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Coach Carter is a touching story about the important role that educators can play in the
lives of their students. It is an incredibly honest and brutal tail of how our expectations for
students can drastically change their course and outlook on life. Watching this film as an
educator and a student myself made me look at the situations in a different light. While Coach
Ken Carter really had the students best interest at heart, some of his methods did not always
highlight that and he could have really been aided in his endeavors by the help of a mentor. If I
was Coach Carter’s mentor, I would have helped him to better fit in with the school and students
The first way I could have helped Coach Carter as a mentor is to better his
communication with the principal. As stated in Mentoring Teachers: Navigating the Real-World
Tensions, “Mentors must learn not only to navigate their relationship with principals, but they
often find themselves trying to improve communication between the principal and beginning
teachers,” (Lieberman et al., 1993, p. 32). As a mentor, I could have served as a way to
communicate between Principal Garrison and Coach Carter. In the beginning, the Principal
seemed willing to help Carter, however as his goals became more complex she began to get more
frustrated. A mentor could have helped keep their relationship in check and made sure that both
side’s concerns were expressed in a more productive way. Having a mentor explain to the
principal about Coach Carter’s goals could have helped her understand and want to support him
more.
The next way I could have served Coach Carter was by serving as a bridge between him
and the teachers and helping communicate and meet both of their needs. As stated in Mentoring
view and behave with new teachers. In heartwarming cases, mentors tell of people at a school
who thought a particular teacher would not make it and came around to see that with time and
support teachers can blossom and become a model for effective teaching,” (Lieberman et al.,
1993, pp. 33-34). Coach Carter came into the school and was immediately an outcast. He was
just the basketball coach and teachers viewed him that way. They believed he had no place in the
students education or caring what went on inside their classrooms. However, as seen in the
movie, with time and eventual support, Carter was able to succeed and some teachers were able
to see the value in his goals. A mentor really could have helped Ken Carter with his struggles in
this area. Teachers were reluctant to talk to or help Carter because they did not understand his
goals and didn’t want to create more work for themselves. However, if Carter has a good mentor,
they could have helped to get the progress reports and talk to the teachers about the importance
of this. Instead of just adding it to the teacher’s plates, the mentor could have aided in creating
the progress reports to help both parties. A mentor could have helped to explain the contract to
the teachers and find a better system of accountability instead of teachers suddenly feeling
overwhelmed when Carter suddenly wanted all this information and started a lockout because of
it. There was no previous relationship build and the teachers felt like Carter was attacking their
teaching abilities. A mentor could have been an incredible resource to help Ken Carter develop a
relationship with the other teachers on campus and work towards a common goal.
The third way I could have been an effective mentor for Ken Carter was by helping
prepare him for the home life of the students and parents he would be working with. While
Coach Carter did live in Richmond and go to school there, he and his son were living more
privileged lives than the rest of the students. As a mentor, I could have helped prepare Coach
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Carter for this drastic difference. Even when it came to his contract, I could have helped him
understand what parts of it may not sit well with the families, and help him come up with a plan
to address it, instead of him harshly enforcing these rules. When Carter first introduced his
contract, he had a bad reaction from the students and their parents. While in the end this was
necessary to get them to understand the points of it, a mentor could have helped him to better
understand the families and find ways to address their concerns more directly. Even something
as simple as having to wear a tie on game days. This may not seem like a major request when his
son goes to private school, but for many families this was out of reach. But they also didn’t want
to seem poor and took offense to Carter insinuating as such. A mentor could have really aided in
this by first talking to Carter about the financial situation of the families. Then Carter and the
mentor could have helped by working with a school counselor to find some cheaper options to
get the boys some ties. If Coach Carter had worked through this with a mentor, the families may
have had a better reaction. His students faced a lot at home such as drugs, teenage pregnancy,
death, and family members in jail. Carter should not have had to deal with these heavy burdens
on his own and needed another teacher or mentor to help him recognize these problems and find
The fourth way I could have been an aid to Coach Carter was through being another
person to work through his ideas and goals with. He had positive intentions and wanted the best
for the students, but struggled to really show a plan. As a mentor, I could have helped him take
more appropriate steps to reach his goals for the students instead of being so harsh on them. As
Ruterford wrote, you should, “use your mentor as a sounding board for your concerns, questions,
and even successes. They are there to help, listen and support you. Make the effort even if they
don’t” (1995). Coach Carter really just needed to have a mentor as a sounding board to help talk
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through his goals and actions. From the beginning, he had amazing intentions. However, he was
not able to communicate these goals to the students, parents, and staff until they were all angry
with him. Eventually he got through to the students, which were the ones who mattered, however
he didn’t have to wait until a school board hearing to discuss his goals and concerns. If I was
Coach Ken Carter’s mentor, I would have been able to help him better communicate his goals
and take more effective actions. Coach Carter was not misguided in what was best for the
students, but he was sometimes misguided on the best way to achieve what he set out to do. He
really needed a mentor to help him feel not so alone, support his decisions, and help him think
The final way I could have served to help Coach Carter as a mentor was through
involving him in the school community. Throughout the movie, Coach Carter felt like an
outsider in the community and the school. They did not treat him like everyone else, and a
mentor could have helped to bridge this divide. As a mentor, I would have made sure he had a
place in the school system, and advocated for his position more than just being seen as a
basketball coach who should be winning games. I would have given Ken Carter the document
Messages for New Teachers and discussed the main point as asking for help and using the people
around you to help accomplish goals (Ruterford, 1995). Carter really just needed a way to be
brought into the community. He really had no one on his side besides eventually his players and
his own son. He needed a mentor to help him be a part of the community. The entire community
of Richmond was not a strong one. Everyone had poor home lives and no one was proud to say
they lived in Richmond. Teachers knew that most students would fail anyways and gave up
trying. Students didn’t expect anything more out of life. There was no community. As Watkins
stated, “Whether new teachers come to the classroom as a second career or directly from a
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teacher education program, they all share the need for support and belonging. Establishing a
learning community that values the ideas and experiences of all its members will sustain new
teachers through their early years” (1995). There was no community here at Richmond, besides
the love of sports. Everyone loved the kids and knew the one place they could succeed was
sports. Carter had to work to create a community just on his own with his players, however if he
had a mentor, he may have been able to become a part of the school community easier.
The movie Coach Carter was a fantastic example of how we as educators need to always
do what is right for our students regardless of anything external. I knew of this movie previously
because it was an amazing sports movie, however I never realized that it is much more about the
importance of a good teacher than sports. Watching this movie as a future educator and a
possible mentor really started to put this importance in a new light and realize how crucial it is to
have impactful mentors on a school campus. Coach Carter would have been able to be more
successful with a mentor and a school community that supported his endeavors. I hope that I can
work to be such an impactful teacher such as Ken Carter and make sure to always keep my kids
Flores, M. A. (2006). Being a Novice Teacher in Two Different Settings: Struggles, Continuities,
9620.2006.00773.x
Lieberman, A., Hanson, S., & Gless, J. (2012). Mentoring teachers: Navigating the Real-World
Ruterford, P. (2005). The 21st Century Mentor’s Handbook: Creating a Culture for Learning. w.
Watkins, P. (2005). The Principals Role in Attracting, Retaining, and Developing New Teachers:
Three Strategies for Collaboration and Support. The Clearing House: A Journal of