In our experience, mentors devote most of their time to providing support, such as that described in the previous section. However, unless support is balanced with challenge, we rob new teachers of the opportunity to grow and learn. If our goal is to nurture independent, effective practitioners, then it is critical that novices take responsibility for their own practice. Growth requires that beginners develop the capacity to apply and adapt expert information within the context of their own classrooms. This development includes making meaning of new information and experiences. This learning enables new teachers to apply, refine and create alternative strategies based on students’ needs, curricular readiness and teacher values

ho we are as mentors, how we mentor and what we mentor about are essential to meeting the current needs of beginning teachers. A central component in a learning-focused mentoring program is a clear understanding of the respective role and responsibilities of each participant. Framing a mentoring identity as one who builds capacity in others is a necessary first step. The most important function for mentors is to embrace a growth orientation, understanding that the work is to increase their colleague’s effectiveness as professional problem-solvers and decision-makers. This process begins with establishing and maintaining a learning focus within the relationship. In this way, each party shapes and understands the nature and expectations of the mentoring interactions. We build on the work of Laurent Daloz (1998), suggesting that a mentor’s role within such a relationship is to balance three functions: * Offering support * Creating challenge * Facilitating a professional vision

teachers a greater sense of professional power to teach students successfully. Those supervisory tasks that ha

When serving as a mentor for new teach- ers or new-to-the-school teachers, coaches acknowledge the individual differences among teachers and adapt their supports to the needs of teachers. At the same time, however, they keep in mind that student success depends on the quality of teaching in each classroom. When they are supporting other teachers who serve as mentors and coordinate mentoring support, they are developing the leadership capacity of others.

To be effective in this role, coaches tap into a broad body of knowledge and a skill set that helps them understand and assess the needs of new teachers, personalize their response to teachers’ needs, and weave together multiple roles to develop new teachers’ professionalism. Mentors understand the stages of teacher devel- opment so that they can anticipate needs and stretch capacity so that new teachers achieve a high level of performance. This knowledge in- cludes recognizing the natural development of the novice professional who moves first from a concern with self to concerns with competence and impact on students, and, eventually, moves toward innovation, creation, and generativity. They know how to assess teachers’ needs and concerns, match support with teachers’ expressed needs and concerns, and respond to needs with versatility and flexibility by moving into and out of other roles such as classroom supporter, curriculum specialist, or instructional specialist. Knowing how to build trusting relat