Can schools really provide the learning environment that new teachers need? Complexities and implications for professional learning in Wales

Based on data from the Welsh adaptation of the Langdon Induction and Mentoring Survey, this article presents the perceptions of induction and mentoring held by school leaders, mentors, classroom teachers and Newly Qualified Teachers in Welsh schools. Differences according to professional role were found, suggesting that school leaders have more positive perceptions of induction and mentoring in their schools than all other staff but particularly more than general teaching staff. Possible reasons for this variation in perspective are explored. The research conceptualises schools as complex, relational sites for the professional formation of new teachers. Within this context, induction and mentoring are multifaceted and comprised of multiple interactions between stakeholders and their respective engagements with the policy environment at all levels. Results suggest that, in this environment, induction and mentoring involve largely ‘privatised’ practices that and are not viewed as the concern of those not occupying a designated mentoring role. This presents a problem for the realisation of schools as professional learning organisations which can harness the professional capital of all staff – including leaders – in order to help new teachers, and all others, to thrive.