An analysis of mentor and mentee roles in a pre-service teacher education program: a Norwegian perspective on the future mentor role

ABSTRACT Globally, pre-service teacher education has experienced a practice turn where there is now greater focus on practice in schools and more attention is being paid to mentoring and the role of the school-based mentors. In policy this can be seen through the increased focus on mentoring education, where the intention is to strengthen the mentors’ competence. However, there are vague descriptions of how the mentor role should be designed and therefore, research on how this role is practiced is of interest. This paper aims to contribute knowledge on what characterize mentor roles and how they influence the mentee role. The findings indicate that mentors exercise control through an active, direct, and diverse mentor role. An active and direct mentor role is related to a reactive mentee role, whereas a more active mentee role is related to a diverse mentor role. Mentoring education is discussed in relation to the mentors’ autonomy.