Since Norway introduced tests and other types of measurements the press, with a negative bias, has placed the spotlight on those schools which performed badly in attainment measurements. The press reconstructs from public sources "league tables" of aggregated student achievements but at present the official position opposes the public ranking of schools. This article discusses the consequences within schools of such negative media coverage and the responses within badly performing schools that have been named, shamed and blamed in prominent headlines. This media spotlight brings into play a complex emotional process which may spur schools into improvement mechanisms or provoke a hostile reaction, or result in panic measures.

Adequate self-efficacy is useful for motivating individuals to engage in continued improvement. This study explores the potential antecedents of instructional self-efficacy beliefs among Norwegian student teachers attending a programme for secondary school teachers. The most important finding was the strong association between the student teachers' perceptions of digital competency to resolve challenges relating to information and communication technology (ICT) in schools and their instructional self-efficacy, which was explored via two dimensions: (1) self-efficacy for maintaining discipline and (2) self-efficacy for influencing students' use of ICT in the service of learning. Implications for practice are discussed. We argue that digital competency among student teachers is important for sustaining instructional self-efficacy in technology-rich classrooms.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight university-based mentor education as a negative antecedent to mentors’ beliefs which are consistent with judgementoring (Hobson and Malderez, 2013). The concept of beliefs consistent with judgementoring (evaluative or judgemental mentoring) is introduced as a quantitative construct which is then used as a dependent variable. The concept of “folk mentoring” is introduced to theorise why and how mentor education may challenge mentors’ beliefs about mentoring. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modelling of cross-sectional survey data is used to estimate and compare the strengths between mentors’ perceived self-efficacy, role clarity, experience and education as independent variables and beliefs about mentoring aligned with judgementoring as the dependent variable. The survey was completed by 146 mentors who attended mentor education programmes in universities and university colleges across Norway. Findings – The findings indicate that mentor education contributes to lower levels of beliefs consistent with judgementoring and strengthens mentors’ awareness of their role as a mentor. Higher levels of self-efficacy related to the mentor role were associated with stronger beliefs consistent with judgementoring. Mentor experience was not associated strongly with any tested variable. Research limitations/implications – This paper identifies new questions pertaining to the effects of mentor education and variables associated with judgementoring. Omitted variables might have influenced the explored models and the methods used do not allow us to determine causal relationships. Originality/value – Taking an approach based on social exchange theory, the authors describe judgementoring as a form of mentoring that hampers potential exchanges which would enable mentoring to contribute to professional development. This paper provides new insights into judgementoring by introducing it as a quantitative construct, by testing relevant antecedents and by introducing the concept of “folk mentoring”. Mentor education is highlighted as a potential moderator of mentors’ beliefs in judgementoring.

This study aims at exploring several individual, organizational, and contextual factors that may affect beginning teachers' turnover intentions during their first years of practice. The sample consists of 227 beginning teachers (69% female and 31% male) from 133 schools in Norway. The results show four important antecedents of beginning teachers' turnover intentions: collective teacher efficacy, teacher-principal trust, role conflict, and affective commitment. Our findings suggest that organizational and contextual factors, and not necessarily individual competence perceptions, have a significant impact on beginning teachers' turnover intentions. Also the findings suggest that beginning teachers should be studied separately from more experienced teachers. Implications for school leadership are discussed. Introduction and purposeAlthough there has been much research on beginning teachers, the links between beginning teachers' turnover intentions and various individual, organizational, and contextual factors have not been thoroughly understood. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between Norwegian beginning teachers' turnover intentions and their self-efficacy, role clarity, affective commitment, relational trust among school professionals, and organizational and innovation support. In what follows, we first explain why this issue is important. Then, we deduce nine hypotheses regarding the antecedents of beginning teachers' turnover intentions. Finally, we explore and discuss the individual and contextual factors that predict beginning teachers' turnover intentions and the possible implications of our findings.

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