ABSTRACT
The development of teachers and teacher candidates is maximized by selecting mentors who possess two important characteristics. First, mentors should be excellent role models, teachers who have demonstrated the capacity to create classrooms rich in student interactions. Second, mentors should be capable of fostering a strong, caring mentoring relationship by building trust with the teacher candidate. In this chapter, the authors provide several tools to facilitate this process. They begin with the importance of identifying mentor teachers who can create a rich, student-centered environment for teaching; inspire the trust of teacher candidates; and articulate the principles of practice. The authors outline an interview process for carefully matching teacher candidates to their mentors. They discuss the importance of welcoming teacher candidates to the setting and learning about their previous teaching experiences. The authors conclude by recommending the need for a clearly articulated exit strategy in those rare cases when the fit is determined to be less than ideal.
