THE MENTOR TEACHER CASEBOOK
edited by Judith H. Shulman & Joel A. Colbert, San Francisco: Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development [now WestEd], 1987
With the increase of beginning teacher support programs burgeoning in school districts around the country, veteran teachers quickly realize the complexity of the new role of mentor teacher. One of the first challenges they face is establishing a working relationship with their assigned neophyte. If they assert themselves too little or unskillfully, they run the risk of being ineffective. If they assert themselves too strongly or inappropriately, they may be perceived as rude or disruptive. Mentors grapple with questions such as: How do I encourage a new teacher to request assistance? What can/should be done if a teacher refuses assistance? How much should I report to an administrator? How do I cope with jealousies of other teachers who want to be mentors?
In The Mentor Teacher Casebook, 22 new mentor teachers from the Los Angeles Unified School District write brief narratives that address these questions and many more. Their accounts have been the basis for professional development activities in school districts all across the country. One state department of education used selected cases as the focus of its professional development and purchased a volume for each mentor teacher in the state. The official found that the cases provided powerful learning opportunities for new mentors to reflect on and analyze their own and others’ practice within meaningful learning communities.
The Mentor Teacher Casebook, $10.00 (see order form)
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