“Reading” Into Statistics: Systems Analysis and Action in an Early Career Mentor Community

Abstract

The pandemic revealed inequities facing educators; in response, a district/university partnership hired seven external mentor/teacher leaders (TLs) to support 100+ early career teachers (ECTs). Drawing on sociocultural theories and a critical discourse analysis of 10 hour-long discussions among mentors, we sought to understand their collectively constructed understandings of systemic inequities facing ECTs. Findings indicate TLs collectively constructed meaning by evoking differing perspectives to make sense of these inequities and working to define their locus of control or ways they could provide support to the ECTs. Implications indicate what is necessary for mentoring in response to professional inequities in schools.