Organizing mentoring and induction practices: understood through the eyes of newly qualified teachers

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of Informants and the mentioned measures in Model 1 and Model 2 are presented in Table 1.

	Model 1 – extended mentoring of NQTs (includes 2 schools)	Model 2 – limited mentoring of NQTs (includes 2 schools)
Informants	4 NQTs from 2 schools	4 NQTs from 2 schools
Information about employment	2 teachers with temporary contract, 2 with fulltime job	4 teachers with temporary contracts
Period of participating in induction activities	2 years of follow-up as NQT	1 year of follow-up as NQT
Measures to accommodate NQTs’ needs^1	Written plan for mentoring and induction	Written plan for the mentoring in one school and no plan in the other school
	One-to-one and group mentoring led by mentor with mentor education, observation by mentor	Group mentoring led by the principal or a middle manager 3–5 times a year and no mentor with formal mentor education^3
	Group meetings for all new employees before school starts	Group meetings for all new employees before school starts
	Two-teacher set-ups	Two-teacher set-ups
	Buddy system^2	Buddy system
	Supervision from formal leaders	Supervision from formal leaders
	Help from colleagues	Help from colleagues
	Released time for teaching preparation (for one of the schools)	Teacher team with formal responsibility for NQTs
	Coordinating mentor with responsibility for NQT follow-up.	Specific information for newcomers in databases in one school
		Released time for teaching preparation.

Table 2. An overview of codes with definitions and empirical examples of quotes from NQTs asked about the practices of induction and mentoring are presented in Table 2.

Code	Definition	Description of categorization	Empirical example
sayings	How actors think and talk about mentoring and induction	Quotes indicating discursive and cultural arrangements such as norms maintaining or challenging mentoring and induction practices for NQTs.	Mentoring is described as “a side-thing compared with the main practice.”
doings	How actors act and work related to mentoring and induction	Quotes indicating material-economic arrangements such as structures and specific plans maintaining or challenging mentoring and induction practices.	“principal meetings” for “sharing with other NQTs in the same situation.”
relatings	How actors relate to people involved in- and to mentoring and induction practices	Quotes indicating social-political arrangements such as relations between people or between people and the world maintaining or challenging mentoring and induction practices for NQTs.	Description of how it is “difficult to complain too much” as “the good people from the leadership group” (…) “have so much to do.”

Figure 1. The ecology of mentoring practices is based on Kemmis, Wilkinson, et al. (2014) and Grootenboer (2018).

Mentoring newly qualified teachers illustrated as an educational practice interacting ecologically with other educational practices. Educational practices interacting are, mentoring practices, educational leading practices, professional learning practices, NQT learning practices and mentoring research and evaluation practices.

Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P., & Bristol, L. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Springer Science & Business Media.

 Google Scholar

Grootenboer, P. (2018). The practices of School Middle Leadership - Leading Professional Learning. Springer.

 Google Scholar