Reflective or transmissive, is there a superior learning approach? Lessons from mentoring relationships

This study challenges the prevailing assumption that reflective learning approaches are inherently superior to transmissive ones. Specifically, we focus on the professional learning of mentor teachers through an in-depth investigation of mentoring dynamics in the context of Israeli teacher preparation fieldwork and co-teaching. Based on interviews and observations from a ten-case study, we investigate how mentors and mentees shape the nature of their professional learning together. Our analysis examines the dynamics that enabled mentee student teachers to influence their mentors’ professional learning. It demonstrates that mentors benefited from two distinct learning approaches—reflection and reciprocity versus expertise and demonstration—shaped by differing types of actions taken by the STs and their underpinning logics. These findings complicate the discussion regarding reflective and transmissive learning, suggesting that professional learning is not confined to one epistemological ideal but emerges from the alignment of personal dispositions and relational dynamics in practice. • Challenges the assumed superiority of reflective over transmissive learning. • Mentee influence can be active, shaping mentors' professional growth. • Transmissive and reflective approaches afford distinct learning opportunities. • Mentor learning emerges from alignment between approach and relational dynamics. • Mentor–mentee fit plays a key role in enabling reciprocal professional learning.