Abstract
The purpose of this article is to describe and explain a mentoring initiative for supporting and retaining middle school teachers. First, we examine the persistent problem of teacher retention in U.S. schools, particularly in middle schools. Then, we describe a mentoring initiative—a community practice mentoring model that is well-suited for facilitating professional learning and addressing the retention issue. We define community of practice and note how communities of practices work in schools. We argue that a community of practice model is both a powerful conceptual framework for mentoring teachers and a practical approach to supporting middle school teachers’ practice. Next, we report on middle school conditions including organizational structures, effective professional learning, and the multigenerational nature of the teaching force. Subsequently, we focus on the key features of a community that enhances teachers’ professional learning, reduces teacher isolation, and influences teacher retention. We end with our recommendations and a few concluding remarks about the importance of good talk and setting the conditions for teacher optimism.
Author Bio
Karen Weller Swanson, Ed.D. is a teacher at Timberview Middle School in Colorado. As an academic and practitioner, she mentors teachers. Her teaching and research focus on mentoring teacher candidates and teachers. Karen is a trustee for the Association of Middle Level Education and Colorado Assocation for Middle Level Education. She has served as the editor of the Research in Middle Level Online Journal and chaired the Research in Middle Level committee.She is also the author of numerous publications who shares her scholarly work at regional, national, and international conferences.
Micki M. Caskey is professor emerita in the College of Education at Portland State University. She is a co-series editor of The Handbook of Research in Middle Level Education and The Handbook of Resources in Middle Level Education, executive advisor for the Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group (MLER SIG), past chair of the MLER SIG and AMLE's Research Advisory Committee, and past editor of Research in Middle Level Education Online. She is an author of numerous publications who shares her scholarly work at national and international conferences. Micki is also a former middle school teacher who taught young adolescents in urban settings for more than 20 years.
DOI
10.20429/cimle.2024.280104
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Weller Swanson, Karen and Caskey, Micki M.
(2024)
"Community of Practice Mentoring to Retain Middle School Teachers,"
Current Issues in Middle Level Education: Vol. 28:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
DOI: 10.20429/cimle.2024.280104
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol28/iss1/4