Mentorship and Induction: Negotiating a Collaborative Enterprise or Apprenticing for Status Quo Maintenance?

Abstract

This paper is from a three-year research project that examined the Ontario (Canada) government philosophy, policy and practice in moving from standardized teacher testing to a new teacher induction program (NTIP) to achieve teacher quality and competence. This paper utilizes a critical democratic perspective to analyze the perspectives of 47 teacher educators from 10 faculties of education in Ontario. Two major themes arose from their perspectives on NTIP: a) clear collaboration/partnership among stakeholders (including faculty, school boards, schools, communities); and, b) increasing effective communication and knowledge while maintaining the importance of equity, diversity and understanding community. The findings revealed the need for a more critical examination of the process and outcome of mentorship and induction programs for new teachers.