ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses professional dialogue between mentor and beginning teacher, in short, what kind of conversations to have and how to conduct them. It looks at ways to conduct professional dialogue such as in pre- and post-lesson discussions, mentoring meetings, target setting and subsequent actions. It is commonplace to say that teaching adults is very different to teaching children. In the mathematics classroom, pupil reflection should have a purpose, and be based on new problems such as describing and understanding methods and solutions, meaningfully comparing, explaining why and finding connections to other mathematics or experience etc. Mentoring brings into play the unavoidable power relations existing between mentors and beginning teachers. Many beginning teachers encounter difficulties at some stage and it is important that these are discussed promptly in order to avoid escalation. Some beginning teachers, especially if they are struggling, might try and blame external factors for their difficulties.
