This article analyzes the development phases of the On-line Mentoring Program at the Teachers Portal of Universidade Federal de São Carlos. The mentoring program is an on-line program aimed at elementary school teachers at the first grades with up to five years of experience. It is carried out by ten mentors coaching by electronic 56 novice teachers during six to 28 months. Its theoretical framework includes literature on teacher learning and professional development, the first years of teaching, mentoring processes and distance education. The research design adopted in this investigation can be characterized as action-research founded on constructive-collaborative strategies. Its chief sources of data were: written communications between mentors and novice teachers, mentors' and novice teachers' reflexive journals, and reports on observations at weekly meetings between mentors and researchers. Results indicate that the investigated mentoring processes occur consistent with distinct phases and their intrinsic characteristics, goals and procedures.
distance education; lifelong education; teacher education; UFSCAR teacher mentoring program web portal
