ELECTRONIC MENTORING FOR NOVICE TEACHERS

Beginning teachers need support if they are to become competent professionals (Reynolds, 1990) and induction programs are the critical link between theory learned at the university and application of theory in the school setting. Professional communities are built on teachers who regularly engage in discussions with colleagues about their work; however, teachers, especially novice teachers, often do not have the time and resources within their buildings for these meaningful interactions. Electronic mentoring environments offer these opportunities as well as access to underlying theories of learning (Hebert, Clift, & Wennerdahl, 2008).

E-mentoring facilitates a community of learners sharing knowledge, skills, and values while simultaneously building new knowledge, skills, and dispositions within a safe, nurturing, and caring environment. E-mentoring provides an ideal format for bringing together groups of teachers from multiple schools allowing them to interact within a larger community rather than learning in isolation. Additionally, e-mentoring is designed to support novice teachers’ needs through differentiated experiences based on the mentee’s needs and immediate concerns (Smith & Israel, 2010).

This presentation includes findings from a qualitative study which examined dialogues between beginning teachers and their mentors in an electronic mentoring site. Conversations were coded to determine the nature of the issues which dyads address, including beginning teachers’ concerns, professional competencies, and key factors identified in teacher development research.