Mentoring the Mentors: First-Order Descriptions of Experience-In-Context

Abstract

Following worldwide trends in an effort to combat attrition rates of novice teachers, mentoring of new teachers has become a common practice. However, not all experienced teachers have the supervision and leadership skills necessary to guide new teachers through their first difficult year. In order to solve this problem, various programs have been established to provide mentor teachers with the skills and knowledge necessary to support new teachers. While there is a proliferation of research and theoretical articles pertaining to mentoring, there is a scarcity of literature dealing with the training of mentors. The purpose of this article is to make a contribution to this neglected area of study by presenting some examples of innovative practical techniques designed to link theory with practice. Data of mentor teachers' written assignments are presented as evidence of the link between theory learned and practical implementation from the perspective of the participants.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the mentor teachers who gave permission to use their assignments.