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Teacher Development: An international

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The perspectives and experiences of

Hong Kong preschool teacher mentors:
implications for mentoring
Yuenling Li

The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong SAR, People's

Republic of China
Version of record first published: 22 Jul 2009

To cite this article: Yuenling Li (2009): The perspectives and experiences of Hong Kong preschool
teacher mentors: implications for mentoring, Teacher Development: An international journal of
teachers' professional development, 13:2, 147-158
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Teacher Development
Vol. 13, No. 2, May 2009, 147158

The perspectives and experiences of Hong Kong preschool teacher

mentors: implications for mentoring
Yuen-ling Li*
The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong SAR, Peoples Republic of China
(Received 28 April 2007; final version received 1 March 2009)

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RTDE_A_404570.sgm

10.1080/13664530903043970
1366-4530
Original
Teacher
202009
13
ylli@ied.edu.hk
Yuen-lingLi
00000May
Development
Article
(print)/1747-5120
2009
(online)

Little research has been done on the choices of mentors when they are offered a
comprehensive range of roles. The mentors in this study were in their first attempt
as mentors and did not have an assigned role. They were involved in a mentoring
course that sought to facilitate the placement of in-service teachers and school
institute partnerships. Findings suggested that there was a tendency of the mentors
to take an authoritarian role on the rights and wrongs of protgs teaching while
managing to maintain trust and warm relationships. A particular interaction
pattern between the mentors and protgs emerged. There were signs of a clear
preference for performing the role of guiding teaching evaluations and the mentor
teachers had a very positive attitude towards providing assistance to the less
experienced teachers. Nevertheless, room for the development of flexibility,
creativity and initiative on the part of the protgs was limited by a number of
contextual factors.
Keywords: mentors; teacher mentoring; mentoring programs

Introduction
Definitions of mentoring often include words such as guide, preceptor, advocate, sponsor, adviser, or role model (Kyle, Moore, and Sanders 1999; Johnson 2002; Rogers and
Babinski 2002; Portner 2003; Carver and Katz 2004; Allen, Day, and Lentz 2005).
Mentoring usually involves a relationship where the mentor helps a protg or mentee
become professionally competent, or a relationship built traditionally between an older
(or more experienced) person and a younger (or less experienced) person with the
older acting as role model (Leh 2005). Mentoring in school-based teacher training has
undergone dramatic changes resulting in the challenge of new duties and responsibilities such as assessing, evaluating, and supervising teaching performance of student
teachers (Watkins and Whalley 1993; Johnson 2002). The diversity and complexity of
the mentor role has increased the potential for tension between the different aspects of
mentoring. Mentor teachers may have different perceptions of their roles. These range
from simply being there (Feiman-Nemser, Zeichner, and Parker 1993) to providing
active assistance for student teachers (Johnson 2002; Portner 2003). Thus mentors
can adopt a passive or a proactive role. This divergence in mentor perceptions and
attributes accounts for the conflict inherent in the mentors role, which manifests itself
in the way in which mentors manage to balance the elements of support and
*Email: ylli@ied.edu.hk
ISSN 1366-4530 print/ISSN 1747-5120 online
2009 Teacher Development
DOI: 10.1080/13664530903043970
http://www.informaworld.com

