The value of informal mentoring within a staffroom setting

By Nick Baguley

Introduction

Much has been written about the function of a mentor in teacher education. Randall and Thornton (2001) categorise mentoring into two roles – technical/assessment and personal/development. The former focuses on coaching a mentee in classroom-based skills and informing the teacher of wider curriculum issues while the latter revolves around providing motivation, boosting confidence and helping to reduce feelings of anxiety.

Malderez and Bodoczky (1999) outline five roles for a mentor – model, acculturator, sponsor, supporter, and educator. Arnold describes mentoring as ‘a form of personal and professional partnership which usually involves a more experienced practitioner supporting a less experienced one’ (2006: 117). Clearly, the role of mentor encompasses more than simply an experienced teacher offering advice to a novice – and there are likely many teachers currently occupying mentorship roles who are unaware of the fact that they are mentors!

In private English language schools, it is not uncommon for a mentor to work one-on-one with a newly qualified teacher to provide advice, motivation and pedagogic support to help bridge the gap between pre-service teacher training and employment (Baguley, 2019; Baguley and Lakhzami, 2026).

However, such formalised mentoring arrangements are often only in place for a limited timeframe. Once the newly qualified teacher has passed their probation period and/or completed the first year of a full-time contract, such structured and personalised support systems either come to an end or are significantly reduced in scope. While opportunities for professional development such as attending in-service training sessions, going to conferences, and receiving funding for further English language teaching qualifications often exist, the opportunity to continue working closely with a designated mentor is rare, leading some instructors to feel exposed, isolated, and overwhelmed.

In this article I explore how informal mentoring can help to fill this void. Based on a 40-minute online Focus Group I conducted in May 2026 with five experienced TESOL instructors all currently working in Egypt, I share examples of how teachers often turn to their colleagues for support, and outline the benefits of securing advice in a more informal setting. I also consider how these experienced practitioners feel when they are approached by peers for advice and ideas. Finally, I outline what these contributions reveal about the role of a mentor, whether this be as part of a structured, on-going support programme sponsored by the employer or an occasional and spontaneous interaction in the staffroom.

Selecting someone to ask for support

The process of informal mentoring gives every teacher the option of selecting who they wish to go to for professional advice and support. The teachers who attended the Focus Group agreed that the most important consideration was to approach someone with whom they felt comfortable. They explained that it was often intimidating when colleagues spent too much time displaying knowledge as this only served to emphasise, in their eyes, what they themselves lacked. In an example of effective informal mentoring, Ahmed revealed how one of his colleagues ‘always lets you finish first, then provides some brief feedback and is always honest but encouraging’.

Nada revealed that she feels comfortable going to colleagues who share her teacher beliefs on effective classroom practice. By listening to peers talking about their lessons in the staffroom, attending workshops with colleagues, and observing others teach, she can identify those with a similar teaching style to her own.

The teachers attending the Focus Group agreed on the value of being asked questions as a way of working out what to do. As Shaima explained, ‘I have lots of ideas and activities but sometimes I’m not really sure what I’m after. I need someone to open the boxes in my mind, someone who helps me by asking questions’. Shaima identified another important aspect to informal mentoring by recalling how a colleague had not told her solely about those activities that she had used in class that were successful but also revealed tasks she had tried which were ineffective. Shaima concluded that ‘if people just share all the good stuff, I get overwhelmed. I feel that I’m not really a good teacher, which is very deflating’.

However, Menna described a different process when selecting an informal mentor. ‘I don’t like to be in an echo chamber. I turn to people who I know are completely different to me so I can see my blind spots’. Being theoretically orientated with a love of knowledge and learning, Menna explained how she looked for colleagues who have more hands-on experience than her in a range of contexts so they can ‘take all this theoretical stuff that I have and then boil it down to something actionable’.

Being asked to provide support

The teachers in the Focus Group agreed that they are more than happy to be approached by colleagues for pedagogic advice and support, believing that such questions often provide a satisfying sense of challenge.

Menna argued that being asked for help by someone in the staffroom is ‘a chance to reflect on my own knowledge and practice… In a way it’s mutually beneficial’. Others outlined how most instructors get into teaching because they like helping people, so providing advice to colleagues was viewed as an important part of the teaching cycle.

However, Ahmed sounded a word of caution, noting how the offer of help can sometimes be taken the wrong way with some teachers constantly asking more experienced colleagues to check their work. This can create an additional layer of responsibility for some instructors who are already feeling the pressures of a full-time teaching load. In extreme cases, it can almost feel as if the mentee is expecting the would-be mentor to do too much of the heavy lifting in their own planning.

Conclusion

When reflecting on what makes an effective informal mentor, the five experienced TESOL teachers who took part in the Focus Group stressed the value of being able to select someone they feel comfortable confiding in.

They also acknowledged the importance of key mentoring skills such as active listening and asking questions, which help to make the process collaborative and engaging.

Finally, they recognised that being approached by others for advice and support presented an opportunity for them to also develop professionally. Their opinions act as a useful reminder to all those who support less experienced teachers in a more formal setting that mentoring should not be a top-down process based around unhelpful displays of professional insight and the imposition of teaching ideas. Whatever the context, for mentoring to be effective both parties need to have a positive working relationship based around mutual respect and understanding which encourages a balanced exchange of experiences, knowledge, and ideas to facilitate learning and development.

Bibliography

Arnold, E. (2006). Assessing the quality of mentoring: sinking or learning to swim. ELT Journal, 60/2, pp. 117-124.

Baguley, N. (2019). Mind the gap – supporting newly qualified teachers on their journey from pre-service training to full-time employment in Mann, S. and Walsh, S. (eds) The Routledge Handbook of English Language Teaching Education. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, pp. 125-138.

Baguley, N. and Lakhzami, H. (2026). Bridging the gap. Modern English Teacher, Vol. 35, Issue 3, pp. 4-7.

Malderez, A and Bodoczky, C (1999). Mentor courses – a resource book for trainer-trainers. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

Randall, M. and Thornton, B (2001). Advising and supporting teachers. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

Biography