Patterns of formal and informal support within teacher induction – latent classes and their implications for novices’ competence and well-being

ABSTRACT

Studies on mentored learning to teach commonly focus on the quality of formally arranged mentoring relationships, leaving aside the informal sources of support that surround the mentor-mentee dyad. In this exploratory study, we broaden the scope and investigate how two distinct formal mentoring approaches interact with the informal support provided at teacher training schools in shaping the professional development of beginning teachers. Self-reports from 583 German beginning teachers on mentoring support, peer support, and collegial support are used to identify typical patterns of support during teacher induction. By means of latent class analysis, five support classes with qualitative differences are identified and subsequently compared with regard to their professional skills, self-efficacy, and emotional exhaustion using the BCH 3-step approach. Findings indicate significant differences across groups and a complementary relation between formal and informal support. Implications for effective teacher support within future teacher education are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher
• induction
• mentor
• informal
• support
• competence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Each cohort was surveyed during one out of four measurement periods within the overall project duration from autumn 2017 to spring 2019. Cohort 1 (N = 232, M (age) = 27.2, SD (age) = 3.3, 73% female) participated in autumn 2017; Cohort 2 (N = 128, M (age) = 28.1, SD (age) = 4.0, 64% female) participated in spring 2018; Cohort 3 (N = 98, M (age) = 27.5, SD (age) = 3.2, 68% female) participated in autumn 2018; Cohort 4 (N = 125, M (age) = 28.1, SD (age) = 3.0, 65% female) participated in spring 2019.

Additional information

Funding

The evaluation project this study builds upon was commissioned and financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Science, Continuing Education, & Culture in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Beyond this financial support, the ministry was not involved in any data curation, analysis, interpretation, or in writing or submission of this manuscript.