ABSTRACT
Ten years ago only a few of those involved in the education and initial training of teachers would have heard of mentoring. It was the introduction of school-based initial teacher education (ITE) as directed by Government circulars 9/92 and 14/93 which brought about its rapid development. These circulars did not make explicit reference to mentoring. But they did signal a significant change in the role of the school in ITE:
Time in schools is particularly valuable for the acquisition of practical teaching skills, and allows students to apply their subject knowledge in the classroom. But the increased time spent in schools should not simply be an extension of traditional classroom experience; it forms an integral part of the course and may contribute in a variety of ways to the objectives of training. (DFE, 1993, para. 19)
