Early Career Teachers with Mentoring during the Induction Phase: Assessments of the Mentoring Relationship and Design of the Mentoring Process

In this article, the results of a survey of early career teachers on their experience with and perception mentorship during their first year of teaching are examined using a quantitative approach. A total of 100 early career teachers (80% female) of which 43 taught at primary school level participated in the study. Half of those surveyed agreed that mentors should be implemented during the induction phase. Primary school teachers, however, were less likely to not need any further mentoring to improve their quality of teaching beyond the induction phase (p=0.028; p=0.007). In general participants rated the mentoring relationship as a particularly trusting collegial and exemplary supportive working relationship. Nevertheless, more primary school teachers considered their mentors to be motivated for carrying out their task compared to secondary school mentees (p=0.036). Half of the respondents already recognized a personal learning success or further development process through the mentoring process in the induction phase. Taken together these results provide initial insights into the benefits of a mentoring process for novice teachers during their first year and highlight some benefits along with some concerns regarding this process.