“When your lesson is bombing”: The mediation of perplexity in the development of a reflective stance toward teaching

This year-long telling case study followed a pre-service teacher into the field as a novice kindergarten teacher. We sought theoretical explanation for the development of the participant's reflective stance in both settings. Four scenarios revealed that variation in the participant's depth of reflection can be explained by how foci, scaffolds, and stimuli for reflection mediated the participant's experience of perplexity. Analysis of each scenario revealed factors that impacted how mediational tools supported reflective growth. These factors can inform the choices of teacher educators, mentors, and pre-service and novice teachers about mediation in an apprenticeship.