“Because you always learn something new yourself!” An expectancy-value-theory perspective on mentor teachers' initial motivations

Abstract

A teacher's decision to become a mentor teacher affects mentoring quality and the practicum experience of student teachers respectively. However, little systematic knowledge about teachers' motivations to become mentors exists to date. Based on expectancy-value theory (EVT), this interview study among 23 secondary school mentor teachers explores which aspects motivate teachers to undertake the task of mentoring. In line with EVT, teachers choose to become mentors due to a combination of expectancy and value beliefs, and socialisation influences, which can be further categorised into competence beliefs, intrinsic values, social utility values, intrinsic and extrinsic personal utility values, and social influences.