Levelling the playing field: A Review of Mentoring in the CaBan Initial Teacher Education programme

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of the new CaBan Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme that has emerged in response to broader educational reform in Wales. More specifically, it aims to analyse the perceptions of mentors and Associate Teachers (ATs) to develop a more adequate understanding of the mentoring approach that has been adopted by CaBan. Questionnaires and group interviews were used to generate data from 15 mentors and 48 ATs – who took part in the study during the final phase of their one-year postgraduate programme. A process of thematic analysis was used to identify and analyse patterns in the data. The dialogic mentoring approach adopted by CaBan reframed the relationship between the mentor and AT. It encouraged a more democratic partnership that empowered the ATs to challenge some aspects of practice and engage in more creative acts. Regular feedback and discussions that were focused on shared learning helped reduce ATs’ evaluation apprehension, but also created some tension as mentors’ pedagogical beliefs were more likely to be challenged. These findings have implications for the CaBan programme and other providers of ITE, as adopting a dialogic approach led to desirable changes in mentoring strategies. These changes were perceived to be valuable, but they relied on the mentors devoting more time to the dialogic process and being fully invested in open conversations about learning.