Responsibilities of Veteran Teachers
Although beginning teachers who survive their probationary period usually credit other teachers who supported them, many veteran teachers have isolation syndrome. They find it much easier to teach if they keep to themselves, paying attention only to their own students and their own program. They believe that what happens to students in other classrooms is not their concern. There are others who have responsibilities toward beginning teachers, but frequency of contact alone means that it is the veteran teacher who will have the most effect on whether Nellie stays in teaching.
The need for mentoring is both more crucial and more difficult to effect in the case of Latin teachers. While most administrators are loath to give multiple preparations to beginning teachers, in the case of the Latin teacher this is usually not a choice, so beginning Latin teachers need mentors more than anyone else. L ocating that mentor is problematic for two reasons: first, Latin teachers are often lone rangers in their schools and thus unaccustomed to teamwork; second, since most schools have only one Latin teacher, finding a mentor who teaches Latin usually means going to a neighboring school, presenting increased difficulties related to time and inclination. In the true scenario described at the beginning of this paper, a veteran Latin teacher gave up an entire afternoon the day before school started in order to help a beginning Latin teacher write her first week’s lesson plans. Both of us have seen similar beginning teachers’ requests for help go unanswered.
