Essences of Growth: Mentoring in Education as a Community of Practice

• In Event: Reflective Practice in the Lives of Teachers

Abstract

Existing research on mentoring focuses primarily on mentees, rather than on the lived experiences of mentors. With mentoring being a key part of teacher education, understanding how mentors come to be and think about their work is crucial to recruiting and retaining educative mentors (Feiman-Nemser, 2001). This phenomenological study employed unstructured interviews and participant artifacts to uncover four mentors’ experiences of growth through mentoring student-teaching interns at the secondary level. Analyses revealed mentors grew through engaging in communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and transactions (Dewey & Bentley, 1949) with their interns. Findings also include themes connected to mentors’ growth and have implications for mentors, teacher preparation programs, and school administrators.

Author

• Julie Bell, Michigan State University