ABSTRACT
Learning to teach takes place within the realms of relationships with others, so having a mentor who is part of the teaching community is necessary. At the end of this chapter, the reader should be able to: Reflect on the importance of formative and summative assessment as a key part of the mentoring process, Recognize key components for consideration in the use of formative assessment within the mentoring process and Reflect on how formative and summative assessment may interact to support the professional learning of beginning teachers. Some key elements were constructive dialogue, self-evaluation and quality questioning. Beginning teachers talked about the importance of questioning both being asked questions and asking questions themselves as part of constructive dialogue. The prevalence of literal questions evident in this case study may be a barrier to the use of formative assessment. This chapter has discussed formative and summative assessment within the context of mentoring beginning teachers.
