The Good, the Bad and Other Considerations: Reflections on Mentoring Trainee Teachers in Post-Compulsory Education

Overview & Synopsis

This article discusses the role of professional mentoring in the training of teachers in post-compulsory education in the context of national initiatives to train and professionalise all teachers in the sector. The article draws on the author's experience as course leader for a full-time programme of initial teacher training for post-compulsory education in which mentoring plays a central role in the development of trainee teachers. The notion of effective mentoring for teacher development is explored, as are some of the issues that have arisen, from the perspective of mentors and student teachers, over the five years during which the programme has been running. Some of the difficulties in transferring a school-based model of mentorship to further education are discussed and some tentative suggestions are made for the way forward in the development of mentoring for pre-service teacher trainees in further education.