Mentoring experienced teachers : a path to personalised professional development

Abstract

This dissertation explores the potential of mentoring as a personalised and effective model of professional development (PD) for experienced teachers. While mentoring has long been associated with induction and support for newly qualified teachers (NQTs) and newly recruited teachers (NRTs), this study examines whether mentoring can and should address the PD needs of experienced teachers. By capturing teachers’ voices and drawing on the experiences of novice educators of mentoring as well as the perspectives of experienced teachers within a Maltese primary school, the study investigates the requirements for an effective mentoring programme which can meet teachers’ evolving professional needs throughout their careers. Through focus groups with NQTs, NRTs and experienced teachers and semi-structured interviews with key, external participants from different educational sectors, a qualitative investigation of perspectives and experiences across different career stages was carried out. This enabled the emergence of the requirements for mentoring to be successfully implemented beyond induction. The study addresses a gap in the literature related to experienced teachers’ perceptions of mentoring and offers practical recommendations for enhancing existing mentoring programmes and encourages further research into the development of effective, long-term mentoring programmes tailored to experienced teachers in the local context.