"It changes the way you see yourself as a teacher". Turning the tide; can we use mentoring and coaching to better effect?

Coaching and mentoring have a mixed presence in schools, existing on a spectrum of intent, quality and availability. Despite having the potential to be inherently rich educative practices coaching and mentoring of teachers sometimes falls short. This will be an exploratory session through which we will consider the lessons we might learn about the role of coaching and mentoring in supporting teachers to work confidently at all career stages. Evidence from a UCET sponsored study visit to Western Quebec, where their Teacher Induction Programme is the centre-piece of CPD, will be considered. This will be reflected on in relation to practices and policy in England. The premise is that if we can get coaching and mentoring right they might help turn the tide on teacher retention and self-efficacy and contribute to creating a more sustainable teaching profession. We will consider how this premise can be translated into real promise.