| Abstract: | Abstract Mentoring as a practice in initial teacher education has been adopted at a rate which has exceeded the conceptual development of the phenomenon itself. This paper seeks to address this gap between practice and conceptual development by reporting on a study of six student teachers in which significant instances of learning to teach in mentoring relationships are explored. The analysis concludes that the triggers for development in the proteges are often unanticipated and signal periods where the protege is ill at ease. Development, in these terms, involves moving to more comfortable states. It is argued that, in many ways, such conclusions are not consonant with current policy directions in the field of teacher development. Further, the study uses a Vygotskian framework to argue for the centrality of the relationship between mentor and protege in the cognitive development of the novices. To this end a research agenda is proposed. |
