What the evidence tells us about mentoring for school leaders
School leadership is one of the most demanding roles in England’s education system. Headteachers and other senior leaders are not only held accountable for improving the quality of teaching and learning in our schools, but they are simultaneously expected to build positive work cultures while managing resources, supporting staff, and serving the wider needs of pupils, families and communities.
With reform on its way following the publication of the schools white paper and an impending new curriculum, the pressure on school leaders is set to grow, and policymakers are right to be looking for ways of supporting them through this period of change.
Mentoring, already used with early career teachers, is increasingly being seen as a promising way to support leaders as they move into and develop within complex leadership roles. In-line with the National Institute of Teaching’s evidence-informed approach to teachers’ professional development, we wanted to examine the globally available academic research into mentoring for school leaders to see whether this optimism is justified.
Our assessment – published this week – analyses findings from international research on mentoring for aspiring, new and experienced school leaders.
Our findings are generally positive but qualify this optimism by noting that mentoring is most likely to be effective in terms of supporting school leaders when it is appropriately relational, has longevity and is sensitive to the contexts and leadership challenges in which it is embedded. However, the evidence does not support assertions that mentoring in isolation can have a direct effect on pupil attainment.
Mentoring helps leaders grow into their roles
There is clear evidence that mentoring contributes to leaders' professional growth. The included literature revealed that mentoring has a positive influence on self-reflection, self-confidence, decision-making, communication, problem solving, and instructional leadership knowledge. For aspiring leaders, mentoring may help to understand their career objectives, build professional identity, and recognise opportunities. For new leaders, mentoring may ease the transition to headship or higher levels of leadership and make them feel less alone. For experienced leaders, mentoring may give an opportunity for reflection, pause, and rethinking of their leadership.
Perhaps, one of the most common themes was the importance of reflection. The effectiveness of mentoring lies in its ability to provide reflective practice. It is especially relevant to leadership, as it allows leaders to take a step back from the hectic pace of the modern educational environment. The development of reflective practice is critical to leadership expertise.
Relationships matter more than models
The review provides an extensive list of possible approaches and activities that a mentor and a mentee might undertake; nonetheless, the evidence suggests that methods are less important than the mentor-mentee relationship. Trust, credibility, culturally appropriate and context relevant interactions, and a shared understanding of goals are critical elements. A mentor must be able to provide guidance based on their experience while at the same time being attentive to the needs of the mentee and avoiding the pitfall of being prescriptive.
Moreover, the findings suggest that the most effective relationships are those where leader-mentees are supported to think, not being told what to think.
Structure helps, but flexibility and context sensitivity are essential
Research describes mentoring programmes built around activities such as site visits, consultation and modelling, which can help mentors understand the realities of a leader-mentee’s school and provide more tailored support. Formal learning sessions can build specific knowledge or skills, while peer activities help to reduce isolation and broaden leaders’ professional networks. The evidence suggests that the strongest programmes combine several of these elements rather than focusing on a single activity.
While promising mentoring programmes tend to be structured enough to provide clarity and continuity, they are also flexible enough to respond to individual leaders’ needs and contexts. Many mentoring programmes are formal, in-person and sustained over one to two years, although virtual and hybrid models are also used. Some programmes are closely embedded in leaders’ everyday work, which can make the support more relevant and practical.
The wider impact is promising but uncertain
Mentoring seems to have further advantages, most notably an improvement in the school culture and teacher development. However, it is less evident in the case of pupil outcomes. The link between mentoring and pupils’ academic achievement is complex, and while there is some evidence in favour of positive learning outcomes, the results of the few studies that have explored the connection between leadership mentoring practices and pupil achievement are inconsistent. Therefore, policymakers should be careful when promoting mentoring as a strategy to drive attainment.
In addition, we have identified crucial evidence gaps. Firstly, most of the studies reviewed were qualitative and had an exploratory design, making it difficult to identify causal relationships. Secondly, there was limited data on comparing different mentoring interventions. Most of the reviewed articles did not provide information on mentors’ training, the matching procedures, mentoring costs, or long-term implications.
What this means for policy and practice
For policymakers, the key takeaway is that mentoring school leaders is a developmental intervention, with benefits most likely seen when it is carefully planned and resourced, with explicit goals, rigorous pairing mechanisms, sufficient time allocation, and built-in evaluation. For schools and providers, the key takeaway is that contextualised support is critical, as is carving out time for intensive and thoughtful mentorship.
Schools are recommended to embed mentoring into their leadership development offer. But mentoring has to be developmental and properly resourced. For schools planning to develop their own mentoring programmes for leaders, important questions to consider include what different mentoring interventions can achieve, for whom, in what circumstances, and why.
Read the full review: Mentoring for school leaders: A rapid evidence assessment