Date of Award
1-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School
College for Education and Engaged Learning
Department/Program
Teacher Education and Teacher Development
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Katrina Bulkley
Committee Member
Emily Hodge
Committee Member
Jeremy Price
Abstract
This qualitative study examined the informal mentoring of beginning elementary teachers through the lenses of experienced teachers and principals. Current research and statistics indicate that teacher shortages and difficulties retaining new teachers in the profession are ongoing concerns for U.S. schools. Induction support for beginning teachers, and particularly formal mentoring, has been found to promote teacher retention. However, little research has focused on the informal mentoring provided to beginning teachers by their more experienced counterparts, or the role school leaders play in facilitating informal mentoring. The purpose of this study therefore was twofold: first, to gain the perspective of experienced teachers regarding the perceived needs of beginning elementary teachers and how experienced teachers should provide support for those needs through informal mentoring, and second, to explore how principals and experienced teachers described the role of the principal in facilitating informal mentoring of beginning teachers by experienced teachers. Using a general qualitative methodology, I conducted semi-structured interviews with nine experienced elementary teachers who self-identified as informal mentors for beginning teachers and with their principals in three mid-sized elementary schools in New Jersey. I also conducted site visits of each of the three schools. The theoretical framing for this study, which drew from the sociocultural, sociolinguistic, and identity development work of Vygotsky, Gee, Lave, and Wenger, positioned beginning teachers’ development as being socially constructed through learning communities. The findings from this study illustrated both the complexities and value of informal mentoring of beginning elementary teachers. Beginning teacher needs were seen as being different and greater in today’s world due to increasing demands inside and outside the classroom, particularly in regard to parent interactions, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experienced teachers saw the need to provide social and emotional support and embrace beginning teachers into a teaching “family” built on strong relationships and trust. At the same time, experienced teachers and principals conveyed high expectations of beginning teachers and expressed concerns, sometimes positioned around generational differences, regarding beginning teachers’ commitment to the demands of the profession. A final finding was that teamwork and collaboration as peers was seen by participants as being essential and best achieved through principals’ organization of grade level teams, team meeting time, and community building. As a qualitative study designed specifically to examine the role of informal mentoring of beginning elementary teachers, this study made several contributions to the research on new teacher induction and related areas. While the extant research has focused primarily on the voices of beginning teachers and their experiences, few studies have sought to hear the voices of the teachers who are the communities of practice in which beginning teachers seek to become a part: these are the professionals who have a front-row seat to the experience of new teachers. This study added credence to the idea that informal mentoring can provide valuable support to beginning elementary teachers both in terms of their skills, knowledge, and abilities as well as their social and emotional well-being. The findings also contributed to the existing literature on the integral role of school leadership in the experience of beginning teachers, particularly in regard to school culture and climate. Finally, the post-Pandemic context of the study provided a unique perspective at a unique moment in the history of schooling in the United States.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Murray, Caroline Corell, "Informal Mentoring in a Community of Practice: Viewing Beginning Teacher Needs Through the Eyes of Experienced Educators" (2025). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1493.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1493
Included in
Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons
