The mentor teacher’s role in early childhood teacher education: a mixed-methods study of motivation and challenges

Practicum in early childhood teacher education is widely acknowledged as essential, with kindergarten-based mentor teachers playing a key role in student teachers’ professional development. Despite their importance, research on early childhood education mentor teachers remains limited to date. This mixed methods study explores how mentor teachers perceive their role, including motivations and challenges. It combines survey data with qualitative interviews with Norwegian mentor teachers. Findings indicate that mentor teachers are highly motivated, view mentoring as a professional responsibility, and find collaboration with student teachers and teacher education programmes rewarding. However, several challenges are identified, particularly competing roles and responsibilities, academic pressure, and the organisation and demands of the practicum. The results offer insights to strengthen mentor teachers’ role, enhance partnerships between higher education institutions and the practice field, and support mentor teachers in providing student teachers with a realistic understanding of the early childhood profession.