The use of audio diaries to support reflective mentoring practice in Hungarian teacher training Kinga K apl ar-Kod acsy Institute of Research on Adult Education and Knowledge Management, Faculty of Education and Psychology, E€ otv€ os Lor and University, Budapest, Hungary, and Helga Dorner Center for Teaching and Learning, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary Abstract Purpose – The aim of this study is to explore how mentors’ and mentees’ self-concepts and related reflective practices in mentored teacher training are supported by using audio diaries within the framework of Dialogical Self Theory (Hermans, 2001), and how it could be used in the wider context of teacher training. Design/methodology/approach – This study explores a specific qualitative methodology, the use of audio diary in self-reflective activities, in the context of teacher training in Hungary. When analysing the data, we used the thematic analysis approach to employ a relatively high level of interpretation. Findings – Multi-level meta-position reflections have emerged from the data that were comparable at a given point in time. We found five different I-positions (Hermans, 2001) that suggest that mentors and mentees perceived of these as shared themes of the emerging incidents in mentoring. However, those aspects of the mentoring process on which mentors and mentees reflected only vaguely or have not reflected mutually in their audio diaries involved a certain level of mis-positioning and further tension. Practical implications – Audio diaries are beneficial for personal and professional development. The tools and the methodology around them could be leveraged to broaden mentor–mentee dyads, which may lead to including university-based teacher educators and researchers from the field. Originality/value – The value of this study arises from the process of recording audio diary logs as a direct representation of thoughts during the mentorship process. Keywords Teacher mentoring, Teacher training, Audio diary, Dialogical self-theory Paper type Research paper Introduction Mentoring in teacher training (which refers to mentoring in initial teacher education and early career teacher mentoring in the first two years of teaching) is acknowledged as the most crucial strategy through which novices learn about the teaching profession. Guided reflective teaching practice motivates novices to stay in the profession, and meaningful reflective practice within the process helps both mentees and mentors to develop and become better teachers (Fairbanks et al., 2000; Korthagen, 2004). However, finding the time and the best approach to accomplish this is often challenging for both mentors and mentees. Mentors and mentees in different contexts are invariably required to report on the progress within pre-designed frameworks; however, these often lack the individualized and relationship-based aspects of mentoring. Notwithstanding, open and relevant reflections can result in increased motivation and fruitful conversations. Reflective written diary is a strategy to elicit reflections in an individualized manner and yet it is often not the most suitable one (Crozier and Cassel, 2015; Monrouxe, 2009). The tension in the transitional period of becoming a teacher (from a student teacher) rarely becomes visible in the written records; from these accounts, we know almost nothing about mentors’ own states of mind. Further, in Hungary, mentorship is understood as a developmental cooperation between the parties The use of audio diaries in mentoring 257 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/2046-6854.htm Received 20 May 2019 Revised 3 October 2019 23 December 2019 17 February 2020 6 March 2020 Accepted 8 March 2020 International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education Vol. 9 No. 3, 2020 pp. 257-277 © Emerald Publishing Limited 2046-6854 DOI 10.1108/IJMCE-05-2019-0061