Source: Teachers and Teaching Education , Volume 23, Issue 2, April 2007, Pages 201-214
Mentoring has become an important part of teacher education, as an element in both the enhancement of reflective practice and the professional development of schools. Yet the concept remains confused. Problematic issues such as the elements of power and control, and the danger of dependence and intimacy are seldom heard when mentoring is considered and new plans for teaching and education are presented.
This article discusses the concept of mentoring, especially as a feature of the professional development and training of student teachers in Norway. A Ph.D.-study (Sundli, 2001) shows how mentoring may turn out to be an obstacle to reflection rather than an enhancement. It argues for new ways of regarding mentoring as part of the student's process of becoming a professional teacher.