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honesty (Marion 2001) in their relationship with protgs. Some researchers describe
mentoring as the negotiations of role and relationship (Gay 1994; Alison 2006).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the first attempt of some Hong Kong
kindergarten teachers to work as mentors in order to gain a better understanding of
how the different aspects of their perspectives affected their relationship with their
protgs. By identifying the mentors perceptions of their roles and studying their
behaviour as participants in the mentoring process, answers were sought to the following questions: (1) What were the range of perspectives in the minds of mentors? (2)
What perspective(s) did the mentors consider important? (3) In what ways did
mentors perspectives influence their relationships with the protgs/mentee teachers?
Background
In Hong Kong, nearly all children attend kindergartens or nurseries (Li 2004a) before
they start primary education. There are around 9000 early childhood teachers in
Hong Kong. The provision of teacher education has been in place in the early 1980s
(Li 2004a). In 1981, initial training (a two-year, part-time Qualified Kindergarten
Teacher Education Course) was introduced for serving kindergarten teachers. Then,
with the launch of a large-scale, in-service training program (the Blister Programme,
19941999), thousands of teachers received their first in-service training after 10 to
20 years of service in the field. In 1995, an in-service Certificate of Kindergarten
Education Programme for kindergarten principals and head teachers (with Qualified
Kindergarten Teacher Education qualifications) was introduced. In 1998, the Preservice Certificate of Early Childhood Teacher Education Program, a three-year, fulltime program, was introduced in Hong Kong. From then onwards, around 60
students were enrolled annually. The increasing need for schools to place students
during the practicum led to a new course, Mentoring in Early Childhood Settings,
which was then introduced in 2000. The goal of this short course was to provide staff
development opportunities for in-service teachers at schools that offered placement
to pre-service student teachers. Since its inception, around 300 teachers have been
enrolled in the mentoring course on a voluntary basis. All the mentors in this study
were mid-career teachers with in-service education up to Certificate level.
Earlier studies suggest that early childhood teachers were able to stress the
importance of providing learning opportunities for children, catering for individual
differences, facilitating childrens interactions with the environment and childrens
learning through play, and providing opportunities for children to talk (Li 2003).
However, in practice, the teachers appeared to be more concerned about their own
agenda and eager to tell the children what to do. The culture of the teaching seemed
to be characterised by the adoption of pre-selected activities and an emphasis on
memorisation work. Teachers tended to explain their practice by using time constraints
as justification (Li 2004b). Further, early childhood teachers in Hong Kong had very
limited opportunities to reflect on their own teaching. Only a very few kindergartens
have been introduced to ideas of peer observation, lesson study or action research in
recent years (Li 2004c). In general, head teachers or centre supervisors carry out
annual classroom observations and evaluation of teaching for appraisal purposes.
The mentoring course was designed to introduce mentors to ideas of teacher development, pre-lesson conferencing, classroom observation, post-lesson conferencing,
and mentoring. During the workshop sessions, mentors worked in groups or in peer
tutoring situations prior to mentoring student teachers who were placed in their

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schools. In the 20032004 cohort, 30 mentors consented to take part in the present
study, writing down a record of their experience on a voluntary basis.
In some countries, the idea of preparing professionals is central to the training
process of beginning teachers (Ballantyne, Hansford, and Parker 1995). The philosophy underpinning this model is centred on the concept of developing reflective professionals (Ballantyne, Hansford, and Parker 1995), and as such it asks for a relationship
based on mutual trust and respect (Costa and Garmston 1994; Bolam et al. 1995;
Johnson 2002) that binds mentor and intern together (Abell et al. 1995, 179). In other
countries, however, the role of the mentor is to act as the master teacher to be emulated
to ensure that training and assessment reach predetermined standards of practice.
Mentors can also adopt the role of a critical friend who assists in the evaluation of
teaching. These different conceptual paradigms underpin the apprenticeship model,
competence model and reflective model (Maynard and Furlong 1993).
It seems, therefore, that different roles give rise to different relationships, responsibilities and tasks, facilitating teachers professional development. In Hong Kong,
teachers learn about being reflective professionals in their teacher education
programs. Mentor teachers were teachers who have had much experience in the field
and they were not involved in evaluating the teaching performance of the trainee
teachers who were under their charge during their teaching practicum. When early
childhood teachers in Hong Kong were introduced to a variety of roles during the
mentoring course, their subsequent choices and the development of their relationships with their protgs provided insights into the potentials and limitations of
teachers professional development in mentoring.
Method
The mentors in this study were provided with lectures and workshops on the nature of
teacher development and on the mentoring process. They then attempted to put their
learning into practice. Among the 60 participants in the course, 30 mentors and their
protgs consented to take part in the present study. All the participants were female
teachers as 99% of early childhood teachers in Hong Kong are women. Pseudonyms
were used in reporting the findings. The mentor teachers in this study wrote down
records of their experience (in the form of logs/diaries) or made reflective journal
entries, and kept records of pre-lesson and post-lesson conferences as well as
classroom observations. The mentors report/logs of their experiences served as the
primary data sources for this article.
Data were organised according to themes in the form of summaries of words taken
directly from the data or conceptualisations of data (Strauss and Corbin 1990). Similar
data were grouped and given conceptual labels. This was followed by attempts to
interpret these conceptualisations. The concepts were related by means of statements
of relationship. The illustrative material was meant to give a sense of what the
observed world was really like, while the interpretations were meant to represent a
more detached conceptualisation of that reality (Strauss and Corbin 1990).
The aim of the study was to investigate the mentors perception of their role and
the subsequent development of their behaviour as participants in the mentoring
process. Three research questions framed the study:
(1) How do mentors perceive their respective roles?
(2) How are the chosen roles put into practice?

