The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff Schools
In a climate of pervasive teacher shortages, initiatives have focused on attracting new teachers to the profession, with hardest-to-staff schools more likely to fill vacancies with early-career teachers, including those with conditional status. In Australia, workforce policy prioritises induction an...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/809 |
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| author | Jo Lampert Amy McPherson Alonso Casanueva Baptista Amelia Hawkins |
| author_facet | Jo Lampert Amy McPherson Alonso Casanueva Baptista Amelia Hawkins |
| author_sort | Jo Lampert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In a climate of pervasive teacher shortages, initiatives have focused on attracting new teachers to the profession, with hardest-to-staff schools more likely to fill vacancies with early-career teachers, including those with conditional status. In Australia, workforce policy prioritises induction and mentoring to support transition to the profession and improve retention. This paper aims to understand mentor teacher experiences in hardest-to-staff schools, where a growing cohort of inexperienced teachers increases the need for mentoring. The analysis is based on data from semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers in six schools across two Australian states, as part of a larger project exploring work experiences of teachers in hardest-to-staff schools. In addition to formal mentoring, our findings illustrate that in these schools, informal and incidental mentoring is widespread. Further, the iterative nature of novice teacher induction creates a sense of ambivalence in longer-serving teachers. While experienced teachers find reward in supporting early-career colleagues, the hidden labour inherent to constant incidental mentoring encroaches on the time available to manage their own workload, sometimes leading to frustration and even resentment. We conclude that while mentoring is crucial with so many new entrants to the profession, policymakers should be aware of the labour associated with increased incidental mentoring to avoid unintended consequences for teachers who find themselves in the position of supporting growing numbers of new staff. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-30e7718fa1574938b15bbdd521c9a878 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-30e7718fa1574938b15bbdd521c9a8782025-08-20T03:07:57ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022025-06-0115780910.3390/educsci15070809The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff SchoolsJo Lampert0Amy McPherson1Alonso Casanueva Baptista2Amelia Hawkins3Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaSchool of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaFaculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, AustraliaIn a climate of pervasive teacher shortages, initiatives have focused on attracting new teachers to the profession, with hardest-to-staff schools more likely to fill vacancies with early-career teachers, including those with conditional status. In Australia, workforce policy prioritises induction and mentoring to support transition to the profession and improve retention. This paper aims to understand mentor teacher experiences in hardest-to-staff schools, where a growing cohort of inexperienced teachers increases the need for mentoring. The analysis is based on data from semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers in six schools across two Australian states, as part of a larger project exploring work experiences of teachers in hardest-to-staff schools. In addition to formal mentoring, our findings illustrate that in these schools, informal and incidental mentoring is widespread. Further, the iterative nature of novice teacher induction creates a sense of ambivalence in longer-serving teachers. While experienced teachers find reward in supporting early-career colleagues, the hidden labour inherent to constant incidental mentoring encroaches on the time available to manage their own workload, sometimes leading to frustration and even resentment. We conclude that while mentoring is crucial with so many new entrants to the profession, policymakers should be aware of the labour associated with increased incidental mentoring to avoid unintended consequences for teachers who find themselves in the position of supporting growing numbers of new staff.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/809teacher shortagesteacher attritionmentoringearly career teachersteachers’ labour |
| spellingShingle | Jo Lampert Amy McPherson Alonso Casanueva Baptista Amelia Hawkins The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff Schools Education Sciences teacher shortages teacher attrition mentoring early career teachers teachers’ labour |
| title | The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff Schools |
| title_full | The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff Schools |
| title_fullStr | The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff Schools |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff Schools |
| title_short | The Hidden Work of Incidental Mentoring in the Hardest-to-Staff Schools |
| title_sort | hidden work of incidental mentoring in the hardest to staff schools |
| topic | teacher shortages teacher attrition mentoring early career teachers teachers’ labour |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/809 |
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