The Mentor Teacher

The mentor teacher is a classroom teacher in a school who provides access to his or her classroom/ learning environment for the purposes of mentoring and supporting development of teaching skills.

Mentor teachers:

• supervise and support development of teaching skills
• facilitate learning through:
  1. discussions about:
  1. expectations of all stakeholders
  2. overview of classroom dynamics
  3. classroom management (programming, behaviour management)
  4. availability of curriculum materials and teaching
  5. resources assessment, reporting and evaluation
  6. accessing school facilities and equipment.
  2. engage the preservice teacher in collaborative teaching;
  3. talk in a reflective way about teaching practices with the preservice teacher;
  4. help initiate the preservice teacher into the culture of the educational context and community;
  5. undertake some modelling, scaffolding and coaching;
  6. support collection of evidence for meeting professional teaching requirements.
  7. provide written feedback and oral feedback on classroom teaching experiences;
  8. facilitate adjustment to the class and the school and school community
  9. engage in reflective practice and evaluation of teaching experiences
  10. liaise with the PLL and/or Director of Professional Experience as necessary (Dr Lorraine Connell).
  11. Ensure that appropriate "at risk" procedures are followed if applicable.