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(3) Does the choice of roles lead to the adoption of different strategies and
interaction patterns with protgs?

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The nature of these research questions demanded qualitative data from the
mentors. The data collection was spread over a nine-month period. There were drawbacks to the data collected as the diaries/logs were loosely framed and what had been
recorded were dialogues and instances regarded as important by the mentors. The
perspectives and experiences of the protgs might not be substantially reflected.
The researcher received various mentor diary entries which were then analysed. For
the purposes of this article, only a portion of the data specifically related to the
research questions is analysed and presented, owing to space constraints.
Findings
The reports of mentor teachers indicated a range of assumptions as to their role. The
mentors preferences for certain roles were reflected in the way in which they interacted with protgs. There were signs of a clear preference for performing the role of
adviser (guiding teaching evaluation), while adopting a taken-for-granted view in
respect of acting as the protgs friend. The interaction pattern was characterised by
the use of praise and courteous words while offering advice and at the same time
providing frank and direct feedback on the rights and wrongs of the protgs
observed practice, with the latter following this advice.

Diverse role perspectives

The data revealed how each mentor sought to make sense of her experience to establish desired goals/aims designed to meet the perceived needs of protgs, to understand their protgs theoretical perspectives, to build up friendships, to provide
support and teaching evaluation, and to enhance professional development. In this
process, a diverse range of roles emerged. Most mentors (26 out of 30) indicated these
perspectives in the introductions to their reports. For instance,
[Mentor Teacher 1] The protgs were new I would help the protg to adjust to
her work environment, to develop good relationships with the children and gradually
understand the role of a class teacher.
[Mentor Teacher 5] The student teacher needed to build up confidence, understand childrens developmental characteristics, get hold of classroom management skills and be
flexible in the use of teaching theories. I would try to provide help in these aspects.
[Mentor Teacher 10] I would try to understand the protgs idea of constructivism.
Besides consulting and asking the protg, I also tried to read books on constructivism.
I understood that collaboration would be difficult if I did not understand the protgs
rationale/philosophy of teaching.
[Mentor Teacher 11] I would be friendly and cheerful to facilitate better communication.
[Mentor Teacher 15] There were diverse/various roles for a mentor. When protgs faced
difficulties, a mentor had to give encouragement and support. Protgs were beginners
or novices. They needed emotional support to overcome stress and anxiety. The mentor
had to facilitate the self-evaluation and reflection of protgs who would then build up

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personal teaching perspectives. The mentor should provide support such as information,
sharing of experiences, class observation opportunities and emotional support. we
would share with and encourage each other in the process of development.

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[Mentor Teacher 20] During the block teaching practice, mentors and protgs had a
number of opportunities of classroom observations, sharing time, professional exchanges
and discussions. The effort of the mentor and protg would help each others learning
and reflection, contributing to better teaching and childrens learning and our professional development.
[Mentor Teacher 25] becoming a mentor was a meaningful task. The role of a mentor
was to encourage, assist, counsel, teach, model, support and evaluate. The mission was
to enhance the professional development of teachers, leading to better quality of teaching
and learning. During the process, the mentor would deepen her understanding of the
protg and eventually benefit both.

