Mentoring, reflection, and reciprocal journaling

There is a severe shortage of African American teachers in K-12 public education, and this shortage is particularly acute in large, urban school districts. This article presents results from a case study of a mentoring triad--a first-year African American teacher, her mentor, and her principal--and the use of reflection and reciprocal journaling to reflect on and dialogue about the challenges of teaching in a large urban high school. More specifically, the research is an investigation of journaling as a reciprocal process of communication used by the participants to reflect on instructional practices, principal expectations, racial and cultural issues within the urban school context, and the first-year teacher's decision to stay in her position. The author discusses two major themes, the teacher' s professional competence and the teacher as a member of the school community, and gives several recommendations for practice.

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THERE IS A SEVERE SHORTAGE of African American teachers in K-12 public education. According to Gay and Howard (2000), the majority of elementary and secondary teachers (approximately 86%) are White, and the number of African Americans teachers declined 5% from 1970 to 1998. This shortage is particularly acute in large, urban school districts. In addition, an increasing number of African American teachers leave their teaching positions in urban school districts within 3 to 5 years after being hired (Recruiting New Teachers, 2000). Some inner city schools have teacher turnover rates as high as 50% and a shortage of certified teachers willing to fill these vacancies, especially in math, science, and bilingual education (Bombaugh, 1995). Claycomb (2000) reports that "students in urban, high-poverty schools have only a 50% likelihood of being taught math and science by a qualified teacher in that field" (p. 17). Thus, the problem of meeting the demand for teachers in urban school districts, and particularly African American teachers, is twofold: recruiting them for positions and retaining them once they are hired.

This article presents results from a case study of a mentoring triad--a first-year African American teacher, her mentor, and her principal--and the use of reflection and reciprocal journaling to reflect on and dialogue about the challenges of teaching in a large urban high school. More specifically, I examine journaling as a reciprocal process of communication used by the participants to reflect about instructional practices, principal expectations, racial and cultural issues within the urban school context, and the first-year teacher's decision to stay in her position. Two major themes that emerged from this investigation will be discussed: the teacher's professional competence and the teacher as a member of the school community. I conclude with several recommendations for practice.

Mentoring New Teachers

Mentoring, also referred to as teacher induction, has been defined as learning partnerships between two or more individuals who wish to share or develop a mutual interest. As collaborative partnerships, "mentorships magnify teacher deliberations on educational actions and issues related to theory, research, and practice" (Bey, 1995, p. 12). According to Bey, mentors may perform a variety of intense functions that include teaching, sponsoring, encouraging, counseling, and role modeling. Wang and Odell (2002) report that teacher mentors began to be used as a support mechanism for new teachers in the early 1980s. Such programs were typically designed to reduce the attrition rate of novice teachers, provide novice teachers with a smooth and efficient transition into a teaching culture, train mentors to support new teachers' instructional practices, and transform the culture and profession of teaching. Additionally, in their review of literature on teacher mentoring for standards based reform, Wang and Odell identify three perspectives that are prevalent in teacher mentoring programs: (a) humanistic assumptions (helping novice teachers to overcome personal problems and feel comfortable in the profession; (b) situated apprentice (helping novice teachers to move into the existing school culture and supporting the development of survival skills in particular contexts; and (c) critical constructivist (transforming teaching--posing questions and challenging existing teaching practices).

The shortage of African American teachers has had a significant impact on the teaching profession, and the scarcity of teachers from this group points to the need for developing strategies to increase teacher retention (Hope, 1999; Wilder, 1999). Hope reports that retention is a key issue in the attrition of first-year teachers and that "it determines to a significant degree if a person will remain in teaching and what type of teacher that person will become" (p. 56). According to Hope, mentoring is one strategy for addressing the retention of first-year teachers. King & Bey (1995) report that urban teacher mentors can playa critical role in the training, support, and retention of new teachers.