The aim of this meta-synthesis is to deepen the understanding and knowledge of research focusing on education for mentors of newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Altogether, 10 studies met the criteria for full inclusion and were synthesised. Three overarching dimensions were found as a final synthesis guiding the further development of mentor education: 1) Contextual dimensions, 2) Theoretical-analytical dimensions, and 3) Relational dimensions. The synthesis stresses the importance of a systematic, long-term and research-based mentor education that develops mentors’ (self-)understanding of teaching and mentoring, i.e. is well integrated in the educational context, has a balance of theoretical and practical components, includes rich possibilities for interaction and reflection and prepares for an evidence-informed mentoring.

A REVISED AND EXTENDED VERSION OF THIS PAPER HAS LATER BEEN PUBLISHED AS OPEN ACCESS, SEE:  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X1500030X

Under senare år har allt mer fokus och resurser riktats mot lärares kompetensutveckling. Ett område för satsningar har bl.a. varit mentorskap. Mycket har skrivits om mentorskap generellt och om nya lärare och deras behov speciellt, men vad vet vi om mentorers kompetensutveckling och lärande? Vilka kompetenser behövs och hur påverkar det utbildning av veiledere/mentorer?

I denna artikel sätter vi fokus på kvalificering av mentorer för nya lärare och på den kompetens de kan behöva för att på ett medvetet och framgångsrikt sätt vara mentor för nya lärare. Vi kommer att diskuter vilka kompetenser mentorer kan behöva och hur det i sin tur kan påverka utbildning av veileder/mentorer – såväl till innehåll som till form. Vi kommer inte att gå närmare in på frågan i vilken mån mentorskap är positivt eller inte för nya lärare, eftersom vår bedömning är att det finns mycket forskning som på ett övertygande sätt visar på dess positiva effekter (se t.ex. Bjerkholt, 2012; Dahl et al., 2006; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011; Waterman & He, 2011), även om vissa frågetecken kan resas kring dess räckvidd, exempelvis för skolutveckling (Dahl et al., 2006). Vi tar utgångspunkt i den internationella forskningen på området men ger också konkreta exempel från ett nordiskt perspektiv, i synnerhet från Sverige och Finland. Vi inleder med en bakgrundsteckning kring vad tidigare forskning på området lyfter fram om mentorers professionella utveckling och lärande till att bli mentor.

The aim of this meta-synthesis is to deepen the understanding and knowledge of qualitative research focusing on education for mentors of newly qualified teachers. Altogether, 10 studies were included and synthesised. Four common themes emerged in the initial analysis: School and mentoring context, Theory and practice, Reflection and critical thinking and Relationships. Furthermore, three overarching dimensions were found as a final synthesis guiding the further development of mentor education: 1) Contextual dimensions, 2) Theoretical-analytical dimensions, and 3) Relational dimensions. The synthesis stresses the importance of a systematic, long-term and research-informed mentor education that develops mentors' (self-)understanding of teaching and mentoring.

Collaboration or assessment? Some perspectives on mentoring in Finland and Sweden

JESSICA ASPFORS, Faculty of Education, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

GÖRAN FRANSON, Faculty of Education and Business Studie, University of Gävle, Sweden

HANNU L. T. HEIKKINEN, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

In this presentation, some tensional trends within mentoring, which we call a contradiction between collaboration and assessment, will be addressed. The aim is threefold: firstly to describe and compare the development of mentoring programs in Finland and Sweden at a system level, secondly to illustrate how the various mentoring systems have been experienced by the persons involved and thirdly to discuss the political and ideological circumstances and the possible effects of these solutions. The study is based on empirical data from the Finnish and Swedish contexts, both on the level of mentors’ and NQTs’ experiences, based on interviews and/or focus group discussions and on the national policy level, based on policy documents on teacher education and, in the Swedish part, the responses of teacher educators to them.

The tentative result indicates profound differences between the two national initiatives of mentoring in Finland and Sweden. The mentoring process in Finland, peer group mentoring, is clearly based on social constructivist assumptions on knowledge and learning. The integration of formal, informal and nonformal learning as well as the equality and professional autonomy as persons and professionals is central. The proposed system of a mandatory induction system in Sweden is, however, very different with mentoring, probation year, registration of teachers and possible assessment of NQTs as central components. In the presentation these issues will be discussed upon in terms of teachers’ continuing professional learning and development.

In this chapter, some tensional trends within mentoring, which we call a contradiction between collaboration and assessment, are addressed. The aim is threefold: First, to describe and compare the development of mentoring programmes in Finland and Sweden at the system level; second, to illustrate how the various mentoring systems have been experienced by the persons involved; and third, to discuss the political and ideological circumstances and the possible effects of these solutions. The study is based on empirical data gathered in Finland and Sweden and examines the experiences of mentors and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) as well as the relevant national policies. The findings indicate profound differences between the two national initiatives of mentoring in Finland and Sweden. The mentoring process in Finland, using peer group mentoring, is based on social constructivistic assumptions regarding knowledge and learning. The integration of formal, informal and non-formal learning, as well as the equality and professional autonomy as a person and as a professional, is central. The system of mandatory induction in Sweden is very different, with mentoring, a probation year and the registration of teachers being central components. In such a system, the mentors' role of avoiding direct or indirect involvement in the assessment may become more challenging.

In this paper, we describe contested practices of mentoring within and between Australia, Finland and Sweden. Our study is based on national policy documents and empirical data from participants involved in mentoring. The theoretical framework will build on practice theory (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008; Kemmis & Heikkinen 2012). The aim is to demonstrate three archetypes persisting in literature and practices: mentoring as supervision, support and collective self-development. In Australia, we find the three kinds of mentoring jostling with one another. In Finland, the perspective of collective self-development is emphasized. In Sweden, the traditional model of mentoring (support) has been typical since 1995, with a current reform of teacher induction which turns mentoring more into supervision.