Here, the mentors demonstrated high expectations in seeking to cater for the
needs of their protgs as well as providing social and emotional support, enhancing
competence and carrying out professional development of both protgs and themselves. The mentor teachers had been exposed to a diverse range of roles when they
attended the professional development course. They tended to demonstrate their
readiness to cope with the demands of the task. It was interesting to note that none
mentioned the need to help protgs to develop new skills. One stance well illustrates
this:
[Mentor Teacher 2] [in the introduction to the report] The protg was an outgoing and
cheerful girl. Her lovely smiles won the friendship of children. However, she did not
know how to play the piano. I (in order to assist her) was the one to play the piano during
most of the music and movement sessions.

The mentor could have encouraged the student teacher to develop some musical
skills such as the use of percussion instruments or the use of a tape recorder to
compensate for her lack of piano skills. It seems that training for new skills was not a
high priority in the minds of the mentors. When the mentors set out their goals in the
introduction to their reports, building up respect or social support and professional
enhancement were given equal standing and professional enhancement became the
highest priority during subsequent practice.
Evolving conceptions and interaction patterns
During practice, there were signs of a clear preference for performing the role of
adviser (guiding teaching evaluation), while adopting a cautious view in respect of
acting as the protgs model or exercising the authority of a parent. In the reflective
journal entries, mentor teachers reported that they tended to be subjective, empathetic,
accommodating, or be a friend, building trust or friendship with the protgs, while
giving direct instructions or asking direct questions when offering advice or making
evaluations. In general, protgs tended to follow mentors advice.
Nearly all the mentors wrote about their good relationship with the protgs. For
example:
[Mentor Teacher 1] I praised the protg for her effort and substantial preparation of
teaching aids The kind of trust needed for collaboration was initially built up.

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[Mentor Teacher 3] We treated each other on equal terms during pre-lesson discussion,
classroom observation and post-lesson evaluation.

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[Mentor Teacher 15] I let the student teacher express her feeling about the lesson first
she was a bit uneasy and frustrated for the teaching objectives were not successfully
achieved. I then comforted her that every new teacher had to go through this process of
learning and shared my past experience of classroom management problems We
viewed the videoed teaching episodes together and shared our views The student
teacher talked about her teaching and the mentoring relationship, the atmosphere (ethos)
was very warm and she found mentoring was useful to her teaching.
[Mentor Teacher 23] During the block teaching practice, the protg and I shared our joy
of learning and teaching We found childrens active involvement replaced passive
participation. We were very happy and became good friends gradually.

Words like warm ethos, encouragement and sharing were used in mentors journal
entries. There were signs that the mentors tended to keep a courteous manner and be
objective to their protgs. Further, there were instances when the mentors were very
accommodating. For instance:
[Mentor Teacher 2] [At the first post-lesson conference] When asked to evaluate the
teaching, the protg found drawing pictures to enhance a story was not an easy task for
children, children did not understand the objectives were not achieved . I agreed
that the task was demanding especially within a very limited time frame I then pointed
out what had been achieved, like children were happy, willing to participate and
discussed among themselves
[Mentor Teacher 7] the protg was a third year student of the Certificate of Early Childhood Teacher Education Program. She did not have much experience but she loved
children and was friendly and cheerful.
[Mentor Teacher 20] [At the final post-lesson conference] I asked the protg whether
she could enhance childrens knowledge of Hong Kong by introducing only five places
of interest. The protg found five places might not be sufficient as the activity served
to motivate children to extend exploration by searching the resource books on the table
or asking each other questions written on the cards. I accepted her explanation.
[Mentor Teacher 30] [At the final post-lesson conference] I asked whether there were
some difficult questions which could not be answered by the children The protg
explained that the process was to stimulate childrens observation and thinking, and right
answers were not the chief concern. I tried to understand her point of view.

