She researches professional learning, in particular informal learning and mentoring and is also interested in children and young people's rights. Rachel is a co-convenor of the Open Learning network of the European Educational Research Association (network 6) and is on the governing body of the Scottish Educational Research Association. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is a member of the Scottish Community Learning and Development Standards Council. Rachel previously had a varied career in research and education including positions as a law lecturer; employment rights adviser; and as a lifelong learning organiser.

This research is concerned with the professional learning and development of new teachers in the Scottish Teacher Induction Scheme, in particular, informal and formal learning, the workplace learning environment and the personal and professional characteristics of the induction year teacher. Building on the work of Unwin and Fuller and Hodkinson and Hodkinson on expansive and restrictive learning environments for teachers, this study considers learning at both the social and individual level, while providing a deeper understanding of the related concept of individual learning disposition. A sequential mixed methods approach was adopted, using online questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews, to collect new teachers' perceptions of their learning experiences. The research suggests that a policy‐driven formal programme of induction for new teachers should be augmented with experience of an expansive learning environment with supportive colleagues. The authors suggest that, rather than fitting the new teacher into existing arrangements, schools must recognize the new teachers' individual learning dispositions, namely their learning biography and attitude towards, and engagement with, learning opportunities. By demonstrating flexibility schools can tailor induction year experiences, thus enabling rich and complementary professional learning to take place within a supportive workplace community.

Purpose-This paper introduces this special issue focusing 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 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 newly qualified teachers 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.

Current reforms in the Maltese and Scottish educational contexts can only be fully implemented if teachers radically transform the way they teach. Teacher professional learning is the only mechanism that policy makers, school leaders and administrators have to achieve this. Teacher professional learning is, above all, situated within the specific social workplace environment of teacher practice. We argue that an overlooked arena for teacher professional learning is within the school itself and through support and expansive workplace features practitioner learning and changes in practice can be facilitated.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about rapid change in the way education was delivered in terms of online teaching and how this was managed by families in their homes. This study looks at the relationship between home (first space) and school (second space) and uses the concept of the 'third space' (Bhabha, H. [1994]. The Location of Culture, London: Routledge) to explore home-school links. Nine participants working in six local authorities in Scotland were questioned during the first lockdown in 2020 and then interviewed during the second national lockdown in 2021. Their responses were analysed in terms of the awareness they had of home funds of knowledge and the influence this had on their pedagogy online. The researchers investigated whether a third space had emerged and, if so, what the features of this hybrid space were. A key finding relates to the role of parents in the third space, in loco magister. In the first lockdown, glimpses of third space learning were visible in children's achievements online. In the second lockdown, however, parental concerns to preserve some semblance of orderly family life led to the colonisation of the spatio-temporal dimensions of online teaching, seeing the return to more transmissive teacher approaches and missed opportunities for children's learning.