The Accidental Mentor

Abstract In Texas, all new teachers with 2 years or less experience must have a mentor teacher assigned to them by the campus or district. This mentor teacher must have at least “three years of experience and a superior history of improving student performance and have completed a research-based mentor and induction training program approved by the commissioner” (Texas Education Code, §21.458). Often there is a mismatch between the mentors and the mentees, which can mean the difference between a novice teacher staying in the profession or leaving. This narrative inquiry takes up an autobiographical exploration into the influence of mentors on my beginning teacher classroom experiences and on my decision to stay or leave teaching as a profession. Drawing on my experiences over the span of a career, my stories of experience pertaining to being both a mentee and a mentor are examined.