Chapter 5: Mentoring and its Impact on the Wellbeing of Preservice Teachers and their Mentors

The early stages of a teaching career can be daunting. The transition into teaching is a universal challenge. There is a plethora of research on this transition and what can be done to support the beginning of a teaching career; one of these ways is mentoring (Wang et al., 2008). Research indicates that mentor teachers, sometimes referred to as cooperating teachers, in preservice teacher education have one of the most influential roles in helping new teachers establish their professional identity (Clarke et al., 2014). Such mentor and mentee relationships are multifaceted and consist of both professional and personal facets (Hudson, 2016).