CLASSROOM TEACHERS AS MENTORS - POSSIBILITIES FOR PARTICIPATION IN A PROFESSIONAL-DEVELOPMENT SCHOOL CONTEXT

This paper describes how five classroom teachers make sense of their r ole as mentors in support of novices as they learn to teach. These tea chers interact within a context that provides possibilities for partic ipation with a teacher education program and professional development research. The main aim of the study was to gain insights into ways in which the five mentors talk about their theories of how novices learn to teach, use different sources of knowledge to help novices learn to teach, and model and encourage critical reflection about issues and pr actices in teacher education. Findings reveal that four of the five me ntors played prominent roles as teacher educators, and developed colla borative relationships within the professional development school cont ext between mentors, prospective teachers, and university faculty thro ugh sustained interactions, shared professional responsibility, and re spect.