The role of mentoring expertise in school-based teacher educator recruitment

In many countries, student teachers now spend more time in schools with school-based teacher educators (SBTEs) than in earlier decades. Recruitment of SBTEs, along with their professional learning, is therefore critical for teacher education quality, yet it has received little empirical attention. This study investigates the role of mentoring expertise in SBTE recruitment in Finnish teacher training schools. Two data sources were analysed: advertisements for SBTE positions and interviews with principals responsible for recruitment. The advertisements presented mentoring expertise and experience vaguely, while principals often described mentoring not as a specialised competence but as general professional qualities expected of any good teacher, or as something that could be learned on the job—thus not emphasised in recruitment. The findings reveal that the teacher educator role is often overshadowed by classroom teaching and pedagogical development, offering an employer-focused perspective that enriches and complements existing research primarily focused on teacher educators’ self-perceptions. • Examined mentoring expertise in school-based teacher educator recruitment. • Analysed job advertisements and principal interviews in Finnish training schools. • Found mentoring expertise described vaguely in the advertisements. • Principals viewed mentoring as general qualities or skills learned on the job. • Teacher educator role appeared secondary to teaching and pedagogical development.