In this study, the student teachers' beliefs about mentoring were similar to those of mentors. Furthermore, a third of the student teachers expected themselves as thinking critically about their lessons, but nobody expected their mentors to explicate their practical knowledge underlying their teaching. Therefore, the articulation of this knowledge is indicated as an additional mentor role and will be elaborated.

The framework provides a common language that may be used not only by teachers and teacher trainers, but also by quality assurance committees, human resource managers and institutional boards.

In this article, two tools are described that student teachers can use to elicit their experienced mentor teachers’ practical knowledge: stimulated recall and concept mapping. The additional value of systematically examining experienced teachers’ practical knowledge by student teachers is that it, among other things, gives sight to the thoughts behind teachers’observable teaching. In addition, it provides opportunities to relate these underlying thoughts to theoretical and more abstract notions student teachers are confronted with in teacher education, and therefore it can lead to a more thorough understanding of other teachers’teaching and of their own (developing) practical knowledge. Suggestions are made as to how student teachers can use the tools in sessions with their mentor teachers.

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