Mentoring secondary English trainee teachers: a case study

This article explores the outcomes of a qualitative case study using semi-structured interviews to examine the role of the mentor in developing secondary English trainee teachers’ knowledge, understanding and practice in England. It considers to what extent the development of trainees is supported by current mentor practices and the initial teacher education (ITE) Mentor Standards, as well as how mentoring can be strengthened to support both trainees’ and mentors’ own development. The results highlight several areas of development for mentors and suggest, perhaps, that mentoring needs to be reconceptualised to allow both trainees and mentors to learn to reflect more deeply together, by shifting from the current individualistic, hierarchical, performance-based model to one that is more collaborative, dialogic and focused on deep learning