Our paper will show (1) that the meanings of 'mentoring' are contested within and between the countries involved; (2) that the three forms of mentoring identified represent three different projects: (a) assisting newly qualified teachers (NQTs) to pass through probation or (b) traditional mentoring of NQTs by more experienced teachers or (c) peer-group mentoring (PGM); and (3) that these three projects, that could be simultaneously present, also involve and imply quite different practice architectures in the form of different materialeconomic, social-political and cultural-discursive arrangements.

I denna antologi analyserar, problematiserar och diskuterar lärare och forskare vid Högskolan i Gävle olika sidor av att undervisa inom Högskolan. Exempelvis fokuseras möjligheter och dilemman som kan uppstå när lärare försöker att mäta och värdera kvalitativa aspekter av studenters kunskap; hur ett pedagogiskt utvecklingsarbete kan bedrivas i den egna ämnesgruppen; hur ett processorienterat skrivande kan användas för att utveckla studenternas skriftliga språk; vikten av att göra djupare analyser av kursutvärderingar samt hur högskolelärare förstår sin egen kompetens.

Texterna har vuxit fram som en, av flera, examinationsuppgifter inom ramen för en kurs i högskolepedagogik som genomförts vid Högskolan i Gävle.

Using the theoretical perspective of ‘educational space’, this paper analyses the Swedish teacher registration reform and it´s induction system and how it changes roles, positions, relations, powers and identities within the Swedish educational system. An educational space can be understood as a relational category in which object and actor are related to another and where changeable positions and boundaries are created (Ferrrare & Apple, 2010). In this sense, actors within an educational system – such as teachers, principals, mentors and NQTs – position themselves and are also actively positioned by others (Leander & Osborne, 2008). They are also positioned by norms, values, curricula and legislation; in this case by the teacher registration reform and the structured induction system.

Introduction

Mentoring is a global phenomenon. Even though the concept of ‘mentoring’ exists in different national and cultural contexts and is performed in a variety of ways, it is nevertheless a contested practice (Kemmis et al., 2014). The incoherent way of naming, framing and defining ‘mentoring’ has been discussed in the literature, in that different concepts, such as mentoring, coaching, supervision etc., have been used to describe the same phenomenon (cf. Gold, 1996; Sundli, 2007; Mullen, 2012;). For instance, Mullen (2012) writes that: “While some theorists think of coaching as a type of mentoring, others see the exact reverse – that is, mentoring as a type of coaching” (p. 9). Further, in the educational field a clear line is seldom drawn between ‘mentoring’ practiced in  initial teacher training and the ‘mentoring’ of newly qualified teachers. This may mean that the same phenomenon is described in different ways, or that different descriptions are applied to the same phenomenon.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to problematize how the concept of ‘mentoring’ is used in the literature to address the ‘phenomenon of mentoring’.

Perspective(s) or theoretical frame­work

In this study, a sensemaking perspective is used to acknowledge the processes of sensemaking and negotiation of meanings. According to Weick (1995), sensemaking involves three specific elements: a frame of past moments and understandings, cues of the present moment of experience and a connection in-between, Accordingly, ‘the content of sensemaking is to be found in the frames and categories’ (p. 111) that summarize past experiences. Thus, how the concept of ‘mentoring’ or the ‘phenomenon of mentoring’ is made sense of in individual or specific contexts is a result of negotiations of meanings.

Methods and data

The data for this conceptual paper comes from strategically chosen journal articles as examples of how the concept of ‘mentoring’ is used in different national and cultural educational contexts. A content analysis is performed to identify the various meanings of mentoring and the contexts in which it is used (Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, 2014).

Arguments and con­clusions

The analysis shows that major challenges in (accurate) sensemaking can be due to:

(a)   language transformation (notions and concepts from one language are transformed into another language, most often into English, which can result in a change of meaning)

(b)  context transformation (sensemaking of context specific circumstances may be difficult)

(c)   context insensitivity (mixing up different ‘mentoring contexts’)

(d)  phenomenon insensitivity (mixing up different phenomena, e.g. ‘coaching’, ‘mentoring’, etc.

In certain contexts, some of these issues may be of minor relevance, whilst in others they may be vital for achieving (accurate) sensemaking.

The paper draws attention to the importance of acknowledging linguistic, conceptual and contextual dimensions of ‘mentoring’ in the sense-making process in order to achieve stringency and coherence in research, for instance when research overviews are conducted to frame own research.

References:

Kemmis, S., Heikkinen, H., Fransson, G., Aspfors, J. & Edwards-Groves, C. (2014).  Mentoring of new teachers as a contested practice: Supervision, support and collaborative self-development. Teaching and Teacher Education. Vol. 43, 154–164

Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M. & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook. (3. ed.) Los Angeles: Sage.

Mullen, C.A. (2012). Mentoring: An Overview. In S.J. Fletcher & C.A. Mullen (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education (pp. 7–23). London: SAGE.

Sundli, L. (2007): Mentoring – A new mantra for education? Teaching and Teacher Edu­cation. 23(2). pp. 201–214.

Weick, K. (1995): Sensemaking in Organisations. Thousand Oaks. California: Sage Pub­lications.

The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse the process of professionalisation of newly commissioned second lieutenants and newly qualified school teachers. The professionalisation of these two occupational categories is examined from a comparative perspective and concentrates on the communicative conditions and institutional arenas that affect the professionalisation process.

The theoretical framework of the thesis is comprised of communication theory and concepts of sense making found in institutional theory models. The empirical data was collected during the first year after second lieutenants received their officer’s commissions and teachers received their teaching credentials. Four second lieutenants and four teachers were interviewed three times during their first year of professional service. Some observations are also included in the thesis.

The dissertation’s main conclusions are connected, in part, to issues of transparency in communicative conditions and, in part, to incentives connected to supervision, support and control. On the one hand, the commissioned officers’ and one of the teacher’s process of sensemaking appeared visible and collective in character, where the rules of conduct and meaning emerge clearly without ambiguity. On the other hand, the majority of the certified teachers’ process of sense making appeared private, concealed, inaccessible and diverse in character.

It was observed that incentives for supervision, support and control are strong among commissioned officers because they are directly dependent on each other’s work. The same incentives are weaker among certified teachers because they are not as dependent on each other’s work. One conclusion to draw from this difference is that the professionalisation of commissioned officers is collective-oriented while the professionalisation of certified teachers is less so.

Föreliggande licentiatuppsats utgör en kappa som bygger två rapporter. Dessa rapporter, ”Utbildning under uppbyggnad” (Fransson m.fl, 1999a) samt ”Lära av egen kraft” (Fransson m.fl, 1999b) har producerats som ett led i en utvärdering av en av svenska flygvapnets pilotutbildningar.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge en översiktlig bild av de överväganden, utgångspunkter och analyser som präglat dessa; att diskutera några av resultaten i ett vidgat teoretiskt perspektiv, i detta fall ett institutionellt perspektiv, samt att diskutera metodernas och teoriernas lämplighet i sammanhanget. De resultat som diskuteras har avgränsats till att beröra exemplet om två instruktörers pedagogiska beteendemönster under en övning i en simulator.

De som förenar de båda bakomliggande rapporterna är det sociokulturella perspektiv de båda utgår ifrån, den etnografiskt inspirerade datainsamlings- och analysmetodiken samt att de bygger på studier i samma utbildningsmiljö. I den första rapporten analyseras empiriska data med hjälp av aktivitetsteori. Som modell för arbetsgången tillämpades metodiken inom den utvecklingsinriktade arbetsforskningen, ”developmental work research”. I den andra rapporten analyseras förutsättningar för lärande genom att betrakta lärande i perspektivet av ett legitimt perifert lärande.

I uppsatsen förs diskussioner bl.a. om att begreppet motsättning, som ingår i den aktivitetsteoretiska begreppsapparaten, effektivt kan bidraga till att fokusera på faktorer eller förhållanden i verksamheten som utveckling och förändring kan utgå ifrån. Motsvarande tydlighet finns inte uttalad inom det institutionella perspektivets begreppsapparat. Vidare konstateras att det finns vissa svårigheter att problematisera relationen mellan det aktivitetsteoretiska perspektivet och det institutionellt perspektivet. En av orsakerna därtill är att institutionsbegreppet i samband med aktivitetsteoretiska analyser förefaller tillämpas utan närmare definition. Utförligare beskrivningar av hur institutionsbegreppet förstås och används förordas för att kunna göra närmare analyser av hur de båda perspektiven kompletterar varandra.

I uppsatsen framhålls den etnografiska metodens tillämpbarhet. En svårighet som kan uppstå när man genomför studier i högteknologiska miljöer påtalas dock. En risk kan finnas att forskaren inledningsvis fascineras av tekniska aspekter, med följd att fokus på de mänskliga aspekterna då fördunklas. Denna effekt bör inte underskattas av forskare.

Introduction

The purpose of this analytical paper is to examine how culturally embedded norms, values, relations and prerequisites operate in the development of a mentoring system. This is done by contrasting the case of Sweden with that of Finland. Although these neighbouring Nordic countries have a lot in common, their educational systems have taken different directions, especially with regard to the mentoring of new teachers (Aspfors, Fransson & Heikkinen, 2012). As is proposed and argued in this paper, these different approaches to mentoring are largely culturally embedded and the results of specific social, cultural, educational, philosophical and political conditions. I will analyse these culturally embedded preconditions for mentoring at an overall macro-level.

In Finland, the mentoring of (new) teachers came into focus in 2010 with the launching of the national programme Osaava Werme, funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. Mentoring is organised as peer-group mentoring with groups of 4-10 early career teachers, from different schools and with different subject skills, in their first to fifth year. In one year they participate in six to eight seminars which are facilitated by an experienced and specially trained teacher. This programme, which is voluntary, has evolved out of research and a series of pilot projects and action research programmes (e.g. Heikkinen, Jokinen & Tynjälä, 2012).

In Sweden, the mentoring of new teachers came about as a result of the Swedish Parliament’s decision in 2011 to implement a teacher registration reform and a mandatory probation year for new teachers. The reform requires new teachers to have a mentor, and to be evaluated by principals as to whether he/she is competent enough to be registered. One-to-one mentoring is emphasised in the policy documents and the reform is regarded as a top-down reform (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2011).

Theoretical framework - the dynamic of culture

The analysis of cultural aspects and the theoretical framework both focus on culture and cultural dynamics. According to McDaniel, Samovar and Porter (2012), definitions of culture often focus on “shared values, attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, norms, material objects, and symbolic resources” (p. 10-11). However, the aspects that construe what we call culture are not fixed and stable (Hall, 2007). On the contrary, they are construed and negotiated in human interactions and are thus always included in processes of transformation and change.   

By means of the Cultural Mentoring Framework, Kochan and Pascarelli (2012) offer an analytical framework for analysing these aspects of mentoring in terms of three cultural constructs: traditional, transitional and transformative. The rationale of the traditional construct is to transmit the existing culture to newcomers, thus recognising the norms, values, beliefs, behaviour and so on as timeless and general. The rationale of the transitional construct is change and adaptation to changing preconditions. Changing the preconditions, such as changing teachers’ tasks or emphasising certain organizational aspects or perspectives of teaching and learning, may lead to mentors facilitating the transformation process of these ‘messages’. The rationale of the transformative construct is, according to Kochan and Pascarelli, to move beyond the transitional construct by questioning norms, values, beliefs and behaviour more, and in that way, contribute to cultural change. In a transformative construct, mentoring may take the shape of networking and learning communities with evolving and transforming roles that challenge and change the concepts of mentoring. This framework offers insights into the different aspects of (possible) cultures and the dynamic of cultures, i.e. the mechanisms for how culture changes, evolves and may be challenged. Thus, the changing preconditions for educational systems and new aspects and ideas all become intertwined with the cultural conditions, and result in culturally-bound outcomes.

