Que en el treinta de septiembre de dos mil veinte, en sesión ordinaria, el Consejo General de este Instituto aprobó el Acuerdo INE/CG302/2020, por el que determinó

In County B, it is important to explain that new teachers working in the schools were offered a 50 point course during their first year of teaching known as Forsterket Laererutdanning, or roughly translated to English, “Enhanced Teacher Education (ETE)”. The school owners in County B were responsible for the delivery of this course to the new teachers. This course was spread out over six days of the school year. Attendance to these courses was not mandatory for new teachers. This was the form of mentoring that the county offered new teachers, and shows where the ideological interests of the county lie. Both new teachers in School B have attended. The majority of the courses covered practical issues or skills that new teachers may need. A similar course was also being offered from the county to the mentors, but as no mentors interviewed have taken this course, it was not deemed relevant in this particular case.

The content of this course was to provide new teachers with the skills that County B considered necessary. The topics were as follows:

• The teacher as a leader

• Pupil assessment - Assessment of and for learning • Pedagogical delivery

• Home-school cooperation

• Basic skills - reading and writing in subjects

• Relationships and achievements (Forsterket Lærerutdanning, 2015)

The only evaluation of mentoring was done through the county was through feedback reports given to new teachers who attended the Enhanced Teacher Education courses. These feedback reports discussed the perceptions of the quality and frequency of mentoring of the NQTs. It was not specific in how or who administers the mentoring however. For new teachers who were not enrolled in the Enhanced Teacher Education courses, there was no direct line to County B to give feedback on the mentoring that took place.

The County B representative (CB) gave spoken insight to what should occur with newly qualified teachers. When CB was asked about the goals of mentoring, she began by

explaining the system and the conditions that new teachers begin working under. “Stressful” and “scary” were some of the terms she described the first year for newly qualified teachers. This helps reveals that she believed that the first year of teaching is quite overwhelming. Thus mentoring should be a means to alleviate these stresses. Many of the goals paralleled what is written was the Enhanced Teacher Education. New teachers should be stronger with class leadership, assessment, and gaining professional competence, but she moved in a different direction and said the following:

...from  day  one  that  the  teachers  come  into  your  school  door,  you  make  sure  that  they  are   well  taken  care  of.  Provided  with  information  and  mentor.  We  want  to  make  sure  that  they   quickly   go   into   their   class   and   provide   their   students   with   good   learning   as   quickly   as   possible.  Not  just  waiting  for  the  course  (Enhanced  Teacher  Education),  from  the  first  day.   You  need  to  know  who  these  new  teachers  are  and  provide  them  with  the  help  they  need.   (CB,  2014)  

From this we see that there was a desire to support the new teachers by giving them information and helping them succeed with their students. She brought up the fact that the teacher education programs did not sufficiently prepare teachers for the reality of teaching. Part of the course was to help the new teachers hone in their basic skills. The general feeling was that teacher education did not arm the new teachers with the skills that they needed to be a teacher.

We   want   to   provide   the   new   teachers   with   information   which   I   know   they   have   been   touching   in   the   teacher   education,   but   also   they   have   to…often   we   see   the   teacher   education   is   not   enough   because   when   the   teachers   come   out   they   suddenly   become   teachers,   and   the   role   and   understanding   of,   “How   am   I   going   to   be   as   a   teacher?”   (CB,   2014)  

At least part of the intended outcome of mentoring was to supply students with access to a good education as quickly as possible. As the County B representative elaborated on the purposes of mentoring, she explained from the perspective of a new teacher in the work environment:

Because   when   I   started   I   know   that   my   professor   told   me   this   but   I   didn’t   understand   it   before  I  began  to  work  and  now  I  see  how  it  works.  (CB,  2014)  

Yet she also explained that mentoring is more than just learning the practicalities of the profession, it should also include discussion and reflection about solving problems.

The discussion went further into the Enhanced Teacher Education program. The following quote illustrated County B’s role in implementing mentoring in the schools.

We   don’t   say   to   the   schools   that   you   NEED   to   send   all   new   teachers   to   this   program   (Enhanced  Teacher  Education).  What  we  say  is  that,  “You  need  to  make  sure  that  the  new   teachers  are  being  given  a  mentor  and  you  need  to  make  sure  that  you  do  some  mentoring   with   that   new   teacher.”   We   do   not   say   to   the   schools   that   you   need   to   be   a   part   of   Forsterket  Laererutdanning.  It’  s  only,  “You  need  to  do  some  mentoring  here.”  (CB,  2014)  

The county did not specify how mentoring should take place. Neither did it specify who should do the mentoring. Thus the main role in implementation of the mentoring was through the Enhanced Teacher Education course. Adding to this, mentoring was loosely evaluated through surveys sent to newly qualified teachers who attend this course. It was a questionnaire regarding the frequency, quality, and desired outcomes of mentoring. The county could take measures based on the feedback from the newly qualified teachers, such as calling the school or sending a team to the location to further develop a mentoring program. This was a connection from the new teachers straight to the county. Two notes of importance, County B did not provide additional funding for schools with new teachers as did County A. However, the University Professor disclosed recently that County B financed the schools that would like to send their teachers to the University mentor education courses.

One of the requirements of going to the Enhanced Teacher Education was that the new teachers were supposed to receive mentoring back at their own school.

So  we  have  supported  the  school,  we  have  told  the  schools,  “If  you  want  to  send  your  new   teachers  to  this  program,  you  also  have  to  send  some  teachers  to  another,  no  some  other   people,   to   another   course   that   we   are   offering   which   are   for   the   mentors”   So   we   have   a   teacher  course,  and  we  also  have  a  mentor  course.  (CB,  2014)  

This quote illustrates that mentoring should not necessarily be done by another teacher at the school. In the past school leaders have taken the mentoring course that the county offers. A school leader as a mentor could present an unequal relationship between the mentor and new teacher. The participant has indicated a shift in her priorities however, trying to encourage more teachers to take the mentoring course.