Intervention(s)
‘Samen Sterk van Start’ is a one-year intensive mentoring intervention designed to support novice teachers during the early phase of their professional career in primary education. Novice teachers are defined as teachers in their first or second year after obtaining their teaching degree.
The aim of the intervention is to reduce attrition among novice teachers by providing structured, high-quality mentoring during this critical induction period. Each participating novice teacher receives 60 hours of mentoring over the course of one school year. The mentoring trajectory consists of biweekly coaching meetings and monthly classroom observations, each followed by a structured post-lesson feedback discussion. Between scheduled sessions, mentors are available via email and phone for additional support. Coaching sessions focus on the further development of professional competencies, including instructional strategies, classroom management, differentiation, and coping with work-related challenges.
Mentors are experienced primary school teachers from other schools within the region and are independent of the school where the novice teacher is employed. Because they have no formal evaluative role in the novice teacher’s school, they provide guidance in a confidential and non-assessing capacity, thereby creating a safe environment for professional learning.
All mentors have at least five years of experience in primary education. They work in roles such as classroom teacher, special needs coordinator, remedial teacher, or school-based teacher educator. Mentors continue teaching part-time to maintain close contact with classroom practice. Most mentors are allocated 0.2 FTE for their mentoring responsibilities, which corresponds to approximately one working day per week. Within this time allocation, each mentor supports five novice teachers. Some mentors are involved in Samen Sterk van Start for less or more time (range 0.08 – 0.4 FTE).
In addition to being selected on their experience, mentors receive a specific training from an Academic Teacher Academy. The training focusses on conversational techniques for mentoring novice teachers, training in classroom observation and the provision of targeted feedback, practice in mentoring conversations through role-play exercises, practice in conducting classroom observations using video recordings of novice teachers and discussing of case studies and practical challenges from professional practice.
To safeguard quality and stimulate continuous professional development, the programme includes a “mentor of mentors.” This senior mentor provides ongoing guidance and is available for consultation when mentors encounter complex cases or professional dilemmas. In addition, peer reflection sessions are organised every two months. During these sessions, mentors collaboratively analyse cases from their mentoring practice and reflect on appropriate strategies and responses. We descriptively analyse the experiences of mentors by measuring mentor job satisfaction and mentor workload.
Mentors and novice teachers are carefully matched based on several criteria, including the type of education (e.g., student population and educational concept), the age group taught, the novice teacher’s specific support needs in relation to the mentor’s expertise, and practical considerations such as geographical distance and working days.
The intervention is targeted towards schools with more disadvantaged students. These schools generally have higher teacher shortages and have less time to provide mentoring for beginning teachers. Specifically, schools are recruited among schools with an above average school weight (school weight >= 30).