The first part of the article presents the role of mentors in the practical educational training of students who are offered gradual and controlled access to teaching and mentors' help in teacher training and school practice. In the process students develop various skills. It is therefore extremely important that student teaching programmes are well-planned and implemented to the highest possible standards by the appropriately experienced and educated mentors In the second part of the article the results of a qualitative study involving twentysix mentors are presented. In the academic year 2009/2010, these mentors offered mentorship to the fourth-year students of the Primary Education academic programme at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor. The study focuses on how mentor teachers evaluate their work and roles. The study further explores how the mentors evaluate the work of the students as teachers, what mentors gain from students, and the relationship between mentors and students The results indicate that the majority of mentors are neither sufficiently intrinsically motivated to take on the mentorship, nor are they professionally ready. The mentors believe that the mentorship support offered to students is not a burden and that the relationship between them and the students is professional. The mentors believe that students have limited teaching experience and their questions refer mostly to the preparation and implementation of the class. The mentors appreciate novelties and motivational games introduced by the students who thus indirectly affect the mentors' professional development.
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