This is the time of year when many new teachers are hired, and not long after that they are assigned mentors. But what do the mentors expect from this partnership? And how might their expectations differ from those of the novice teacher?

This series of interview questions can be adapted to many different purposes. If you are trying to choose mentors for new teachers, you can interview the mentors and novice teachers to gain a sense of who might be a match personally and philosophically.

If you are just developing a mentoring program, you can use the responses to the interviews to gauge whether or not expectations of mentors and novice teachers for mentoring are aligned with your goals for the program.

If you are designing an orientation program for later in the summer, you can select a small number of these questions for mentors and mentees to use in interviewing each other. Addressing these issues can help these partner teams establish strong communication from the start.

Interview Questions for Mentors

• What qualities do you think are most important in a new teacher?
• What qualities do you think are most important in a student teacher?
• What do you do to ensure open communication between you and the teacher you are mentoring?
• Think of a time when communication broke down (with the current teacher you are mentoring, or in the past). Describe the situation. What did you do to correct it?
• How often do you meet with your current mentee to discuss plans?
• How do you share planning and evaluation duties?
• What are the different strengths each of you bring to the collaboration?
• What are your general goals in observing a novice teacher?
• What are your general goals in conferring with a novice teacher before an observation?
• What are your general goals in conferring with a novice teacher after an observation?
• If there was one piece of advice you could give to a new mentor, what would it be?
• If there was one piece of advice you could give to a novice teacher who is just beginning to work with a mentor, what would it be?
• How does the system (structure of the school day, pay scales, etc.) need to change to support better collaboration between mentors and novice teachers?
• What are your "hot buttons" when it comes to working with novice teachers? What behaviors irritate you? How do you address these issues when they emerge?
• Think of a time when you were frustrated with a novice teacher you were mentoring (not your current mentee). What caused the frustration? How did you address it?
• Why do you choose to be a mentor? What are the benefits?
• What are the drawbacks to serving as a mentor?
• What's the best thing about your current collaboration with your mentee?

Interview Questions for Novice Teachers

• What qualities do you think are most important in a mentor?
• What do you do to ensure open communication between you and your mentor?
• Think of a time when there was miscommunication with your mentor. Describe the situation. What did you do to correct it?
• How often do you plan to meet with your mentor to discuss plans?
• How will you share planning and evaluation duties?
• What are the different strengths each of you bring to the collaboration?
• What are your general goals when you are being observed by your mentor?
• What are your general goals in conferring with your mentor before an observation?
• What are your general goals in conferring with your mentor after an observation?
• If there was one piece of advice you could give to a new mentor, what would it be?
• If there was one piece of advice you could give to a novice teacher who is just beginning to work with a mentor, what would it be?
• How does the system (structure of the school day, pay scales, etc.) need to change to support better collaboration between mentors and novice teachers?
• What's the best thing about your current collaboration with your mentor?