Mentoring in the Lifelong Learning Sector: a critical heuristic account

This paper explores a heuristic ('allowing people to learn for themselves' [Allen, 2004: p. 654]) mentoring case involving an Advanced Practitioner (AP) tasked with the role of mentoring a trainee PGCE teacher who had received a grade 4 (unsatisfactory) decision of his teaching by the college quality assurance system. The paper outlines the relevant theories and frameworks of mentoring which were considered at the time, those which seemed to emerge quite naturally, albeit in skeletal form, and the way in which reflective practice was found to be the key to unlocking the mentor/mentee relationship in profound and critical ways.