"Jumping in": trust and communication in mentoring student teachers

The purpose of this study was to uncover how two student teacher/mentor tea cher pairs made sense of their roles during a year-long field placement. We learned about the ways in which the pairs discussed the idea of "jumping i n" as they framed trust and communication as integral components of mentori ng in learning to teach. Qualitative data sources informed our analysis of the ways people made sense of their roles in a mentoring relationship and p rovided participants' perspectives on involvement in group conversations ab out mentoring. Implications include: (1) mentoring as "jumping in"; (2) con scious collaboration in learning to teach; and (3) mutual mentoring. (C) 19 99 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.