ABSTRACT
Teacher leadership, like mentoring, is a practice that evolved from the educational reform movement of the 1980s. The concept of teacher leadership implies that teachers are to improving teaching and learning in schools. The study participants were experienced mentors, former mentees, and school administrators. The mentors were chosen based on years of experience, effectiveness in mentoring, and availability. The major theme focused on how mentors sought to build positive relationships with their mentees. Active listening, an effective communication skill, was frequently mentioned as a tool that helped mentors build positive relationships with their mentees. Mentors also encouraged the mentees to collaborate with each other by sharing effective practices they were learning in their graduate programs, such as cooperative learning and positive discipline procedures. Numerous mentees expressed the importance of seeing their mentor's model lessons for them in their classrooms. Mentors often support other new teachers and not just their mentees, as part of their school responsibility.
