ABSTRACT
Research on Initial Teacher Education highlights the integral role of the school placement component of such programmes, and positions mentors as exhibiting the most significant influence on pre-service teachers. The implication is that the role of mentor teacher evolves and cannot be reduced to a shopping list of duties and responsibilities, it changes in accordance with the specific needs and stages of student teacher development. Schools are more than sites for teaching practice placements; they are the platforms for meaningful student teacher learning and growth. Teachers are viewed as career-long professional learners, from Initial Teacher Education, through Induction and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Mentoring may be viewed as a reciprocal relationship, mutually beneficial for both mentor and mentee. The situated social constructivist approach suggests that knowledge is constructed by a person in transaction with the environment.