Methods and sources of data

The analysis data consists of oral and written information and a qualitative meta-analysis (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005) of policy documents from Sweden and Finland and of presented or published research (n=29) concerning Finnish and Swedish culture and the educational systems in Finland and Sweden, especially research into mentoring or induction systems.  The meta-analysis implies an aggregative approach of studies on micro- and meso-level to macro-level (cultural level), and in the analysis the (possible) interplay between micro- meso- and macro-level has been critically analysed. Thus the analyses have been performed in a deductive way. The analyses of the cases of Finland and Sweden are to be regarded as a qualitative cross-case comparison (Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, 2014) where especially the similarities, differences and patterns in the results are highlighted.

The findings and conclusions presented in this paper have emerged gradually and, since 2005, have developed in conjunction with a series of network projects and collaborative research projects run by researchers from Sweden, Finland and other Nordic and Baltic countries. The mentoring systems in these countries have also been analysed and discussed at a number of national and international conferences and symposia organised by the networks or in connection with other established annual conferences (e.g. Author, XXX & YYY, 2011: Jokinen et al, 2010) in which I have participated.  These kinds of experience have its pros and cons, and Pickering (2008) emphasise the centrality of experience in cultural studies, but warns also for the risk of ‘self-interpreting’. However, in this study the solid base of written information and research are the key-source for the analysis that was performed in 2013.

Results

The culture of education that determines the mentoring approaches is highly influenced by a country’s history, especially in the Finnish case with its history of wars and Cold War living under threat, making the issue of building a nation and a national identity very important. Thus, Finnish educational researchers having the culturally embedded position, trust and task to realise research-based pilot projects (Sahlberg, 2011); the outcomes of which outcomes are able to influence national policy and become more widespread. This culturally embedded trust in educational researchers and Finnish teachers influences the development of peer-group mentoring. However, these highly regarded teachers have great autonomy, and claims have been raised that this not optimises the opportunities to cooperate and learn from each other (Jokinen & Välijärvi, 2006) which makes the idea of peer-group mentoring and collaborative learning more interesting – and perhaps also necessary – ­than one-to-one-mentoring. This innovative aspect of peer-group mentoring has been developed through pilot projects.

Compared to Finland, Swedish teachers do not have the same degree of social standing. While Finnish teachers are highly respected, Swedish teachers and the Swedish educational system, teacher and educational researchers have been under systematic attack over the last two decades, mainly from neo-liberal positions. This ideological shift, its bureaucratic consequences and its steering model, named as new public management (NPM), has been implemented in Sweden to a very high degree an increased focus on control, inspection, regimes of accountability and the evaluation of teachers, (Dyrdal Solbrekke & Englund, 2011; Lundahl et al., 2010) which has meant that the top-down state initiative and implementation of a mandatory one-to-one mentoring system with elements of teacher assessment has been a logical step.

Thus, Finnish teachers seem to be living in a culture of trust, while Swedish teachers have to face an ideology and culture of distrust.

References:

Author, [details removed for peer review] (2011). [details removed for peer review]  Paper presented in the, at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in **** ** September **.

Aspfors, J., Fransson, G. & Heikkinen, H.L.T. (2012). Mentoring as dialogue, collaboration and/or assessment? In P. Tynjälä, M.-L. Stenström & M. Saarnivaara (Eds.) Transitions and Transformations in Learning and Education. (pp. 271–290). Berlin: Springer.

Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.) (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. (3. ed.) Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

Dyrdal Solbrekke, T. & Englund, T. (2011). Bringing professional responsibility back in. Studies in Higher Education 36(7), 847–861.

Hall, S. (Ed.) (1997). Representation: cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage.

Heikkinen, H. L. T., Jokinen, H. & Tynjälä, P. (Eds.) (2012). Peer-Group Mentoring for Teachers Professional Development, London/New York: Taylor and Francis.

Jokinen, H., [details removed for peer review] (201*). [details removed for peer review]   Paper presented at the European Conference of Educational Research (ECER) in [details removed for peer review], **-** August 201*.

Jokinen, H. & Välijärvi, J. (2006). Making Mentoring a Tool for Supporting Teachers’ Professional Development. In: R. Jakku-Sihvonen & H. Niemi (Eds.) (2006): Research-based Teacher Education in Finland. Reflections by Finnish Teacher Educators. Research in Educational Sciences 25. Turku: Finnish Educational. Research Association.

Kochan, F. & Pascarelli, J.T. (2012). Culture and Mentoring in the Global Age. In Fletcher, S. and Mullen, C.A. Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education (pp.184-198), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Press.

Lundahl, L., Erixon Arreman, I., Lundström, U. & Rönnberg, L. (2010). Setting Things Right? Swedish Upper Secondary School Reform in a 40-Year Perspective, European Journal of Education 45(1), 46–59.

McDaniel, E. R., Samovar, L. A. & Porter, R. E. (2012). Using Intercultural Communication: The Building Block, In: L. A. Samovar, R. E. Porter & E. R. McDaniel (Eds.) (2012). Intercultural Communication. A Reader, (13^th edition), (pp. 4–18), Boston, Mass.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Miles, M., Huberman, M. & Saldaña, J. (2014) Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook, 3. ed., Sage Publication.

Pickerig, M (2008). Experience and the Social World. In M. Pickering (Ed.). Research Methods for Cultural Studies, (p. 17-31). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University.

