Teacher Vulnerability and Teachability: A Case Study of a Mentor and Two Interns‪.‬

Introduction Teachers immediately resonate with Parker Palmer's conclusion that teaching is a "daily exercise in vulnerability" (1998, p. 17). To teach is to be vulnerable; it is the way in which "teachers live in their job situation" (Kelchtermans, 1996, p. 307). Drawing on Robert Solomon's insight that emotions are judgments that have objects, vulnerability is a mood: "There are passions which need not even begin with a particular incident or object, which need not be about anything in particular; these are moods" (1993, p. 112). It is a mood born of a demanding and uncertain environment where teachers confront ever present and constant reminders of their limitations as reflected in the eyes of a disappointed pupil or made public by a grumbling and dissatisfied parent. To be vulnerable is to be capable of being hurt.