Mentoring Teachers in Technology Education: Analyzing the Need

Mentoring programs have been shown to have an influence on the overall success of retaining teachers. Studies have shown that not only are teachers who participate in mentoring programs more likely to stay in teaching positions, but also the overall economic value of retaining teachers goes beyond the cost savings related to attrition. Beginning technology education teachers typically participate in the same traditional mentoring programs all teachers follow. These programs tend to overlook the unique nature of a technology education teacher’s job. Because a technology education teacher’s job generally requires additional and sometimes more stressful duties, such as lab components, this study sought to address the areas that traditional mentoring programs overlooked. Specific attention was paid to technology education teachers’ need for assistance regarding technical experts and managing a laboratory environment. This study applies the situational mentoring framework (SMF) model to address the issues related to mentoring programs for technology education teachers.