The Professional Practice of Mentoring

Mentoring of novice teachers has become a prevalent component of programs that help beginning teachers. A conceptualization of mentoring practice that rests on a shared vision of good mentoring, however, needs to be developed so that novice teachers receive more than emotional support or professional socialization. Knowing how to be a good mentor is not necessarily inherent in being a good teacher. How should good mentoring be conceptualized, and what images help shape that conceptualization? This article draws on data from a cross‐national study of preservice and beginning teachers and their mentors to examine these questions. It concludes that, much like teaching, mentoring that is aimed at helping novices learn to teach is a professional practice with a repertoire of skill sets that must be learned over time.