On the one hand, mentors were aware of the development of mutual acceptance
and a warm relationship between them and the protgs. On the other hand, there was
little awareness of each others reflection on their teaching and childrens learning.
There was no sustained discussion on childrens participation, motivation, interest,
choices or understanding. Direct instruction on the part of mentors was common.
There were a number of recorded instances of mentors asking direct questions, making
suggestions and correcting any problems associated with them in a timely fashion. For
instance:
[Mentor Teacher 2] [During the third pre-lesson conference] The protg said that
todays learning activities (drawing of pictures in the four squares of a paper) was to
prepare for tomorrows creative story writing (in the form of drawing). However, I raised

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the question whether the creative story drawing was based on the old one or a new
one and frankly told her that it would take some time for children to do the creative story
drawing

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[Mentor Teacher 5] [During the fourth post-lesson conference] I let the student teacher
understand the good points of her teaching of enhancing childrens interest and the bad
points of her teaching that the teaching objective was not achieved. I then told her if she
wanted to teach the word beautiful, she could have asked children to identify beautiful
objects in the classroom and then made sentences using the word beautiful.
[Mentor Teacher 9] [During the third pre-lesson conference] The protg consulted me
whether the pictures used the following day were big enough or not. I reminded her to
show the pictures to children at her sides and those sitting behind and not just to children
sitting in front of her.
[Mentor Teacher 13] [During the third pre-lesson conference] The protg said children
would draw some pictures to enrich the story. I suggested her preparing for a variety of
drawing materials so as to allow childrens free choices.
[Mentor Teacher 18] [During the fourth pre-lesson conference] I reminded the protg
(1) to take greater care of time management as two more learning activities were added
to the lesson plan after the discussion (2) when briefing the writing exercise, the
teacher had to provide detailed but clear instructions so that children could understand
the task demands
[Mentor Teacher 27] In the first post-lesson evaluation meeting, I proposed to use
questions to stimulate childrens talk. In the second post-lesson evaluation meeting
(when the video came to the part when children were choosing materials for the wheels
of toy cars), I found the student teacher used a lot of questions to probe children to
explain how wheels facilitated the moving of toy cars. I then suggested that she minimise
her talk and allow children time to think while expressing the function of and choosing
materials for the wheels of toy cars.

Though there were frequent signs that mentors exercised top-down authority,
protgs tended to take mentors advice without questioning it. All the mentors
recorded acceptance in their reports. For example:
[Mentor Teacher 12] [At the third pre-lesson conference] The protg said children
would recite the rhyme Jump Jump Little Buds while queuing up to the toilet I said
children might hurt each other if they jumped too hard at the corridor and suggested
children doing some gestures instead of jumping [During classroom observation]
When children recited jump jump, I noticed that children moved up their shoulders.
The protg was very thoughtful. I appreciated her effort.
[Mentor Teacher 19] In the second post-lesson conference, I suggested The protg
agreed with me and designed follow-up learning activities the day after.
[Mentor Teacher 22] At the first post-lesson conference, the mentor reminded the
protg that disorder broke out when children shouted out their answers. At the final
post-lesson conference the protg agreed that routine training was very important.
When the classroom was very noisy, children could not hear the teacher who might not
be able to deliver tasks stipulated in the lesson plan.
[Mentor Teacher 26] We shared about the short attention span which was common
among children, in one post-lesson conference. I then reminded the protg to pay
attention to it the next day. This was totally agreed by the protg.

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[Mentor Teacher 27] [In her reflective journal entry] The protg could not initiate much
childrenteacher interactions I advised her to ask more questions during the sessions
She then used more questions in teaching the following day

