Teacher induction is an effective strategy for introducing a novel teacher to a new environment and helping them to acquire relevant experience. Mentoring programs are critical to achieving these targets. The mentor acts not only as a teacher of teachers but also as a teacher. Whereas teacher mentoring has been neglected in higher education, many universities offer induction programs that include mentoring activities. Here, we describe our first experience in the Cell Biology area at the University of León (Spain) with a faculty professor who mentored two teacher apprentices with different backgrounds: a PhD student and a junior postdoc. The apprentices were collaborators in practice sessions in subjects in the degrees for Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences. A formative program was prepared following induction programs from other universities, adapting and reducing to the context and aiming to eventually develop a complete mentoring plan for the Cell Biology Area. The main points were: all participants drafted the mentoring plan together, including the competencies to attain; the novices read the subject syllabus and prepared a class plan and a teacher diary (for the mentor and novices); the mentor revised and commented on the class plan and the notebook use; the practical classes (3 sessions for each class topic, with different student groups) take place following the peer observation model: the mentor as a teacher in the first session and the novice teacher as an observer and the novice as a teacher in the two subsequent sessions, with the master as an observer; finally, the three teachers filled a pre-defined questionnaire (Likert scales) on the fulfillment of the objectives and the teacher’s perceptions of the activity. The activity evaluation comprised dialogues among the teachers, analysis, comparison of the teaching diaries, and the results from the questionnaire. Both novice teachers valued the sessions in which they acted as observers, not only because they could learn from the experienced teacher but also, being located by the back of the laboratory, from the attitudes and performance of the students. The experience was more imposing for the most novel teacher (still carrying out the PhD), especially, preparing the classes, adjusting the timing of events and connecting with the students’ feelings and attitudes. The mentor appreciated a noticeable improvement during the sessions, improving confidence and a better perception of the class situation. The Jr. postdoc, with some previous teaching activity in a higher education environment, showed a high level of confidence and could pick up a more significant amount of information observing the mentor’s performance during the initial session, including perceiving the student’s attitudes. The improvement rate during their sessions was faster than the most novel teacher, even modifying the teaching plan to adapt to their style and enhancing the existing contents and methodology. Using a teaching diary was not usual for the novel teachers, and they considered it a valuable tool for their future improvement. Moreover, the mentor teacher considered having improved from the activity. Overall, the experience was deemed very interesting and worthy of inclusion in the induction programs in high education centers.

Keywords: Teacher induction, mentoring, biotechnology, environmental sciences, teacher diary.