Abstract:
The Mentoring Profile Inventory (MPI) was first created in 2009. The MPI is a 62-item survey that provides practicum mentors with feedback on the ways in which they conceptualize their practice. This feedback is rendered as a set of motivators and challenges for mentoring (8 scales and 6 scales, respectively) . To date, over 3000 mentors throughout the world have completed the MPI. Based on an analysis of the data from these mentors, an MPI Grid was added to the feedback in 2019. The Grid has four quadrants delineated by two axes (a motivator axis and a challenge axis). The four quadrants represent different emphases that a mentor brings to their advisory practice: Advocate, Nurturer, Partner, or Facilitator. Based on a mentor’s responses to the 62 items, the MPI Grid suggests which of the four profiles is most dominant for that mentor at that point in time. This paper provides an overview of the profiles, how they were constructed, and their implications for mentors and the student-teacher which whom they are working in practicum settings.