Uses micropolitical and organizational theory to examine teacher communities. Data from case studies of two urban middle schools show that when teachers enact collaborative reforms in the name of community, conflict often emerges. Results indicate that conflict is central to community, and how teachers manage conflict defines community borders and…

Research on new teachers identifies two critical challenges in relation to how novices view their students: practice shock that results in an over focus on controlling students and a cultural mismatch that causes novices to see diversity as a problem. This article explores how mentoring strategies intervene at this critical phase, influencing…