Mentoring in Iceland: An Integral Part of Professional Development?

The main aim of this article is to give an overview of the development of mentoring for newly qualified teachers (NQTs) in Iceland and to shed light on the outcome of a mentoring education program developed by the University of Akureyri. Over the past few years, mentoring and induction have gained momentum in research and scholarly writings in Iceland. Teacher dropout rates, teacher shortages and occupational stress have highlighted the importance of induction plans and mentoring for NQTs (Bjarnadóttir, 2005; Bjarnadóttir, 2015; Steingrímsdóttir & Engilbertsson, 2018). As of 2013, the Department of Education at the University of Akureyri has offered an education program (30 ECTS credits) with a focus on mentoring. An evaluation of this program was conducted in order to assess the learning outcomes and the structure of the program, focusing on the following research question: How have the teachers who have completed the mentoring program at the University of Akureyri experienced it in terms of their professional development and work as mentors? Also, we wanted to find out if a “third space” had been realized, where teacher educators, local authorities and practicing teachers come together and learn from each other on the premise of professional improvement. Data was collected through focus-group interviews, self-evaluation and action research of participants in the mentoring program. Our findings imply that the teachers involved found themselves to be more competent after completing the mentoring program, with deeper understanding of the theories behind mentoring which was reflected in their increased engagement in school improvement.