Teachers missing out on mentoring

That’s a key finding from new research which claims the institutions are missing out on the benefits of such support, notably for teacher retention and student learning. 

Andy Hobson, Professor of Teacher Learning and Development and Head of the University of Brighton’s Education Research Centre, said: “Given the benefits that can be derived from effective mentoring and coaching … we would argue that greater efforts should be made at both policy and institutional levels to strengthen institution-based mentoring and coaching across the sector.”

The research, published by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, explored, on the one hand, the reach, strengths and limitations of existing institution-based teacher mentoring in further education (FE), and on the other hand, the potential need for and appropriateness of a programme of external mentor support for FE teachers, which Professor Hobson’s previous research had found to be effectively employed in specific programmes of support for secondary science teachers.

The new research suggests that while mentoring and coaching are amongst the most effective means of supporting the professional learning and development of teachers, in practice the quality of institution-based mentoring and coaching in the FE sector is extremely variable. The report identifies several reasons for this. One of these relates to a lack of resource and institutional support for mentoring, which results in many cases in mentors having insufficient time meet with their mentees.

Another is the increasing use of mentoring and coaching as remedial strategies to address the perceived under-performance of teachers, which impedes the development of trusting relationships and collegiality which are essential to effective mentoring and coaching and teachers’ professional learning and development. 

These and other issues help to explain why around half of the teachers surveyed felt they might benefit from the support of an external mentor or coach. 

The report identifies a range of factors which influence the success of both institution-based and external mentoring. Based on these findings, the authors make a number of recommendations for policy-makers and the senior leadership teams of FE providers. Amongst these it is suggested, in the interests of teacher and student learning, that “teachers who do not have access to the support of a trained mentor or coach with the same subject specialism within their existing institution should have the opportunity to access a same-subject trained external mentor/coach”.

‘Mentoring and Coaching for Teachers in the Further Education and Skills Sector in England’ was led by Professor Hobson, working with Dr Bronwen Maxwell and Anna Stevens from Sheffield Hallam University, and Kerry Doyle from the University of Brighton’s School of Education.

You can read the full report on the Gatsby website.