Our partners from the Spanish pilot, Empieza Por Educar and the Department of Education of Catalonia, co-organized on June 8th an event to kick off the “Sensei” programme, an innovative program inspired in NEST that aims to offer high-quality assistance to novice teachers during their first year in the profession. The event involved participants of the NEST project and future participants of the Sensei pilot who exchanged views on mentoring and its purpose.
The findings from the NEST policy experiment have informed the development and content of the Sensei program’s mentor training. In fact, NEST and Sensei share similar objectives and logistical aspects, enabling both projects to be implemented within the Catalan educational system. Like NEST, Sensei involves two crucial players: the novice teacher, who is new to the profession, and the mentor teacher, who serves as their personal and professional guide within the school.
The Sensei pilot program will provide mentorship to 100 novice secondary school teachers and 150 novice primary school teachers. It will be rolled out in 60 schools, with up to 85 experienced teachers undergoing training to become mentors.
Joan Cuevas, Director General of Innovation, Digitalisation, Curriculum and Languages at the Departament d’ensenyament (public institution responsible for Education policy in Catalonia), introducing the event.
Justo Quintanar, public sector manager at Empieza Por Educar, presenting NEST results to attendees.
NEST and Sensei mentors discuss on the meaning and purpose of mentoring for novice teachers during one of the workshops.
