Mentor Education and Development in the Further Education sector in England

New research, carried out by Professor Andy Hobson and Dr Carol Robinson at the University of Brighton, investigated issues relating to the education and development of mentors of teachers in the Further Education (FE) sector in England.

The project, funded by Gatsby, included an online national survey of University leads for FE initial teacher education providers and mentors in FE colleges across England. The work found that:

• The standard of mentoring in the FE sector is highly variable, largely due to the quality and take-up of mentor training.
• Effective mentor training, development or CPD is vital to ensure high-quality mentoring. It has a positive impact on the learning, development, effectiveness, wellbeing and retention of both mentees and mentors.
• All mentors and coaches of trainee and more experienced teachers within the sector should undertake appropriate mentor/coach training.
• Having mentors undertake a formal qualification or accreditation in mentoring can provide additional value to the impact of effective non-accredited mentor training; however, the evidence was not conclusive.

This work follows up on other Gatsby-funded research into mentoring within the FE sector, including The Mentoring across Professions project and Mentoring and coaching for teachers in the FE and skills sector in England. 

Read the full report on the University of Brighton's website: https://www.brighton.ac.uk/_pdf/research/education/mentor-accreditation-report-final-march-2017.pdf