. Themes emerged, helping the researcher to construct meaning.
Findings
The data strongly suggest that a mentoring approach based on reflection and dialogue promoted positive relationships between the mentors and the mentees and led to professional growth. Moreover, the school and social environment played a crucial role in the way the participants interacted and defined their challenges. It is thus recognised that the NQT induction programme needs to be adequately understood and acknowledged by schools and the education authorities in order for it to reach its aims of supporting beginning teachers. Physical spaces and opportunities for collaboration can enhance what the mentors are trying to achieve.
Originality/value
This research is the first of its kind in Malta as it explores the perceptions and experiences of mentors who are actively participating in the induction programme for NQTs.
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Michelle Attard Tonna, Eva Bjerkholt and Eimear Holland
The purpose of this paper is to focus on reflective mentoring practices. Teacher mentors are widely known to be an important catalyst for reflection. Through dialogue and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on reflective mentoring practices. Teacher mentors are widely known to be an important catalyst for reflection. Through dialogue and professional conversations, teacher mentors can help their mentees to improve their teaching performance by facilitating their discussion of the praxis from different perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative mixed methods study is based on three separate studies from the Republic of Ireland, Malta and Norway involving: mentors of undergraduate student-teachers (U-M, n: 37); mentors of newly qualified teachers (NQT-M, n: 4); student-teachers (ST, n: 16); NQT, n: 8; and university tutors (UT, n: 8). In each study, mentors were provided with varying degrees of education on facilitating critical reflection for mentees. This study sought to draw out what reflective practices were being employed in mentoring across European contexts and what perceived impact they had. A cross-case analysis of data across the three countries was conducted using coding and constant comparison. Triangulation of data was employed across not only cases, but also across multiple methods data sets and across participant types.
Findings
All three studies reveal that mentoring approaches aiming to promote critical reflection have to be based on a developmental approach towards mentoring. They also have to challenge traditional hierarchical relationships and involve a commitment to collaborative, inquiry-oriented approaches towards mentoring.
Research limitations/implications
By bringing different studies of reflection in mentoring practices together, it is possible to gain new knowledge on mentoring in teacher education. However, being a cross-country, cross-context and cross-cultural approach in itself contains certain restrictions.
Originality/value
The authors of this paper propose that professional forms of inquiry depend on the type of relationship and collaboration forged between the teacher mentor and mentee. A cross-case analysis approach provided evidence of reflective practice, which is common across three European countries and offers a snapshot of trends.
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Teachers in the initial stages of their career need support. The quality of their development will depend strongly on the kind of support that is given to them during induction…
Abstract
Teachers in the initial stages of their career need support. The quality of their development will depend strongly on the kind of support that is given to them during induction. In this chapter, the author explains how the induction years need to be seen as a distinctive part of the teacher education continuum, building on initial teacher education (ITE) and feeding into continuing professional development (CPD). The University of Malta's Faculty of Education proposed national strategy for induction of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) stresses the need for an effective design of induction programs in terms of the type of activities, the involvement of teacher education institutions and the role of the mentor – all of which can vary, depending on the learning needs of the NQT involved. Such programs will ensure that the support provided creates opportunities to relate back to initial teacher education and to prepare teachers for career-long continuing professional development. The aim of this discussion is to evaluate the current state of professional opportunities available for beginning teachers in Malta, and to discuss an effective approach which facilitates experienced teachers to build their capacities to play a key role, through mentoring, in their new colleagues' professional learning journey.
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The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue focussing on the mentoring of beginning teachers which supports the professional learning of not only mentees but also…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue focussing on the mentoring of beginning teachers which supports the professional learning of not only mentees but also mentors. The paper identifies the varied aims of beginning teacher mentoring programmes, some of the reasons for mentoring and an introduction to the six research papers published in the issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The papers in this issue examine different perspectives relating to the mentoring of student teachers and newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Different types of mentoring relationships are examined in various international contexts. The research, from Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Norway, Scotland, the USA and Wales, addresses the challenges that can occur in mentoring relationships, and enables us to better understand the professional learning that takes place in successful mentoring relationships.
Findings
The authors of the papers delineate how critical reflective practice, inquiry into professional practice, collaboration and professional learning for both mentees and mentors are key aims for many mentoring programmes. The six studies used different methods to investigate external and/or school-based mentoring programmes for student teachers and NQTs.
Research limitations/implications
A snapshot of current research into professional learning is provided with most studies being small qualitative ones. However, common themes can be identified across countries and contexts. The authors of each paper outline the implications for teacher education for their own contexts, as well as for international contexts.
Originality/value
Teacher education programmes employ mentoring pairs and triads in order to develop particular traits and reflective practices in teachers. Research shows how mentor programmes provide classroom experience and professional learning for student and NQTs as well as professional learning for teacher mentors. University tutors play a key role in supporting not only the mentees and mentors but also the mentoring relationship.
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Michelle Attard Tonna, Christine Helen Arnold, Marie-Christine Deyrich, Karen Marangio, Shraddha Kunwar and Tara Ratnam
The disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a move from face-to-face teaching to fully online teaching, creating new challenges and opportunities for educators. In…
Abstract
The disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a move from face-to-face teaching to fully online teaching, creating new challenges and opportunities for educators. In this chapter we explore how instructors' practices were affected by this emergency situation and the nature of changes in their conception of teaching/learning and their roles as teacher educators. Data from interviews and narratives contributed by a large number of educators spanning a variety of educational and geographical contexts have been analyzed using Lewin's three-stage model of change. This is cross-referenced against a theoretical framework informed by a sociocultural view of teaching and learning to examine the transformative nature of teaching and learning promoted by pandemic pedagogical practices. The findings show that educators' practices have necessarily had to evolve or even change significantly in order to fit the new online instructional mode. However, it is not possible to establish that these were largely transformative in nature beyond serving the existing institutional outcome needs more or less efficiently. This implies that further investment is needed in teacher education to facilitate remote teaching, redesign teaching, and reconsider technology in new ways which go beyond it being a simple tool for the transmission of knowledge. Equally important would be to support educators to put ‘Maslow before Bloom,’ meaning that safety and well-being must be given priority over teaching and learning as the mental, emotional, and physical challenges experienced during the pandemic will continue to linger post pandemic.