Sahlberg, P. (2011). Finnish lessons: what can the world learn from educational change in Finland? Teachers College Press: New York.

Mentoring is a global phenomenon. Even though the concept of ‘mentoring’ exists in different national and cultural contexts, and is performed in a variety of ways, it is nevertheless a contested practice (Kemmis et al., 2014). The incoherent way of naming, framing and defining ‘mentoring’ has been discussed in the literature, in that different concepts, such as mentoring, coaching, supervision etc., have been used to describe the same phenomenon (cf. Gold, 1996; Sundli, 2007; Mullen, 2012).

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to problematise how the concept of ‘mentoring’ is used in the literature to address the ‘phenomenon of mentoring’. I first discuss how the concept of mentoring can be used in different contexts and then conduct an in-depth analysis of how the results from one specific article (Aspfors & Fransson, 2015) are used by others. More precisely, I analyse how this article is cited and quoted by other scholars.

Lärandet sker när man kanske minst anar det, och på platser där man befinner sig för att i första hand göra något annat än att just lära sig något. I denna bok lyfts det som ibland beskrivs som den ”osynliga” eller ”tysta” kunskapen i arbetslivet fram. Den här sortens kunskap har ofta haft lägre status än boklig kunskap och har dessutom betraktats som mindre komplicerad. Men här tas emellertid flera exempel på motsatsen upp.

Lärande i arbetsliv och var dag fokuserar på det lärande som sker i situationer där vuxna människor befinner sig i sitt vardagliga arbete. Vitt skilda yrkesområden beskrivs – IT-företag, lärararbete, industriföretag, prästarbete, arbete inom sjukvård och äldreomsorg, gravyrkonst, hantverk och yrkesverksamhet som dansare.

Elisabet Jernström är forskare vid Internationella handelshögskolan i Jönköping och Roger Säljö är professor i pedagogik vid Göteborgs universitet. Övriga medverkande är professorer, doktorer, doktorander och ledare inom utbildning och företagsamhet, som själva också är aktivt involverade i forskning nära samverkan med de arbetssituationer som analyseras.

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse digital society from the perspective of dilemmatic space. The theoretical frame offers new ways of making sense of the digital society, and may provide new perspectives on how to manoeuvre (or not) in it. The theoretical framework is applied in relation to three themes of digitalised society: (a) the blogosphere and social networking communities (SNC), (b) file sharing, network control and surveillance; and (c) educational school context. These themes have been chosen in order to illustrate the different aspects of a digital society and to show how the theoretical framework operates when different aspects of these themes are placed in the foreground or background, i.e. emphasised or downplayed.

The symposium consists of two consecutive sessions (Research on Practices of Teacher Induction I and II). In the first paper of the first session (Part I), a theoretical framework was introduced, and the two following papers studied the practices of induction from two different empirical viewpoints. The second session of the symposium (Part II) will introduce three more empirical research projects about teacher induction. The session will continue on the direction which has been indicated in the first part of the symposium, addressing the research ruestion: how are the practices of teacher induction constituted in the three aforementioned dimensions: (1.) physical spacetime, (2.) semantic space and (3.) social space (Kemmis & Grootenboer 2008; Kemmis & Heikkinen 2012). The speakers come from countries with different culture and history, teacher education and induction systems which enriches the quality of information gathered within the symposium. The first presentation from Norway will focus on examining mentors’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) which is constituted of content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. This presentations is focused on the (2.) semantic space of induction. It addresses the meaning-making processes of teachers through asking how mentors themselves define their professional content knowledge. The second paper will introduce an emerging practice of teacher induction, Peer-Group Mentoring model (PGM) which is currently being disseminated throughout Finland. Based an empirical analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, experiences of the national program will be introduced. The third presentation is based on the work of the European PAEDEIA network (Pedagogical Action for a European Dimension in Educators' Induction Approaches) and introduces a comparative research design about three parallel models for induction: one in Finland, one in Turkey and one in Sweden.

This study is focusing on diversities of different educational settings, school and military units, and diversity of being and in the process of professionalisation becoming a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) and a Newly Qualified Commissioned military Officer.

The main conclusions are connected, in part, to issues of transparency in communicative conditions and, in part, to incentives connected to supervision, support and control. Incentives for supervision, support and control are strong among commissioned officers because they are directly dependent on each other’s work. The same incentives are weaker among certified teachers because they are not as dependent on each other’s work. One conclusion is that the professionalisation of commissioned officers is collective-oriented while the professionalisation of certified teachers is less so.

I detta kapitel belyses hur ”teori och praktik” hanteras i fråga om, eller snarare i relation till, så vitt skilda yrkesgrupper som arkitekter, ingenjörer, sjuksköterskor och militära officerare och deras utbildningar. Det finns alltid orsaker till att specifika ämnen, teman eller frågor börjar diskuteras i termer av ”teori och praktik”. Syftet med kapitlet är att försöka beskriva och förstå drivkrafterna till varför frågor kring ”teori och praktik” behandlas och diskuteras i relation till de olika yrkesgrupperna och deras respektive utbildningar. Centralt blir att försöka identifiera och förstå de spänningsfält som ger upphov till diskussioner kring ”teori och praktik”. Begreppet spänningsfält är valt för att det indikerar dels polarisering och konflikt, dels utvecklingskraft och drivkraft (som följd av strävan att komma ur polarisering och konflikter). Spänningsfältet byggs upp av olika (konkurrerande) faktorer, exempelvis synsätt, prioriteringar, målkonflikter, begrepp eller fakta.

