A virtuous circle: Making the most of mentoring

Learning to teach always involves learning from and in schools, and all prospective teachers have to take responsibility for planning, teaching and assessment as well as ensuring the progress and wellbeing of their students in order to meet the Teacher Standards. This cannot be done in theory, at a distance or by proxy. It is done in person, in real time and with the very real challenges and opportunities that come thick and fast both in Initial Teacher Training and Education (ITT) and for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs). One of the features of both the ITT and the NQT phases is the allocation of a mentor. In this article, I aim to help you consider how you can make mentoring a virtuous circle for professional learning and development that will carry you forward into a successful career. While trainees often appreciate mentors as teaching role models, not all mentoring has the same positive and powerful effects. Mentors can be too busy to go beyond the required mentor meetings, lesson