An important precondition for the various mentoring practices is the question of
whether education is understood as a value and aim in itself, or as something that
serves other external aims and purposes. At a general level, we may make a dis-
tinction betweeneducationin its pure meaning, andschooling,which is something
narrower than education. This distinction betweeneducationandschoolinghas an
important effect on the practices of teacher induction and mentoring (Heikkinen
et al. 2014 ; Kemmis 2014 ).
Educationin its most profound sense is something that enables self-cultivation
and aspirations for the good life of individuals and society.‘Education is (...)an
initiation into the kinds of practices that foster the good life for each person and the
good for humankind (Kemmis 2014 , 15).’It is a process of identity work that is not
limited by preset targets or standards, but engages people in discussion of the values
Fig. 55.1 The dialectics of formalization and informalization of learning (Heikkinen et al. 2012 ;
Heikkinen2015)
816 H.L.T. Heikkinen