There was a tendency for the protgs to develop conceptions and practices closely
matching those of their mentors. Mentors guidance concerning various strategies and
techniques tended to follow a linear fashion which left little scope for the protgs
development of flexibility, creativity and initiative of style and approach. The mentorcentred approach used paid scant attention to how learning, motivation and achievement can be encouraged in every protg as it discouraged them from taking risks
through experimentation or developing their own theories on the basis of critical
reflection (Rowley 1999).
The mentors advice was limited by their own experience but encouraging independent and reflective practice. No mentor mentioned the instances where the
protgs tried to explain their teaching and childrens learning. This could be because
ideas about developing independent and reflective protgs through peer regulation
(peer interaction) to self-regulation were not particularly present in the minds of the
teachers or the mode of learning in their minds was based more on the knowledge
transmission approach. However, there were a number of instances suggesting
the improvement of protgs and mentors feeling successful. For example:
[Mentor Teacher 3] [In her reflective journal entry] I had never thought my 10 years
experience could be of value and useful to facilitate others learning.
[Mentor Teacher 5] The student teacher had expanded her idea of teaching. She was
more creative. For example, when children were learning and practising beats, they were
asked to imagine (pretend) to be different transportation She had a better grasp of the
curriculum design, she started with an easier part (of the teaching content) before
going onto the difficult parts. Regarding classroom management, she was more careful
in arranging the learning environment and steps of teaching.
[Mentor Teacher 8] [At the final post-lesson conference] Both the mentor and protg
found children were more outspoken, ready to ask questions and motivated to inquire.
[Mentor Teacher 10] Gradually, the protg attained some improvement in her implementation of constructivism. She was more confident, displaying development in her
learning and teaching process.
[Mentor Teacher 13] [In her reflective journal entry] I could see the development of
the protg and I began to reflect on my own teaching. At the beginning and the middle
course, her teaching approach was rather close to a traditional one. When it came to the
later stage of her practicum, her supervisor paid the last visit to her, I could see a big
change in her teaching.
[Mentor Teacher 18] [In her reflective journal entry] In the first few post-lesson conferences, matters concerning classroom management were discussed In some later postlesson conferences, the protg admitted that the childrens routine was not well trained.
Children shouted out their answers or gave answers while classmates had not finished
answering, and were talkative and not attentive. She agreed that all those would damage
the classroom ethos. I found the protg had a strong ability to reflect.
[Mentor Teacher 24] Throughout the process, the protg and I worked together and
supported each other. We had advanced our professional development.

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The mentors, in general, perceived themselves as approachable, helpful and

successful in working with the protgs to reach their goals, and they showed an
awareness of possession of power. None thought mentoring was just being there.
Mentors were prepared to advise a protg, acting as a parent and a critical friend
(Kyle, Moore, and Sanders 1999) through the provision of honest criticism. All the
mentors tended to provide active assistance, direct instructions and timely feedback to
the protgs. The concern to share information, provide feedback and challenge the
protgs with responsibility in a sincere way was evident by the frequent use of words
like reminded, suggested, advised and proposed in the mentors reports, indicating the intention of friendliness and respect. These words and the emotional support
given served to democratise the relationship between the mentors and protgs.
Further, it seemed that the mentors had a designated mentoring responsibility. All
the mentors sought to contribute to the professional development of protgs, though,
to a great extent, within the scope of the mentors professional experience. There were
a few instances when mentors mentioned the great improvement of their protgs at
the time of their teaching supervisions. The conventional view of their job as taking
the raw goods that university sends them and helping teachers develop and evolve
into a finished product (Abell et al. 1995, 178) did exert some influence or pressure
on the mentors in Hong Kong.
Discussion and conclusion
In Hong Kong kindergartens the role of assessor, particularly implementing the kind
of assessment closely related to predetermined outcomes, did not exist prior to the
mentorprotg relationship as teachers involvement as mentors was a kind of
choice-based participation. And yet, throughout the experiential process, the mentors
were conscious of the need to monitor and evaluate the quality of their protgs,
inclining to adopt the apprenticeship model. The feeling of easing anxieties related to
human dynamics was no less of a concern. The data reflected that the mentors were
very sophisticated adults who chose to build up friendly top-down relationships
contributing to better trust and respect and minimising the tension generated from the
possible resistance of protgs.
The mentors avoided over-emphasising the role of adviser and instead wrote in
their reports about the diversity of roles in their setting of goals. Throughout the
experience, the mentors could not help but be aware that the quality of their protgs
was monitored, evaluated and assessed while they all had the common desire to treat
protgs with warmth, encouragement and understanding. Some mentors openly
attributed the trust and respect to the social aspect of their relationship with their
student teachers.
When writing about their achievements, all the mentors wrote about success with
the professional development of their protgs but none mentioned their feelings of
success with the social relationship or with protgs personal development. Clearly,
in the minds of the mentors, the affective dimension did not gain equal weighting
with the technical dimension. Nevertheless, the personal relationship served as a
lubricant for mentors when giving direct instructions and making critical evaluations. The mentors commented that the protgs felt comfortable with their mentors,
even when the mentors evaluations were critical and frank. A particular interaction
pattern emerged, with particularly supportive mentors being less reluctant than
their counterparts in being honest with their protgs.

