ABSTRACT
Articles about mentoring beginning teachers have pervaded educational journals during the past few years. Most have discussed responsibilities of a mentor (Nuefield 1987; Huffman and Leak 1986; Levinson, Darrow, Klein, Levinson, McKee and Braxton (1978), detailed the development of mentor programs within a school district (California mentor teacher program 1983), or provided a review of the current literature on mentoring (Galvez-Hjornevik 1985; Merriam 1983). Few, however, have provided the field of education with a clear conceptualization of the act of mentoring (Merriam 1983). This lack of clarity has created problems for school districts and collaborating schools of education that have wanted to develop teacher mentor programs around a sound conceptual framework.
