Mentoring program
for novice teachers
The first years of teaching are without a doubt the most difficult, especially when choosing to serve in a vulnerable community with complex needs and challenges. We are aware that there are many valuable teachers in our system, people with a lot of experience who can and want to help those who are just starting out in this profession. Hence the first adaptive mentoring program for beginning teachers – practical, 1-1 guidance offering resources, advice and structure.
This is the right program for:
What benefits does the program offer to novice teachers working in underprivileged schools?
Benefits for novice teachers, from the intervention group:
- developing classroom teaching skills
- facilitating the process of working with students from vulnerable backgrounds and helping them get better school achievements.
- developing the ability to build a safe and welcoming classroom environment
- increasing job satisfaction and retention in the teaching profession
- certificate of attendance, recognized by the Ministry of National Education
Benefits for beginning teachers from the control group:
- certificate of attendance, recognized by the Ministry of National Education
What activities will the novice teachers be involved in within the project?
Novice teachers, from the intervention group:
- will work with mentor teachers from the project
- will sign a commitment agreement
- will conduct assessment surveys
- will attend events or activities carried out within the project
Novice teachers, from the control group:
- will sign a commitment agreement
- will conduct assessment surveys
- will attend events or activities carried out within the project
Eligibility criteria
This program is designed for those teachers who:
- have a maximum of 5 years’ experience in teaching within the public system
- will be teaching the 2022-2023 school year at either kindergarten, primary, secondary or high school level in an underprivileged school in the following counties: Dâmbovița, Olt, Alba
- are willing to participate on a voluntary basis and who have a strong, authentic motivation to be part of the project.
Application and selection process for novice teachers
The program has a limited number of 240 participants, distributed as follows: 140 teachers in the intervention group and 100 teachers in the control group. Participation in the program is free of charge by completing an online form until July 29, 2022. All candidates will receive a response, regardless of the outcome, by August 16 2022 the latest.
This pilot mentoring program for novice teachers is part of the NEST project – The Novice Educator Support and Training, an international project financed by the Erasmus+ program, under Key Action 3 “Support for public policy reform”. This project is carried out in consortium, through the collaboration of 16 partner organizations from 6 Member States of the European Union. In Romania, the NEST project is run in partnership by Teach for Romania and the Ministry of Education, with financial support of the European Union.
