Establishing a Mentoring Relationship Between Pre-Service and Mentor Teachers Through Windows Into Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Windows into Teaching and Learning (WiTL) was a project designed by researchers at one southeastern U.S. University that allowed the facilitation of online clinical experiences for graduate interns during their content area methods course. WiTL was originally developed to address challenges in providing meaningful clinical experiences for interns during online summer coursework. In providing these experiences, a mentoring relationship emerged between the participating practicing and pre-service teachers. This chapter explores those relationships and how they were fostered by the unique features of WiTL, which include online threaded discussions, synchronous and asynchronous viewings of classroom instruction, and text chat communication. These relationships are further supported through WiTL's debriefing process, which allows for immediate interaction between pre-service and mentor teachers. The type of dialogue and collaboration encouraged by WiTL results in strong mentoring relationships. The potential for programs like WiTL to be implemented in PK-12 settings are discussed.