Kapitlet bygger i huvudsak på vidare bearbetningar av forskningsöversikten Teori och praktik i yrke och utbildning, komparativa fallstudier med arkitekter, ingenjörer, sjuksköterskor och officerare (Fransson, 2003). I översikten studeras i huvudsak texter om de olika yrkesgrupperna, om yrkesutövningen och om respektive utbildning, och särskilt då texter som på något vis berör frågor kring ”teori och praktik”. Texterna har varit skrivna mellan åren 1997 och 2003. Utgångspunkten för vad som menas med ”teori och praktik” har tagits i de olika sammanhang som begreppen används i respektive texter. Genom texternas sammanhang och formuleringar återspeglas de drivkrafter och de spänningsfält inom vilka frågor kring ”teori och praktik” rör sig för de olika yrkesgrupperna. Exempelvis återspeglar resonemang och strukturella aspekter kring t.ex. utbildning, lärande, yrkesutövning och yrkespraxis de spänningsfält inom vilket frågor kring ”teori och praktik” skapas.

The purpose of this analytical paper is to examine how culturally embedded norms, values, relations and prerequisites operate in the development of a mentoring system. This is done by comparing Sweden’s top-down mandatory one-to-one mentoring approach and evaluation, with Finland’s bottom-up peer-group mentoring approach initiated, piloted and implemented by researchers. The analysis is based on meta-analysis of research, policy documents, written and oral information.

The analysis show that culturally embedded issues, such as a culture of trust, an ideology of distrust, teachers’ and researchers’ positions and the ‘need’ to strengthen cooperation or evaluate teachers in different ways, contribute to the development of peer-group mentoring and one-to-one mentoring with evaluation. 

Vid Högskolan i Gävle bedrivs forskning av relevans för att förstå utbildning, undervisning och lärande i näringsliv och offentlig sektor, med huvudsakligt fokus på det formella utbildningsystemet i dess helhet – från förskola, skola och fritidshem till högre utbildningen vid universitet och högskolor.

De flesta av forskarna inom området tillhör organisatoriskt Avdelningen för Utbildningsvetenskap vid Akademin för Utbildning och ekonomi (AUE), men bidragen med de centrala ämnesdidaktiska dimensionerna inom området görs i huvudsak av forskare som tillhör Avdelningen för humaniora (AUE) och av några som tillhör akademierna ATM och AHA. Det finns sålunda en närhet mellan de kompletterande kompetenserna inom organisationen.

Vid HiG finns ett antal forskningsgrupper (miljöer) som samlar de utbildningsvetenskapligt orienterade forskarna kring olika tematiska frågor. Exempel på forskningsgrupper är Early Childhood Education (ECE), IT i lärande, Studies of Relationships In Educational Settings (STORIES), SEP (Studies in Educational Policies), ROLE (Research on Learning Environments) samt forskning inom matematikens- och naturvetenskapens didaktik, religionsdidaktik.

A mandatory probationary year for newly qualified teachers in conjunction with teacher registration is to be introduced in Sweden from 1st July 2012 (Government Bill 2010/11:20). This reform requires newly qualified teachers to be supported by a mentor. During the probationary year, head teachers will be responsible for evaluating whether the teacher should be registered or not. This paper reports on an interview study that was conducted with nine Swedish head teachers concerning what kind of teacher competencies they would focus on when evaluating NQTs and how they would perform the evaluation.

The results show that the head teachers would primarily like to focus on the following competencies of an NQT: (a) social interaction, (b) leadership and classroom management, and (c) mission and goal achievement. General pedagogical skills were mostly emphasised, whereas issues like subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge seemed to be taken for granted.

The question of how the evaluation should be performed has two distinct dimensions: how to acquire information about NQTs competencies, which relates to technical issues of how information and impressions are made available for evaluation and how head teachers perceive, interpret, assess and evaluate what they see, hear and feel. As the latter, more elusive dimension involves cognitive and procedural aspects of evaluation, the head teachers involved in the study found it difficult to describe and explain.

This article highlights and problemizes some challenges and dilemmas in international cooperation. The focus is on individual and collative processes of communication, interpreting, understanding and sensemaking - processes emerging as challenging when participants have different kind of frames and contexts of knowledge. These kinds of challenges are ever present, but become however more apparent when people from quite different cultural, social, economical and political conditions meet in international cooperation. In this article, experiences and challenges made within NQTNE are analysed and discussed in this perspective. One conclusion is that even if there are communicative and conceptual obstacles having to be overcome when cooperate internationally, cooperation and comparative perspectives is a powerful tool to become aware of assumptions that are taken for granted; to challenge one’s own perspectives; raise new kind of questions and construct new perspectives and new ways to conceptualise, think, and act.

In Sweden, with no tradition of mentors participating in formal summative assessment of newly qualified teachers, a Government Inquiry proposes this dual role for mentors. This paper examines how the mentor’s and headmaster’s role in the assessment and the relations between mentor and mentee are discussed in the 108 responses sent to the Swedish Ministry of Education, as response to this Government Inquiry. Results show that the issue of evaluation in discussed in half of the responses (54 of 108); the headmasters role in mentioned twice as much as the mentors role (in 41 respectively 23 of the 108 responses); and that higher education institutions are most active focusing the mentors. Only 23 of the responses mention the mentor’s role in the assessment; none of these responses is positive to the mentor’s double role but eleven questions it; and the relationship between the mentor and mentee is discussed in only four responses. This raises question as to what extent new information or perspectives could be expected from responses, especially from a research-based perspective.

Although an increasingly digitised society offers a variety of options, it also implies challenges, risks and dilemmas for citizens, organisations and corporations. The purpose of this article is to critically analyse digital society from the perspective of dilemmatic space. The theoretical frame offers new ways of making sense of the digital society, and may provide new perspectives on how to manoeuvre (or not) in it. By taking dilemmas as the starting point, aspects such as uncertainty, plurality, options, challenges and decision making are in focus, as are processes of power, negotiation, identity formation, positioning and manoeuvring.The theoretical framework is applied and exemplified in relation to three digitised society themes: (a) the blogosphere and social networking communities (SNC), (b) file sharing, network control and surveillance, and (c) education. These themes have been chosen in order to illustrate the different aspects of a digital society and to show how the theoretical framework operates when different aspects of these themes are placed in the foreground or background, i.e. emphasised or downplayed. This implies that the unknown and unexpected must be taken into account, and that this involves having to manoeuvre in new, changing and ever present dilemmatic spaces.

