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engage in practices appear key to successful pedagogical development (Darling-Hammond,
2006), and can assist mentees to enact such pedagogy themselves. Feiman-Nemser (2001)
promotes the kind of mentoring that “cultivates a disposition of inquiry, focusing attention on
student thinking and understanding” (p. 19). The effective mentor models pedagogical practices
and focuses on instructional issues that student teachers might not see by themselves (Strong &
Baron, 2004).
Feedback
The provision of frequent feedback is cited as the single, most important action that
mentor teachers take when working with their mentees (Rudney & Guillaume, 2003).
Constructive feedback addresses pedagogical issues such as classroom management (discipline
and behavior issues), assessment, planning, preparation of resources, and other mentee needs
(Evans-Andris, Kyle, & Carini 2006). Mentors provide feedback in the form of written and oral
comments and the feedback is presented with diplomatic honesty (Glenn, 2006) with the
intention to build confidence, positive attitudes and pedagogical skills in the mentee (Hudson,
2007). Feedback is specific to the mentee’s needs, which requires a willingness from the mentee
to engage in a two-way dialogue. Feedback is most helpful when descriptive and focused on
specific teaching practices (Bartell, 2005).
Wang, Odell, and Schwill (2008) report that mentees benefit when mentors include
observations and discussions about teaching. Strong and Baron (2004) ascertain that the “only
reliable way to measure the nature and quality of teaching practice is through classroom
observation” (p. 51). During the observation process, mentors identify elements of high-quality
instruction and areas for improvement and provide feedback to the mentee accordingly (Nielsen,
Barry, & Addison, 2008). In relation to feedback and reflection, Pitton (2006) promotes the use
of the observation cycle with pre- and post-conferencing as an effective process for gathering
data about the mentees’ lessons. Feedback is intended to help mentees to reflect on strategies for
strengthening their teaching towards improving their students’ learning. The mentoring process
prepares mentees for the formal evaluation that will appraise the mentees’ practice (Borman &
Kimball, 2005).
In this study of student teachers’ mentoring experience, the responsibilities of the mentor
teacher are described according to the five factors outlined by Hudson (2007). The mentor
teachers’ application of these five factors during their work with student teachers has a positive
impact on the initial success of the student teacher (Cartwright, 2008). This mixed-method study
investigated the impact of the five mentoring factors on the growth and development of student
teachers from a Midwestern university in the United States. Although researchers have
demonstrated that mentoring correlates with the retention of new teachers in the profession of
teaching (Strong, 2005), there is less evidence of the impact that mentoring has on the student
teachers, according to the perspectives of the student teachers themselves.