Mentoring New Teachers: Implications for Leadership Practice in an Urban School

Abstract

This article focuses on leadership practices and teacher mentoring in an urban school context. A central perspective of this discussion is the role of the urban school principal in implementing and facilitating mentoring arrangements that will lead to competence, retention, and improved student achievement. Results from a case study of a mentoring triad in a large, urban high school are presented. The participants were a 1st-year African American teacher, her mentor, and the principal. The article begins with a discussion of teacher mentoring. The discussion then shifts to the mentoring experiences of the 1styear African American teacher. Next, three themes are discussed: (a) mentoring as a means for enhancing professional and personal competence; (b) mentoring as a means of transmitting the culture of the educational environment; and (c) mentoring as a catalyst for transformative leadership. The article concludes with a discussion and some implications for transformative leadership practices that can facilitate effective mentoring arrangements for new teachers in the urban school context.

Culturally Responsive School Leadership

“…In our synthesis of the literature below, we also mention the interconnectedness of the strands, and we note the importance for other researchers to further refine this body of literature. Is committed to continuous learning of cultural knowledge and contexts (Gardiner & Enomoto, 2006) Developing teacher capacities for cultural responsive pedagogy (Ginsberg & Wlodkowski, 2000;Voltz, Brazil, & Scott, 2003) Accepting indigenized, local identities (Khalifa, 2010) Developing meaningful, positive relationships with community (Gardiner & Enomoto, 2006;Walker, 2001) Displays a critical consciousness on practice in and out of school; displays self-reflection (Gooden & Dantley, 2012; Collaborative walkthroughs (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012) Building relationships; reducing anxiety among students (Madhlangobe & Gordon, 2012) Is a servant leader, as public intellectual and other roles (Alston, 2005;Gooden, 2005; Uses school data and indicants to measure CRSL (Skrla, Scheurich, Garcia, & Nolly, 2004) Creating culturally responsive PD opportunities for teachers (Ginsberg & Wlodkowski, 2000;Voltz et al, 2003) Modeling CRSL for staff in building interactions (Khalifa, 2011;Tillman, 2005) Finding overlapping spaces for school and community (Cooper, 2009;Ishimaru, 2013;Khalifa, 2012) Uses parent/community voices to measure cultural responsiveness in schools (Ishimaru, 2013;...…”

School-Based Mentoring for Professional Development of Inclusive School Teachers

“…One of the successful ways to enhance collaboration and to improve teachers" competences is school-based mentoring (Wang & Odell, 2002;Tillman, 2005). The research demonstrates the extremely important role of mentoring in the periods of change, which requires different thinking and approaches in education.…”

How Induction Programs Affect the Decision of Alternate Route Urban Teachers to Remain Teaching

“…In addition, according to Tillman (2005), teachers who work in urban environments often face challenges, such as a lack of basic resources, severe student behavioral issues, and high absentee rates. These can contribute to the decision of novice urban teachers to abandon the profession.…”