Mentors are a common way worldwide to support newly qualified teachers (NQTs), but mentor education seems to have been scantily dealt with in research (Waterman & He, 2011). In order to receive an overview of the research field, the aim of this paper is to report a meta-synthesis (Sandelowski & Barroso, 2007) on research focusing mentor education for newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Systematic reviews were conducted focusing on “mentor“ education” OR “mentor“ training”; in: (a) databases concerning peer-reviewed articles (b) on-line programs for the 2011-2013 annual conferences of AERA, EERA and AARE; and (c) four peer-reviewed journals.

The review showed that most research – giving recommendations for mentor education and the knowledge and skills mentors need – actually are focusing varying aspects of mentoring, not the mentor education. Thus, a very small number of research focus on the actual mentor education for NQTs; only six articles met the criteria for full inclusion in this meta-synthesis. Mentor education could be identified as formal courses; as action research projects or as more individualized initiatives for reflection and professional development via coaching of the mentor. Four of the six studies follow the teaching/learning process during the mentoring education and in all studies multiple methods are used.