This chapter focuses on the mentoring of newly-qualified teachers (NQT) in Sweden and gives a brief historical overview of how mentoring has appeared on the educational agenda in Sweden and how its focus has changed over time. The research questions that guide this study are: (a) what major key events and reforms can be identified in relation to implementing mentoring of NQTs in Sweden, and how have these efforts turned out; (b) what is the state at present; (c) how is the issue of education and training dealt with; and (d) what key players and initiatives for the future can be identified? The methodological approach is a systematic review of policy documents and research on mentoring in Sweden from 1970 – 2019, as well as analyses of key actors web pages. Two important reforms are identified: (1) the national agreement (ÖLA, 2000) in 1995 between the Swedish Association of Local Authorities (SALAR), the Nation­al Union of Teachers in Sweden (Lärarnas Riksförbund) and the Swed­ish Teachers’ Union (Lärarförbundet), giving NQTs the right to be supported by a mentor and to participate in an induction programme; and (2) the parliamentary decision in 2011 to introduce a reform package which included teacher registration with a probationary year, evaluations of NQTs and a mentoring system. The probationary year and principals’ evaluations of NQTs were discontinued in 2014. A side effect of this was that mentoring became downplayed, which led to new initiatives to get mentoring back on the educational agenda. A professional programme with four levels of proficiency has been identified as a key reform that, if implemented, could put mentoring and the professional development of NQTs back on the educational agenda.

The current situation in Sweden is that some legislation and regulations related to the mentoring of NQTs are in place, although recent data shows that induction and mentoring are not as widespread as might be expected. Major stakeholders such as the two teacher unions, the Swedish National Agency for Education and the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) are identified as providers of web-based materials supporting NQTs. 

This presentation outlines the background, development and present state of the actual concerning support for newly qualified teachers (NQT) and the teacher induction system in Sweden.

The emergence of a nationwide induction system to support NQTs was strengthened by the decision of the 1992 Congress of the National Union of Teachers in Sweden (Lärarnas Riksförbund) to work for teacher registration in Sweden. Teacher induction and mentoring were also regarded as associated issues. This was followed in 1995 by a national agreement between the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and the two teachers’ unions. One component in this agreement was that it gave new teach­ers the right to be supported by a mentor and to participate in an induction programme. This can be regarded as the first milestone for NQT mentoring in Sweden.

Support for NQTs was high on the educational agenda in 2006 when an Official Investigation was launched, which in 2008 proposed a national mandatory induction system, with mentoring, a probationary year and the registration of teachers as central components (SOU, 2008:52). This was implemented in 2010-2011. However, the teacher registration issue led to several challenges that later occasioned changes in the legislation. Further, in the middle of 2014 principals’ evaluations of NQTs were scrapped and teacher registration was instead provided on graduation from teacher education. This meant that mentoring became less prioritized, even though there was still an obvious need for it. The presentation ends by concluding that since 2014 the issue of mentoring has largely been submerged by other ‘more important’ issues, even though the legislation for it is still in place.

In the Swedish society, mentoring is an issue which involves many stakeholders,including (a) the two teachers unions, as defenders of teachers rights, (b) school owners andmunicipals, as locally responsible for the schools and teachers and thus for mentoring, (c) TheSwedish National Agency for Education as a supporting authority and as responsible for theimplementation of standards the newly qualified teachers are evaluated against. Universities andteacher education institutions are not generally regarded as stakeholders even though they havedelivered some education for mentors. However, like in the other Nordic countries, teacherinduction is a complex ecosystem with different intentions and interests.In Sweden there have been some important milestones when comes to the formal implementation ofmentoring. In 1995, a national agreement was reached between the Swedish Association of LocalAuthorities and the two teachers’ unions (the Nation-al Union of Teachers in Sweden and theSwed-ish Teachers’ Union) emphasising school development. One component in this agreement wasthat it gave new teach-ers the right to be supported by a mentor and to participate in an inductionprogramme. However, it took some years until the issue of mentoring became more widespreadaround the millennium-shift, partly due to a feared lack of teachers, but after some years the issue ofmentoring started to lose momentum (Fransson, 2012). A second milestone was the 2008government proposal of a national mandatory induction system, with mentoring, a probationary yearand the registration of teachers as central components (SOU, 2008:52, Government bill, 2010). Inthe system, newly qualified teachers were expected to have a mentor and at the same time beingevaluated by the principal who decided whether or not the teacher was suitable enough to berecommended to earn the Teacher Registration. The reform, implemented in 2010 -2012 putmentoring in the foreground through legislation and boosted mentoring for NQTs. However, in mid2014 the principals’ evaluation of the NQTs was abolished and the teacher registration was earnedwhen graduation from teacher education. This lead to mentoring became less prioritized, even964though there are still obvious needs for it.The most actual challenge at the moment is to prove why mentoring should be put higher on the listof preferences of the educational challenges among a number of many issues calling for attention.Another issue which must be highlighted is the need and importance of education of mentors. As aconclusion, I suggest that the issue of mentoring has lately buried under other ‘more important’issues to a great extent, and the ecological niche for mentoring, so to speak, seems to have fadedaway even though the legislation is in place.

