Supporting Mentors of Preservice Early Childhood Education Teachers: A Literature Review

Abstract

The rigorous and complex demands of a mentor’s role are often overlooked during the mentorship of preservice teachers. Mentors have the profound responsibility to be both supervisor and instructor all the while fostering a cooperative, trusting, and supportive relationship. However, many mentors feel unprepared to meet the needs of preservice students (Russell & Russell, 2011) and unsupported in the mentoring role (Ambrosetti, 2014). Little work has been done to study the evolution of mentorship skills in professional teachers, specifically as they participate in ongoing support and training for their role as mentors (Pavia, Nissen, Hawkins, Monroe, & Filimon-Demyen, 2003; Sayeski & Paulsen, 2012). Through a thematic review of the literature, this paper advocates for future exploration of mentoring support that fosters the mentor’s construction and development of new knowledge, skills, and understandings about mentoring preservice early childhood teachers.