This study investigates the role of educative mentors as three novices learn to teach, following them from their yearlong student teaching (2015-2016) through their first year teaching (2016-2017). During student teaching, each novice was paired with a mentor teacher who received preparation and support in the form of monthly professional development to engage in educative mentoring practices. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine what novices are able to take up from their student teaching mentors and take with into their first year teaching when they are able to work with educative mentors. This qualitative study highlights the perspectives of the three novice educators, drawing on their lesson plans, written reflections, interviews, and audio recorded conversations with their mentor teachers. By focusing on the experiences, practices, and reflections of the novices, rather than telling the stories of mentor teachers, I aim to document the potential learning opportunities for novices when they are paired with educative mentors. Through this, I hope to provide a rationale for teacher preparation programs and school districts to invest time and resources in preparing mentors to enact educative practices. Ultimately, I argue that when mentors during teacher preparation are supported in enacting educative practices, the novices’ instruction may be influenced beyond student teaching.
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