In this presentation the background, development and state of the actual regarding support to newly qualified teachers (NQT) and teacher induction system in Sweden will be outlined. The issue supporting NQTs became high on the educational agenda 2006 when an Official Investigation was launced and in 2008 proposed a national system national mandatory induction system, with mentoring, a probationary year and the registration of teachers as central components (SOU, 2008:52). This was implemented in 2010-2011 but severe challenges regarding the registration occurred leading to recurrent changes in the legislation regarding the legislation. Further, in mid 2014 the principals’ evaluation of the NQTs was abolished and the teacher registration was earned when graduation from teacher education. This lead to mentoring became less prioritized, even though there are still obvious needs for i. It is concluded that the issue of mentoring to a great extent since than has been buried under other ‘more important’ issues, and seems to have faded away even though the legislation regarding mentoring is in place.

Implementing mentoring for NQTs may imply the implementation of education for the mentors. However, in Sweden it was just five out of 18 surveyed universities and university colleagues that gave an mentor education of 7,5 ECTS (five week of studies). In this presentations the present state of the actual in this matter for autumn 2019 will be presented as a summary of challenges to overcome if (agin) putting mentoring of NQTs higher on the educational agenda in Sweden

Although many mentoring programs are mandated and initiated as part of a policy direction or mandate, and policy is an important element in the development, implementation, and evaluation of mentoring, investigations into the impact of policy upon mentoring initiatives and outcomes, has not been explicitly highlighted in the mentoring research (Fransson & McMahan, 2013).  Although the literature on policies and mentoring programs and practices is scarce, there is limited evidence to suggest that policies impact mentoring endeavors in a variety of ways and can have both positive and negative effects (Carver & Feiman-Nemser, 2009; Polikoff, Desimone & Hochberg, 2015).  Yet, policy development and implementation can have an extensive impact on mentoring programs and relationships.  As these programs continue to grow, it is imperative that the field become more cognizant of the role and impact of policies upon the personal, professional and organizational aspects of mentoring.  Against this background, expanding our understanding of how policy is designed, implemented and influences mentoring program development, practice and success is important. 

            The purpose of the chapter is to outline, discuss and problematize policy issues related to mentoring and to offer recommendations for future action.  Most of the examples on policy issues are related to adult situations in the educational field.  This field offers a policy landscape that illustrates the complexity and multi-layering of mentoring policy.  Thus, it is believed that many of the findings can be transferred to other mentoring contexts.

The chapter begins with a theoretical overview of how policy and the processes of policy development and policy enactment are conceptualized.  Issues such as international policy flows and policy learning are discussed and evaluations as part of policy formation are problematized.  This theoretical overview facilitates an understanding of mentoring policy and how it is enacted or played out in mentoring practices.  The overview is followed by a discussion about the challenges involved in identifying the field of mentoring policy.  As outlined in the overview, different dimensions of policy are emphasized depending on which theoretical perspective is used.  This in turn influences which theoretical binoculars are used to identify the field of mentoring policy.  Searching databases for the various terms and the challenges associated with this are also discussed.  Thereafter, ‘policies for policy development’ are examined.  One policy in particular is analyzed more closely in order to highlight the most important aspects of policy analysis.  The chapter closes with a concluding discussion about the challenges and possibilities for policy research.  A possible new direction in mentoring policy in also discussed.

Sweden has no tradition of mentors participating in the formal summative assessment of newly qualified teachers. However, an Inquiry Committee Report proposed that mentors should have some involvement in this process. This article reports on the results of an examination of 108 official responses to the Inquiry Report submitted to the Ministry of Education and provides a research overview. The results show that only 23 of the 108 responses mention assessment, and none of these are positive to the proposed expansion of the mentor’s duties. Only four responses include an explicit discussion of the relationship between mentors and mentees. These results are discussed in the light of research into relations between mentors and mentees and whether or not mentors should participate in the assessment of their mentees. One conclusion is that answers to this question need to relate to the prerequisites, values and objectives of the educational context.

Boken innehåller ”didaktiska berättelser” från hela skolans fält, dvs. från förskolans yngsta barn till lärarutbildningens nyblivna lärare. Två av artiklarna handlar dessutom om fortbildningsprojekt som omfattar yrkesverksamma lärare. Boken vill ge exempel på att det finns möjligheter till gemensamma analyser och samarbete mellan lärare oavsett elevålder och skolform. De för alla lärare gemensamma perspektiven är många och omfattande.

Boken är resultatet av ett lagarbete. Författarna har arbetat utifrån ett gemensamt teoretiskt perspektiv – med socialkonstruktionistisk och delvis postmodernistisk prägel – ett perspektiv som presenteras av Gerd B Arfwedson i bokens avslutande kapitel.

Boken vänder sig till blivande och yrkesverksamma lärare, som vill pröva på samarbete och diskussioner över gränser inom såväl skola som lärarutbildning. Den är användbar i både lärarutbildning och fortsatt utbildning. Bokens bidrag grundar sig på författarnas självupplevda didaktiska problem samtidigt som den är skriven utifrån en gemensam syn på didaktiska teorier, vilket gör den till något nytt i litteraturen om skola och lärarutbildning.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project concerning a web-based (online) course for mentors of newly qualified teachers (NQTs). 

Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-method approach with questionnaires and interviews was used to collect the data.

Findings – Positive attitudes towards online education were discerned and initial concerns about the use of technical tools were dissipated during the course. It was found that the mentoring related content of the online course could be mediated. The most significant difference in the participants’ meaning making and ability to ‘connect theory and practice’ with ‘concrete knowledge’ was between those with experience of mentorship before or during the course and those without.

Research limitations/implications – The study focuses on one cohort of mentor participants (n=18) attending one mentor education course.

Practical implications – The paper contributes to the value of online education for mentors of NQTs and includes some practical recommendations for mentor education providers.

Originality/value – This paper reports on an under-researched area. Research on professional development programmes for mentors in general is limited, and even more so when it comes to online education for mentors.