This report by The National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) has been published with the aim of finding workable and evidence-based solutions for the most urgent and complex teacher professional development challenges faced by schools everywhere.
The mentoring project draws on a diversity of perspectives and reference points from across the teacher development and wider education sectors, bringing together a wide range of experts, organisations, skills and expertise. This first phase clarifies definitions and approaches – and explains the theories behind how schools-based mentoring can achieve a range of positive outcomes.
To inform the project’s recommendations to the sector, this phase also includes findings from a Teacher Tapp survey of around 300 mentees in their first five years of teaching and more than 1,000 mentors, including:
- Mentees in the sample were generally positive about being mentored: 87 per cent named at least one benefit, particularly greater confidence and improved teaching practices.
- Whilst almost all mentors report experiencing some benefits, most also named some detrimental effects, and these frequently relate to lack of time and mentoring detracting from other activities.
- A third of primary teachers in the sample did not feel that they had been given an appropriate mentor – twice the proportion of secondary teachers, who will typically work in schools with larger staff teams.
- The benefits and challenges of mentorship reported by mentees did not differ substantially between those who were mentored by their line manager and those who had a separate line manager and mentor. However, more than half of all teachers surveyed said they would prefer not to be mentored by their line manager.
This work will help inform the final stage of this project, for publication in Spring 2023, of recommendations on effective practice for mentoring in primary and secondary education.
Recommendations will also be informed by a review of the evidence to bridge gaps in evidence with practical, transparent and actionable recommendations that can benefit the whole school system, including other teacher-development providers, as well as NIoT’s own programmes.