When new teachers enter the workforce, many are surprised by the difficulties that come with educating students. Mentoring can help these educators transition more smoothly into their roles.
Throughout the world, teacher mentor programs pair veteran educators with beginning teachers to guide them in using best practices and explaining what it takes to be successful in the classroom. Julianne Moss, an associate professor of education studies at Deakin University in Australia, has researched peer mentoring and has mentored teachers in the past. She feels that, when done properly, teacher mentoring can prove extremely effective for improving teachers' practices and helping retain new educators.
"As a teacher educator, I am interested in the early years of professional socialization and the needs of newly qualified teachers," says Moss about her research at a primary school in Victoria, Australia, that focused on supporting changes needed for teacher mentoring. Moss says the research she conducted provides valuable information on how to improve the teacher induction process, determine what works and what does not, and shape curriculum for new teachers that leads to results in the classroom.
During her research and from her own experiences, Moss has seen many practices that work. "Approaches such as team teaching, where the new teacher works with an expert teacher over time, are invaluable," says Moss. "Our case studies have shown that situations where new teachers have opportunities to define curriculum issues and systematically investigate them over the first year have real benefits to them, the students they are teaching, and the overall sense of school community."
Moss feels that formal and informal methods can both work, according to the needs of the individual teacher. However, she has noticed that many early teachers need more structure during their first few years and that mentors need to provide constructive feedback to fully serve the new teachers. These teachers rely heavily on feedback to see what they are doing right and how they can develop a working curriculum. "The judgment needs to be made that some beginning teachers, due to their initial preparation, may well require a very structured approach," Moss says. "This, however, requires that the mentors are effectively prepared for this role."
In addition to noting the benefits of teacher mentoring, Moss has also noticed the toll mentoring can take on veteran teachers. Although they feel mentoring helps, Moss says, many veteran teachers who take on the role find it difficult. Moss feels that it's important to continue looking at what practices work and how mentors and new teachers can work with each other more efficiently. "The research that we have conducted on close-up case studies shows that teachers find it extremely difficult to do the role effectively," she says.
Most educators can see the importance in mentoring, but if it is not done properly, the early teacher might not gain anything from the partnership. It could possibly even do harm if the mentor does a poor job. Moss feels that continuing research in the field will help develop practices that can make all parties better educators.
"New teachers are very alert to inconsistent practices. Also who the mentor is, of course, is critical," Moss states. "Due to short supply of experts in some subject areas, inexperienced teachers—that is those with 2–5 years of teaching—might be allocated as mentors. While there is a great deal to be gained from what is in essence peer support, in the long term we have observed through our case studies to find this not to be beneficial."
Despite the challenges with mentoring programs, they are useful and help improve teacher performance to some degree, Moss says. She feels that all levels of education—early teachers, mentors, administrators, and professional development personnel—need to work together for a mentoring program to succeed. School systems must make sure that educators have all the resources they need to perform at a high level.
Continuing research, trying both proven and new practices, developing sound curriculum, and ensuring mentors are prepared can lead to a productive learning environment in the classroom. The partnerships work to varying degrees, but for the most part teacher mentoring programs, as Moss points out, do help teachers during the early stages of their careers.
