The German-speaking Community wants to make it easier for new teachers and career changers to enter the teaching profession. To this end, the pilot phase of a mentoring programme will start in September 2022 in primary and secondary schools. Mentoring is a proven staff development tool for involving new staff members in the ongoing school development process and integrating them in the best possible way. 

Each new teacher will be assigned a mentor for the duration of one school year. The mentor acts as an advisor and guide. He/she shares his/her professional knowledge and experience with the newcomer. The mentor helps the newcomers to cope better with the demands of school and to integrate as well as possible into everyday school life.

The upcoming 2022-2023 school year will mark the start of the two-year pilot phase of the Mentoring Programme. The role of the mentor will be taken on by teachers who have experience of at least five years, have a teaching qualification and have attended and participated in a four-day mentor training course at the Technische University of Dortmund. In order to create the necessary time for the mentors, the government approved additional hours: Two hours per week for each newcomer. The mentors are released from teaching for a few hours in order to accompany the newcomers.

The goals of mentoring and supporting new teachers are:

• To develop professional behaviour from the very beginning;
• To support developing meaningful routines;
• To try keeping a long-term motivation;
• To stabilize and strengthen in crisis situations;
• To target the adoption of suitable school projects in the sense of using the innovative potential for school and teaching development.

More information:  https://ostbelgienbildung.be/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-7316/12042_read-66036/https://www.lydiaklinkenberg.be/_files/ugd/fe9a73_4fce5d6b89b54284938674ebc618681c.pdf?index=true

Source:  Eurydice Unit Belgium-German Community