The impact of mentor education: does mentor education matter?

Abstract

To gain a deeper understanding of mentor preparation, which is still an underdeveloped area, the current paper focuses on a formal mentor education programme offered to teachers in secondary school at a university in Norway. The research questions in this qualitative study examine why teachers participate in the programme, how they perceive the education and which parts of the programme they value. The underlying question is whether mentor education matters. The findings show that the mentor students in the programme moved from a practical towards a more conceptual understanding of mentoring. They developed ‘a mentor language, a mentor network and a mentor attitude’. There is, however, a limited understanding of mentor education in schools, and being a mentor is not recognised as a profession.

Keywords:

• mentoring
• newly qualified teachers
• mentor preparation