ABSTRACT
Rising rates of attrition among early career teachers is a concern throughout the Western world. In Victoria, the site of the research project, the Teacher Supply and Demand Report identified that 'the low proportions of Government sector teaching service staff in the 35-44 year age groups will necessitate recruitment from outside the sector' if leadership roles are to be filled. This chapter reports findings from the first year of a three-year longitudinal developmental mentoring study designed in part to lower early career teacher exit. School mentoring programs need to consider how professional relationships shape, and are shaped by the micropolitical milieu. Part of the confusion around mentoring for self-understanding stems from the literature which conflates the term with coaching, induction, supervision, and tutoring. A mentoring relationship, as we understand it, is an interaction with significant others. The participatory inquiry programme mentoring is understood as a reflexive process aimed at stimulating mentees' preconscious influences in order that they become consciously known.
