Mentors' perceptions of their own professional development during mentoring

During 2001–2002 the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong undertook a large‐scale evaluation of the school–university partnership scheme. As part of this study, all mentors were asked how, if at all, the mentoring process had enhanced their own professional development. An open‐response questionnaire was administered with a selection of follow‐up interviews. About 70% of the mentors claimed that they had benefited professionally from mentoring. Here we analyse mentors' responses and from them propose four constructs that we suggest lead to professional development, namely: learning through self‐reflection, learning from student teachers, learning through mutual collaboration, and learning from university tutors. Of these, the first appears to be the most significant.