ABSTRACT
This chapter asks science teachers to become more conscious of who they are as a teacher and a mentor. It analyses their motivations and readiness to mentor beginning teachers. Developing their mentoring skills is a key component of continuing professional development for many teachers. Mentoring in schools has been defined as a procedural formal activity, controlled by an external organisation, such as a university or work place. This definition implies science teachers need to make accurate judgements to share with the beginning teacher. It is argued that mentoring and being mentored can have a positive impact on science teachers own professional development. These influences come from a number of contexts, such as participating in mentoring training sessions offered by an initial teacher education provider, other developmental courses and, importantly, their ability to self-reflect on their own mentoring practice. Trevethan described a number of mentoring models, namely: the traditional model; the reflective practitioner model; and the learning partnership model.