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Turning raw material into a finished product was not part of a predetermined structure in Hong Kong. The mentors in this learning environment/context appeared to
have the freedom to negotiate roles, which should have afforded less of a power structure. The practice should have left room for the development of flexibility, creativity
and initiative on the part of the protgs who demonstrated signs of sharing their rationale or perspectives on teaching and learning in a number of instances. However, the
mentors did not make use or seemed aware of these opportunities.
Structural factors could be significant in influencing the protgmentor relationship. The protgs were presumably assigned via placement to classrooms of
the more effective teachers. The mentoring scheme tended to prescribe competencies or recipes for good practice in a system with a hierarchical structure of the
experienced and the less experienced. There is thus the danger of mentor teachers
over-emphasising the role of adviser, providing guidance on what works or what
is viewed as experience-driven skills. This explains why, even without pressing for
the agenda of assessment, the mentor teachers in this study tended to reinforce a
prescriptive set of interventions on classroom routines or assume authority on rights
and wrongs in teaching.
The mentor teachers in this study had similar positive attitudes towards the
schoolinstitute partnership program and perceived similar responsibilities and
benefits to working with student teachers for a period of one year. This suggests their
strong motives of involvement in the professional development of teachers. There is
the hope that schoolinstitute partnership schemes of this kind can contribute to the
future development and growth of in-service teachers. However, the teacher or
mentor-centred approach/relationship left little scope for the development of independent and reflective practice for both mentors and protgs in this study. Obviously,
mentors needed to adopt a learner-centred approach in helping to create independent
and reflective practitioners, instead of playing the role of the craft masters of old
who were inclined to produce replicas of themselves.
The paper concludes by briefly considering the case for development of school
mentors in advancing their work. First, the mission, the goals or plans of mentors
seemed to be crucial to their adoption of strategies and interaction patterns. Better
support and better initiatives for mentors would mean more focus on the shaping
of objectives, expectations and roles of mentors in the long run. Second, there was
the tendency that the protgs teaching was reproducing the existing system in
practising what the mentors expected. Work has to be done to foster a community
willing to welcome and hold respect for perspectives offered by new teachers.
Third, mentors as learners, particularly in their early experiential process, needed
feedback or critical scrutiny of their application of learning into practice. Opportunities for mentor reflection would help move them from evaluating the performance of their protgs to encouraging flexibility and initiative on the part of the
protgs.
The study has explored the reality of evolving conceptions and practices within
mentoring in Hong Kong kindergartens. Through the exploration of role perception
and relationship development situated in a specific context, it is hoped that further
insights and a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved can be gained. While
the samples of participants involved in this study cannot generate the breadth of data
required to represent all mentors perceptions in the early childhood sector in Hong
Kong, they at least provide us with an insight into some experiences within the
protgmentor relationship.

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Notes on contributor

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Yuen-ling Li is an Associate Professor of teacher development and school improvement in the

Department of Early Childhood Education at the Hong Kong Institution of Education. Her
research has focused the development of action research, collaborative reflection, school based
assessment and curriculum innovations used in teacher professional development and school
improvement. Her writing has appeared in various international journals, including Asia
Pacific Education Review, Education 313, Educational Action Research, Journal of Early
Childhood Teacher Education, Early Childhood Education Journal, International Journal of
Early Years Education, Learning Environments Research, Contemporary Issues in Early
Childhood, International Journal of Educational Reform and Early Child Development and
Care.

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