Mentoring at UCL IOE
For partner schools, colleges and early years settings.
IOE’s Educative Mentoring Approach
What Educative Mentoring Looks Like
- A developmental journey: mentors shift over time from more directive guidance toward greater facilitation as student teachers grow in confidence and autonomy
- Co‑learning relationships: mentor and mentee engage together in situated inquiry, professional dialogue and critical reflection which is foregrounded in pupil learning
- Makes explicit the implicit: mentors articulate their thoughts and questions about practice, providing a rationale for their teaching and modelling reflection
- Integration of research and practice: mentors support student teachers in connecting evidence, theoretical perspectives, and practical classroom knowledge
- Supports professional autonomy: mentors provide supportive guidance while also enabling student teachers to think, reason and make principled decisions
- Mentors as committed learners: mentors continually develop their own expertise, modelling reflective, evidence‑informed professional practice
Mentoring roles across the partnership
The following roles work together to ensure a consistent, high-quality learning experience across university and setting-based learning.
- Placement Mentors (PMs) mentor student teachers on a day-to-day basis, modelling expert practice, fostering reflection and supporting and assessing progress
- Lead Placement Mentors (LPMs) – Primary and Secondary only oversee school-based ITE, supporting PM development, ensuring mentoring quality
- University Tutors have overall responsibility for the formative and summative assessment of student teachers in conjunction with mentors and ensure curriculum coherence
- Mentor Leadership Teams: Every partner setting has a Mentor Leadership Team which has oversight of mentoring, quality assurance, curriculum alignment and student teacher progress. This team is made up of key individuals from the setting and IOE as explained in programme-specific guidance
IOE Mentor Development
We support mentors through a comprehensive, research-informed development offer as follows.
New Mentor Induction
- Orientation to IOE’s ITE programmes
- Introduction to our educative mentoring approach
- Additional leadership content for LPMs
Core Mentor Development
- Joint mentor–university tutor dialogue, co-observations and in-setting support
- Live and asynchronous online support and guidance
- A focus on developing mentoring practice and understanding the student teacher curriculum to support learner progress
Enhanced Mentor Development
- CPD for mentors and wider school/setting staff to tailor to their own professional interests
- Subject/phase updates and research-informed online and in-person development opportunities
- Mentor forums, reading groups and professional network
Images
Top to bottom: Mat Wright for UCL IOE, Lucy Pope for UCL IOE.