New teachers frequently encounter challenges in the profession, especially in making the shift from pre-service teacher to in-service teacher. One approach that this study presents to addressing these prevailing challenges is to provide opportunities, contexts, and structures for collaboration and dialogue in professional learning environments, including mentoring contexts, for new and experienced teachers alike. The purpose of this study was to develop understandings related to how new and experienced teachers conceptualize mentoring in order to identify the range of mentoring practices being employed and consider the role of collaboration in mentoring practices. In this way, I was able to consider the role this collaborative approach might play in addressing new teacher challenges. The theoretical framework underpinning this research utilized theories and concepts from Bakhtin (1981, 1986), Fecho (2011), Fecho et al. (2021), Rosenblatt (1995), and Feiman-Nemser (2001, 2003) that worked together as a lens to examine the active dialogue that must take place in order for new teachers and experienced teachers alike to learn and grow as educators and individuals in a world of varying contexts, languages, and cultures. Data generation methods included observations, interviews, and reflective writing prompts designed to elicit data related to teachers' conceptions of and experiences with mentoring and collaboration. This study addressed the following research questions: (1) In assigned mentor-mentee pairs, what kinds of practices are occurring that are supposed to be nurturing developmental growth? and (2) What role might productive collaboration play in nurturing developmental growth in assigned mentoring pairs? The generated data indexed the crucial role that productive collaboration rooted in dialogue plays in effective mentoring. Analysis of the data led to the generation of five dialogical characteristics of productive collaboration that I view as crucial for nurturing developmental growth in the context of mentoring: Openness to mutual shaping through transaction, common goal, shared decision-making, reflection-on-action, and a consideration of future actions. Four contextual features were identified as playing a significant role in the productivity of collaboration in the mentoring process. The identified contextual features influencing productive collaboration included the following: Hierarchies, teaching experience, school structures and systems, and the social environment of the school. Implications of this study reflect the importance of the five dialogical characteristics to mentoring and collaboration and how new teacher mentees and experienced teacher mentors may benefit from their intentional participation in productive collaboration. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this study was to develop understandings related to how new and experienced teachers conceptualize mentoring in order to identify the range of mentoring practices being employed and consider the role of collaboration in mentoring practices. The theoretical framework underpinning this research utilized theories and concepts from Bakhtin (1981, 1986), Fecho (2011), Fecho et al. (2021), Rosenblatt (1995), and Feiman-Nemser (2001, 2003) that worked together as a lens to examine the active dialogue that must take place in order for teachers to learn and grow as educators and individuals in a world of varying contexts, languages, and cultures. Data generation methods included observations, interviews, and reflective writing prompts designed to elicit data related to teachers' conceptions of and experiences with mentoring and collaboration. This study addressed the following research questions: (1) In assigned mentor-mentee pairs, what kinds of practices are occurring that are supposed to be nurturing developmental growth? and (2) What role might productive collaboration play in nurturing developmental growth in assigned mentoring pairs? The generated data indexed the importance of five dialogical characteristics (Openness to mutual shaping through transaction, common goal, shared decision-making, reflection-on-action, and a consideration of future actions) to mentoring and collaboration and how new teacher mentees and experienced teacher mentors may benefit from their intentional participation in productive collaboration.

Thesis advisor: Audrey A. Friedman / This qualitative study examines the value of content mentoring for pairs of arts and sciences faculty members and teacher candidates in the same discipline. The researcher utilized participant interviews, demographic surveys, and student teacher performance assessments of four pairs of arts and sciences faculty members and student teachers (eight total participants) who participated in Boston College's semester-long One-on-One Content Mentoring program during the Fall 2008 semester. The researcher used a sociocultural theoretical perspective and interpretive qualitative analysis techniques to explore this problem and describe how content mentoring influences mentors and mentees. This study's focus on a content-specific mentoring initiative--especially its influence on mentors as well as mentees--has rarely been used in education research. Results indicate that content mentors gain increased exposure to and understanding of K-12 school realities, a better understanding of the Boston College Lynch School's mission "to teach for social justice," new perspectives on K-12 teacher preparation, and a renewed interest in pedagogy in their own classes. Analysis of content mentor results also raise cautions that professors' views on social justice not be reflective of a deficit model of education. Results also indicate that teacher candidates gain content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, confidence in their teaching abilities, better understanding of professional development, and a deeper understanding of social justice in teaching. Limitations to the study include a small sample size and the duration of the study. Recommendations for future study include increasing sample size and expanding research over a longer period of time. The researcher provides implications and recommendations for content mentoring program initiatives. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Education.

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In an urban school district in North Texas, there was a problem retaining highly qualified novice teachers. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of novice teachers to understand why some teachers demonstrated the resiliency to succeed as professional educators and to suggest potential solutions to improve novice teacher retention. Guided by Henderson and Milstein's theory of resilience, 8 novice teachers with 2-5 years of teaching experience participated in semi structured interviews. Research questions elicited the experiences that empowered novice teacher resiliency, the perceived role of administrators and colleagues to cultivate and build capacity, and recommendations to promote resiliency. Data analyses included an inductive thematic coding process to separate the data and identify themes. According to study findings, novice teachers' support from instructional specialists and colleagues contributed to their resiliency and retention. Participants indicated that a university education alone did not prepare them for the realities of teaching in at-risk learning communities. The participants suggested differentiated professional development to address the challenges of teaching in at-risk schools. A Comprehensive Professional Development Plan was created to address the gap in novice teacher resiliency and retention and to improve instructional practices to meet the needs of novice teachers and to provide a stable and responsive learning community for students to achieve social, emotional, and academic success. This study has the potential to produce positive social change by building capacity, resiliency, and retention through a long-term comprehensive professional development plan for inducting novice teachers.

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The ABSTRACT The Final Work named 'The support of natural science teachers who are starting their teaching career, and their development during the educational practice" as shown also with the example of the selected school, examines the way in which such school supports the fresh teachers, and whether for the fresh teachers at the selected school such support of their pedagogical development is beneficial, profitable and contributing to the teacher's development when compared with those schools which were addressed via a questionnaire designed for the headmasters and fresh teachers. The essay has been divided into its theoretical part and practical part. The theoretical part deals with the profession of a fresh teacher, the ways that support pedagogical development of these fresh teachers through the so called mentoring, pair teaching, professional portfolio, personal pedagogical development plans and alike. The methods of supporting fresh teachers have been described in general, and only then the Work aims also at the support implemented at the school selected. The practical part examines how the professional support has been provided for within the sample of primary schools and high schools, and this from the viewpoints of headmasters and fresh natural science teachers. It outlines the way of...