“First meetings”: constructive first encounters between pre-service teachers and their mentors

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the findings from an action research project in which the researchers sought to develop a set of questions for use by mentors (experienced teachers) and mentees (pre-service teachers) on a course of initial teacher education (ITE) when they first met – the “initial encounter”.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used an action research approach in order to address the lower retention rate of pre-service teachers from different backgrounds, such as Black and Minority ethnic (BAME) and the issues around mentoring which may exacerbate this problem. Discussions between the course team and participating mentors and mentees suggested that the initial encounter between mentor and mentee was significant, and an action research methodology would allow for developing questions that might structure such encounters.FindingsThe researchers found that a useful and effective set of questions could be developed and used by mentors and mentees. Additionally, this process gave researchers insights into the nature of the first encounters between mentors and mentees on an ITE course and how both groups see their roles. In several cycles of action research, the participants produced a number of iterations of such questions, which were refined across a two-year period.Research limitations/implicationsWhile it is too early to tell if the issues leading to the lower retention rate of pre-service teachers that prompted the project have been reduced in any significant way, the researchers suggest that thinking about these initial encounters can have an impact on the way mentors and mentees go on to build a relationship.Originality/valueThe authors found that there is very little research in the field of teacher education which looks at initial encounters between mentors and mentees, and thus make an original contribution to the mentoring literature.

The need for Qualified School Teacher Mentors for Initial Teacher Training, Early Career Teachers and Beyond: Why Don’t School Teacher Mentors Need a Qualification in Mentoring?

“…This is seen both in terms of teacher retention and recruitment beyond the Initial Teacher Training (ITT), with 20% of teachers in the United Kingdom leaving the profession within 2 years and 33% within 5 years; based on data as of 2017 (DfE, 2019d). High attrition rates of some ITT groups, such as BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic), prompted a study of ITT mentoring by Connolly et al (2021), which highlighted mentoring inexperience. Sosssick et al's (2019) case study of mentoring and coaching showed potential resilience building through a "third space"; shifting the CPD/PD mentoring/coaching model away from outcomes-based judgement.…”