Book Review: Stories of Mentoring Teacher-Research Edited by Richard Smith, Seden Eraldemir Tuyan, Mariana Serra, and Erzsébet Ágnes Békés (2024, IATEFL Research SIG/MenTRnet)

In the growing field of teacher-research, “Stories of Mentoring Teacher-Research” (Smith et al., 2024) breaks new ground by shifting the focus from conducting research to mentoring it. This timely 2024 collection of mentoring narratives, edited by Richard Smith and colleagues, presents twenty vivid accounts from mentors guiding exploratory action research (EAR) in diverse contexts – ranging from challenging socio-political environments to formal teacher training settings in different parts of the world. What sets this collection apart is its raw, narrative approach that immerses readers in the emotional and logistical realities of mentoring in challenging contexts. Through these stories, we witness the delicate process of building trust with hesitant teachers, adapting research methods to local constraints, and mentoring large groups of teachers at the same time. As one of the first publications to center the mentor's role in teacher-research, it makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on professional development in language teacher education, particularly for educators working in under-resourced or politically complex contexts.