Perceptions and experiences of peer mentoring in pre-service teacher education

Mentoring is no longer limited to the traditional dyad model whereby a more experienced and often older person mentors a younger, inexperienced one. Other mentoring models such as peer and group mentoring have become more prevalent in a wide variety of professions in recent times. In the context of pre-service teacher education, mentoring is used during the professional placement whereby a pre-service teacher is positioned with a classroom based teacher in order to practice teach. The traditional dyad model is commonly used in this context, however a plethora of research suggests that this model is not successful for every participant. The mentoring relationship within a dyad structure can be plagued with hierarchical difficulties along with philosophical and personality conflicts. Peer mentoring in the pre-service teacher education context is a growing field where two pre-service teachers are placed together alongside a classroom teacher who mentors them. This chapter explores the phenomena of peer mentoring and presents the findings from a recent research investigation about peer mentoring in the said context. The chapter specifically explores the advantages and disadvantages of peer mentoring and examines the perceptions of peer mentoring from the pre-service teacher’s point of view. The chapter will then present data relating to peer mentoring experiences that have occurred during a professional placement. It was shown that the perceptions of pre-service teachers regarding peer mentoring was generally positive despite the identification of issues such as possible increased competition between the peers, limited teaching time and favouritism. However, the experiences of peer mentoring that the pre-service teachers engaged in, confirmed that it alleviates hierarchical issues and provides a more fulfilling mentoring experience. Based on the results, the chapter concludes that peer mentoring is a proposed strategy with much potential along with positive impacts for those involved and recommends that further research be undertaken within the pre-service teacher education context.