This study was an investigation of mentor teachers who work in a Master of Education teacher preparation program. It examined mentors who work with teacher candidates to understand their conceptualization of their purpose in teacher education. The teacher preparation program that was the site of this study placed teacher candidates in the classroom for a year-long field experience aligned with the actual teaching calendar in schools and reflective of the clinical-based preparation called for by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE, 2010). Attention to teacher preparation program outcomes has increased significantly in the past few years (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, 2013; Council of Chief State School Officers, 2013; Greenburg, Pomerance, & Walsh, NCTQ, 2011; NCATE, 2010). Within this focused interest on program outcomes and on the impact well-prepared teachers make on school improvement, field placements are viewed as more essential in the preparation of teacher candidates (Bullough, Draper, Smith, & Birrell, 2004; Korthagen, 2004; Valencia, Martin, Place, & Grossman, 2009; Zeichner, 2010). Therefore, because mentor teachers affect teacher candidates in the field, it is crucial to understand how mentor teachers conceive their role and purpose within teacher preparation, and how they can be supported prior to assuming this responsibility and throughout the time they spend with the teacher candidates. The dissertation research was divided into two major phases: Phase One was a survey administered to all mentor teachers who work with the program (n=54) early in spring, 2014. The analysis of the survey provided the data necessary to use purposeful sampling to select mentors who reported a commitment to diverse mentoring practices. Data was collected on the interview sample (n=6) in Phase Two through interviews and observations to document and analyze how mentors enacted practices that may or may not be consistent with their perceived purpose and role or with the existing literature on mentoring teacher candidates. Considering the importance of this mentoring relationship on the teacher candidates' preparation outcomes, identification of the approaches to mentoring that can be strengthened by preparation are important in order to emphasized these points as part of the development of partnerships that will strengthen the mentoring system. This research offered insight for teacher preparation programs relating to how mentors internalize their role and areas for development that may align mentoring practices with the educative functions that develop responsive teachers. The findings of this study offered suggestions for preparation that target the mentors' professional growth through collaborative and ongoing instructional and personal support.

INTRODUCTION : Le raisonnement clinique est au coeur de l’exercice professionnel. Cependant, nous manquons d'instruments pour identifier et objectiver les difficultés de raisonnement clinique, et il existe relativement peu de descriptions de méthodes de remédiation définies. Un important travail reste donc à faire, pour mieux comprendre comment les difficultés se manifestent dans le raisonnement clinique des étudiants en formation, mais également pour rendre ces concepts plus accessibles aux enseignants; ceci permettra alors d’améliorer la qualité de la démarche d’identification des difficultés, et d’envisager des remédiations ciblées et efficaces. OBJECTIFS : Cette recherche s’articule d’une part, autour de l’objectivation et la compréhension des pratiques actuelles des cliniciens enseignants en médecine, d’autre part, autour de la construction et l’implantation d’outils et de processus susceptibles de faciliter la démarche de diagnostic et de remédiation des difficultés de raisonnement clinique. MÉTHODOLOGIE : Une recherche de type qualitative, utilisant les méthodes de la recherche action participative s’est révélée pertinente pour atteindre nos objectifs. La recherche est composée de quatre étapes : 1. Une étude exploratoire. 2. La construction et de l’implantation d’un premier outil dans trois milieux cliniques en médecine familiale. 3. L’élaboration d’une taxonomie des difficultés de raisonnement clinique ainsi que la construction d’un nouvel outil. 4. Le développement d’une approche globale pour soutenir et former les cliniciens enseignants. RÉSULTATS : Les enseignants ont une perception rapide, mais qui demeure globale et intuitive, des potentielles difficultés de raisonnement clinique des résidents. Cette perception ne se traduit pas forcément en termes pédagogiques. Nous avons pu observer l’absence de processus pédagogiques organisés et structurés pour la gestion de ces difficultés. Ceci semble projeter les cliniciens enseignants dans une zone d’inconfort, en les confrontant à un manque de maîtrise et à l’incertitude au sujet de leurs actions pédagogiques. La catégorisation des difficultés de raisonnement clinique que nous avons construite permet d’identifier les difficultés telles qu’elles se manifestent dans le quotidien des supervisions cliniques. Cet outil a cependant besoin d’être intégré dans un processus plus global. CONCLUSION : Une approche globale qui comprenne le développement de processus implantés par le Département, l’implantation d’outils, la vulgarisation de la théorie, et la formation des enseignants est déterminante. / CONTEXT: Clinical reasoning is central to medical practice. However, we lack tools to identify and objectify the difficulties of clinical reasoning, and there are relatively few descriptions of remediation methods defined. Much work remains to be done to better understand how the problems manifest themselves in the clinical reasoning of students in training, but also to make these concepts more accessible to teachers.Then this will improve the quality of the identification process difficulties, and allow considering targeted and effective remediations.PURPOSE: This research is based on the one hand, around the objectification and understanding of current practices of clinical teachers, on the other hand, around the construction and implementation of tools and processes to facilitate the process of diagnosis and remediation of difficulties in clinical reasoning. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative research, mainly using the methods of participatory action research has been relevant to achieving our goals. The research consists of four steps: 1. An exploratory study 2. The construction and implementation of a first tool in three clinical settings 3. The development of a taxonomy of difficulties in clinical reasoning and the construction of a new tool. 4. The development of a comprehensive approach to support and train clinical teachers RESULTS: Teachers have a quick perception, but still global and intuitive, of the potential difficulties of clinical reasoning residents. This perception does not necessarily move into pedagogical terms. We observed the absence of organized and structured pedagogical processes to manage these difficulties. This seems to project the clinical teachers in a zone of discomfort, by confronting them with a lack of control and uncertainty about their educational activities. The categorization of clinical reasoning difficulties that we have built allows identifying the problems as they occur in everyday clinical supervision. This tool, however, needs to be integrated into a larger process. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to develop a comprehensive approach that includes faculty development process, implementation tools, vulgarization of the theory, and teacher training.

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