Improving Relationships between Mentor Teachers and Student Teachers: Engaging in a Pedagogy of Explicitness

This study reports on the impact of mentor teachers using an explicit pedagogy with their student teachers. Seven mentors participated in workshops before the school year started and received ongoing support throughout the year about how to explicitly teach student teachers the strategies and skills needed to be an effective teacher. Observations of the mentors in their classrooms and feedback from them through interviews and on-line communications reveal how mentors went about developing an explicit pedagogy with their student teachers, the problems they encountered, and the strategies found to be most successful.