Promoting versatility in mentor teachers’ use of supervisory skills

Mentor teachers need a versatile supervisory skills repertoire. Besides taking the prevalent role of daily advisor and instructor, mentor teachers should also be able to stimulate reflection in student teachers. Video recordings of 60 mentoring dialogues were analysed, both before and after a mentor teacher training aimed at developing the encourager role. Mentor teachers’ repertoires of supervisory skills were found to consist of an average of seven supervisory skills. After training, a shift was observed in the frequencies and duration with which supervisory skills were used. Although considerable inter-individual variability existed between mentor teachers, training positively affected the use of supervisory skills for stimulating reflection in student teachers.     

Mapping mentor teachers’ roles in mentoring dialogues

This literature study deals with the issue of how to conceptualize the supervisory behaviour of mentor teachers in mentoring dialogues by systematically examining empirical literature on key aspects of mentor teachers’ behaviour during dialogues with prospective teachers. From the findings a model is derived which can be used to study mentor teachers’ behaviour in mentoring dialogues. The model may be helpful in the further development of the quality of mentor teachers’ behaviour in mentoring dialogues.     

Uncovering contents of mentor teachers' interactive cognitions during mentoring dialogues

In the context of developing mentor teachers' use of supervisory skills, two consecutive studies were conducted, using stimulated recall. Firstly, with eight participants, an instrument was developed to categorize contents of interactive cognitions. Secondly, with 30 participants, the instrument was applied to uncover contents of mentor teachers' interactive cognitions, before and after training in supervisory skills. After training, mentor teachers demonstrate an increased awareness of their use of supervisory skills. This indicates that mentor teachers not only seem to emphasize pupil learning and needs when conducting a mentoring dialogue, but simultaneously focus on their own supervisory behaviour.     

Hidden labor in the mentoring of pre-service teachers: Notes from a mentor teacher advisory council

This article argues that mentoring reflects a form of hidden labor within pre-service teacher education. Using Marx’s concern for the ways in which aspects of an economic system are rendered invisible, the article draws on discussions from an American mentor teacher advisory council to illuminate otherwise marginalized aspects of mentors’ work. Meeting data reveal challenging dynamics of initiative, complications in determining teaching opportunities, and unique positions taken up by mentors during transitions in authority. The authors argue for the creation of “intersection contexts” where the voices of various constituencies in the mentoring of pre-service teachers can be heard.     

Mentor teachers: Their perceived possibilities and challenges as mentor and teacher

This interview study, including seven case studies of mentor teachers in primary education, explores the possibilities and challenges these mentor teachers perceive when they (sequentially and simultaneously) combine the teacher and mentor roles. Mentor teachers perceive two challenges while simultaneously performing both roles in the same classroom: to transfer (or not) responsibility for the class and pupils to the student teacher and to intervene (or not) in classroom procedures. Mentor teachers felt that being the teacher of the pupils was their primary task, and being a mentor of the student teacher generally was perceived as an aside and additional task.     

Teaching portfolios,community, and pre-service teachers’ professional development

This article describes the findings of a qualitative study examining the extent to which participation in a portfolio-focused teacher learning community impacts pre-service teachers’ understanding and development of a teaching portfolio. Additionally, the author was interested in understanding how, whether, and in what ways the group's participants attribute their own professional development to the portfolio's construction. Findings indicate that most students found the process of selecting artifacts, reflecting on coursework and fieldwork experiences while constructing their teaching portfolios contributed to their growth and development. Students also reported the dialogic and collaborative nature of the teacher learning community enhanced their growth and development as well as their overall understanding of the portfolio requirement.     

Student teachers’ skills in the implementation of collaborative learning: A multilevel approach

This study explores the development of student teachers’ skills in implementing collaborative learning (CL) using a multilevel repeated measures design. Participants were 105 pre-service teachers that were trained in CL implementation. The results indicate that student teachers generally perform well in implementing CL. Further, it appears that these skills increase over time, although no linear growth can be found. Student teachers’ skills development appears to be positively connected with their general feeling of teaching efficacy. Surprisingly, training and students’ pedagogical knowledge have no significant impact.     

Thriving,not just surviving: The impact of teacher mentors on pre-service teachers in disadvantaged school contexts

This study explores the perceptions held by nine mentor teachers from four Australian secondary schools about the impact they have on pre-service teachers during professional placement. Using Fraser’s (2000, 2005, 2008) social justice framework as a theoretical lens, this paper examines what can be learnt from these teacher mentors about mentoring in disadvantaged school contexts. These mentor teachers felt their most significant impact was in shaping pre-service teachers’ awareness and responsiveness to contextual factors so that they could not only fulfil professional experience requirements, but also be better prepared for potential future teaching opportunities in disadvantaged school contexts.     

Critical service-learning: promoting values orientation and enterprise skills in pre-service teacher programmes

Experiential learning pathways within education programmes such as Service-learning are a means to enrich the learning of pre-service teachers. As a pathway, Service-learning provides value-oriented learning focused on inclusion, diversity, and difference. This paper adopts critical social theory to examine how, along with these values, critical Service-learning promotes a deeper comprehension of values such as empathy, civic responsibility, social justice, and equity. Our paper also studies how, along with values, enterprise skills develop when pre-service teachers adopt a self-responsible, decision-making approach to implementing inclusion, social justice, and equity. Fifty-one data sets from interviews, questionnaires, and reflection logs with two groups of students over two semesters were examined to comprehend the unique experiences of students as they navigated through values and enterprise skills. The study concludes by reiterating the value of incorporating nontraditional ways of learning that align with the traditional pedagogical offerings for pre-service teachers.     

