In K-12 education, the veteran professional constitutes a category requiring a more differentiated approach to mentoring. Their needs from a mentoring relationship are different from those new to the profession. Bressman, et al., (2018) discussed targeted professional development (PD) in the form of mentoring, directly connected to the field and focus of the professional. Their findings included a desire by the veteran teachers for differentiated professional development that helped them examine practice in a way that would not have developed in the traditionally provided PD. There are many other topics related to the mentoring process that need to be considered, such as positionality (the awareness of one’s social and cultural identities and how these influence the mentoring relationship), intersectionality (the overlapping identities and experiences that shape each mentee’s unique perspective such as race, gender, class or culture for example, and how they impact in complex ways). These are important considerations if we are truly focusing on the mentee and can impact the process in ways we may be blind to. The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships, by Zachary & Fain (2022), is a good place to learn more about this process. Their discussions include intergenerational understanding when working with mentees, setting boundaries in the mentoring relationship (you’re not there to put out fires!) as well as enabling growth and closure - all very important in the process. Although this may seem like a lot, keep in mind, it is all about the mentee. Creating a “mini me” is never the goal. By bringing support to our professions in the form of mentoring, we all benefit, both personally and professionally, as well as the students and adults we serve. REFERENCES Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (1999). Designing a mentor program. ASCD. https://www.ascd. org/el/articles/designing-a-mentor-program Bressman, S., Winter, J. S., & Efron, S. E. (2018). Next generation mentoring: Supporting teachers beyond induction. Teaching and Teacher Education, 73, 162–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. tate.2018.04.003 Fain, L. Z., & Zachary, L. J. (2020). Bridging differences for Better Mentoring: Lean Forward, learn, leverage. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Ponte, E., & Twomey, S. (2014). Veteran teachers mentoring in training: negotiating issues of power, vulnerability and profes- sional development. Journal of Education for Teaching: JET, 40(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.864015
St George, C. A., & Robinson, S. B. (2011). Making Mentoring Matter: Perspectives from Veteran Mentor Teachers. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 78(1), 24-.
Zachary, L. J., & Fain, L. Z. (2022). Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships. Jossey-Bass.
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