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Marty, who was now an administrator in the program, shared that, when she was a
mentee, she appreciated that her mentor, “even after three decades of experience,
was still trying new things, still had a really good attitude about children, [and] had
a really great attitude about new teachers.” The theme of mindset emerged in 8 of
the 12 participants’ responses.
Beck, a mentor in the program, summarized the ideal mentor-mentee relationship
and encompassed the four themes of availability, understanding, relationships, and
mindset:
I think an ideal pairing would be to have a mentor and mentee that work
in similar jobs [understanding], at the same site [availability], and are
compatible in their personalities [relationships]. I also believe a mentor has
to be more of a guide than a boss, and that there has to be trust between the
mentor and mentee [mindset].

Job Satisfaction
In reviewing the data to seek answers to Research Question 3 regarding the
perceived impact that the mentor-mentee pairing has on a novice teacher’s job
satisfaction, I found that a majority of the participants from all subsets agreed that
the pairing may make a difference in the job satisfaction of the novice teacher.
Marty, a program administrator who had gone through the program as a mentee and
now served as a mentor, shared that “the mentor needs to have a positive attitude
with the disposition to support the needs of a new educator.” She also believed that
“a mentor’s attitude can really impact a mentee’s perception of the school system,
students, and the profession.” Jay, who also served as a program administrator,
agreed that the pairing can impact job satisfaction:
If the relationship is established, then they [mentors] can wield great
influence on the new teacher’s perception of happiness in the workplace. Part
of the mentor job is therapist—letting them [the mentees] unload and then
reframing to turn it into something actionable and manageable.
Participants who served as mentors also believed that the mentor-mentee
pairing may have some impact on a novice teacher’s job satisfaction. Kelly said
that, in working with a mentor, “You do not feel alone in your struggles.” When
asked specifically if she believed this may have improved her job satisfaction, she
responded, “Yes, I do. I do. I feel like that because…she wasn’t there rating me. She
was there supporting me.”
Most of the mentees agreed that a positive pairing can have a perceived impact
on a novice teacher’s job satisfaction. Charley appreciated the support her mentor
provided, sharing that “I think my relationship with my mentor has helped me stay
positive because she is so positive and tries to see the bright side of everything.”
Another mentee enthusiastically affirmed that his mentor positively impacted his job
satisfaction. When asked about this, he said, “Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This
is the person I go to for support! She’s my front-line support person. So, if I wasn’t
feeling positive or supported, I definitely would have a different feeling about this
job!”

Implications and Recommendations for Practice
This research addressed the gap in research into the effective pairing of mentor
and novice special education teachers (Kwok et al., 2021) and led to a better

16 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators