Qualifications for Serving as a Mentor Teacher

To serve as a mentor teacher for either field experience or student teaching, a teacher must be teaching in the appropriate subject area(s) and grade level(s); have two successful years of teaching experience; be tenured in a public school (some private schools do not tenure teachers); and be recommended by the school principal. Exceptions to these guidelines may be made on a case-by-case basis. Teachers who are selected, in addition to being effective teachers, have the desire, patience and ability to nurture and mentor a beginning teacher.

As the professional in the classroom, the mentor teacher is ultimately responsible for the classroom and cannot delegate this responsibility to the teacher candidate. If, in the opinion of the mentor teacher, a decision made by the teacher candidate is unsound, the mentor teacher has the right to countermand the decision. For example, although the teacher candidate may be given the responsibility for grading students, the mentor teacher has the right to adjust such grades. The mentor teacher is ultimately responsible for the class, and the teacher candidate will respect the mentor teacher’s final decision. If the mentor teacher believes the teaching performance of the teacher candidate is harmful to the education of the students, and/or any other members of the school community, the mentor teacher has the professional obligation to resume control of the class. If the mentor teacher resumes control of the class, he or she should immediately inform the university coordinator. Below, we outline the structure of the teacher candiate’s field experiences across the three terms of the ITE Secondary program, the resources made available to mentor teachers and the roles and responsibilities of the mentor teacher.