Producing caring qualified teachers: An exploration of the influence of pre-service teacher concerns on learner-centeredness

In a time where students in the United States academic performance continues to lag behind in the international rankings, a disconcerting phenomenon in concerns literature indicates that pre-service and in-service teachers report low levels of concerns regarding the effect implementation of educational innovations have on students. This study explored the relationship of pre-service teachers' learner-centeredness and their concerns related to how learner-centered education affects students. Results indicated that as learner-centeredness increased, so did concerns about student outcomes. Implications for teacher education programmes in the US and abroad will be discussed.     

Assessing pre-service teachers’ environmental literacy in Turkey as a mean to develop teacher education programs

The study investigates environmental literacy of pre-service teachers at one of the largest public universities in Turkey. The research evaluates the relationship of pre-service teachers’ environmental knowledge, attitude, and concerns of their interests in environmental problems, involving outdoor activities, parents’ interest and involvement in environmental activities. Canonical analysis is used to explore relationships between pre-service teachers’ environmental background and literacy. The results are promising and rewarding in addition to restructuring efforts of faculties of education in Turkey. Showing that environmental background of pre-service teachers is positively related to environmental literacy and attitudes along with other uses affected significantly by gender.     

Causes of tension in post-observation feedback in pre-service teacher training: An alternative view

A central component in pre-service teacher training is teaching practice and feedback. In some cases, feedback results in disquiet and tension (Brandt, 2008). Many researchers attribute this tension to the incompatibility of the assessment and development roles that the trainer must perform. The research reported on here, however, suggests that tension may also be rooted in a difference in expectation amongst trainers and trainees about the purpose and performance of feedback. This can result in trainees not playing by the rules of the game (Roberts & Sarangi, 2001) either because they do not understand them or because they wish to challenge them.     

A mentor’s aid in developing the competences of teacher trainees

The induction period is a very important time in the career of a teacher and has a long‐term influence on the teacher’s professional development, efficacy, job satisfaction and the length of his/her career. One of the key roles in this period is played by the trainee’s mentor. This paper presents the results of the extensive project ‘Partnership of Faculties and Schools’, carried out at the Pedagogical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, with the financial support of the European Social Fund and the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. We studied an induction project involving 361 teacher trainees and 331 mentors. The study reveals the trainees’ expectations towards their mentors and the mentors’ and trainees’ evaluations of how the mentor aids a teacher trainee in developing their competences.     

Exploring a triad model of student teaching: Pre-service teacher and cooperating teacher perceptions

In the student teaching triad model adopted in this study, pairs of pre-service teachers worked collaboratively with cooperating teachers during a 12-week field experience. The main objectives of the study were to document the benefits and challenges for pre-service teachers and cooperating teachers who participate in a triad model and to describe the co-teaching models that would emerge during this experience. Pre-service teachers and their cooperating teachers reported several strengths of the triad model in the following areas—learning from each other, professional support, outcomes for K-12 students, comprehensive feedback about teaching and classroom practice, and pre-service teacher confidence. Limitations and concerns identified by both groups included dependency, confusion with classroom management issues, loss of individuality, and competition between the pre-service teachers.     

Genuine conversation: the enabler in good mentoring of pre-service teachers

This study confirms the role of genuine conversation as the enabler in good mentoring of pre-service teachers. The practicum plays an essential role in moving the pre-service teacher beyond learning about teaching to the practice of teaching. Yet the benefit of the practicum is often constrained by relational tensions, disappointment and frustrations for both the pre-service teacher and the mentor. The authors report on the findings drawn from stories and experiences of pre-service teachers and mentors as they participated in a final practicum in a range of Australian secondary schools. This paper uses social learning theory as a framework for understanding the key aspects of pre-service teacher mentoring: specifically, Wenger’s three interrelated concepts of mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire. Conversation plays a critical role in these areas and hence enables successful practicum experiences. Recommendations to enhance professional conversations focus on strengthening the relationship through considered pre-service teacher placement, close school/university partnerships, mentor programmes and the selection of appropriate mentors.     

Idiographic roles of cooperating teachers as mentors in pre-service distance teacher education

This study aims to define the roles of cooperating teachers as mentors in the context of distance-learning teacher education. The participants included 358 cooperating teachers who mentored 4th-year student teachers in a Distance English Language Teacher Training Program in Turkey. To determine the roles that were perceived as mentoring roles by the cooperating teachers in the distance practicum, an inventory of 10 primary mentoring functions was constructed. These functions included five primary mentoring roles: ‘self-trainer’, ‘networker, ‘social supporter’, ‘academic supporter’, and ‘psychological supporter’. The results will contribute to an increased understanding of how cooperating teachers perceive their mentoring roles during distance practicums.     

Improving interaction in teacher training programmes: the rise of the social dimension in pre-service teacher education

This paper studies the social side of pre-service teacher education and draws on social network analysis to explore the relation between the social capital of pre-service teachers and their academic and professional success. An online survey was applied to a sample of 321 students enrolled full time either in Preschool Education or Primary Education programmes at the Ramon Llull University-FPCEE Blanquerna in Catalonia, Spain. The instrument consisted of a combination of social network questions and rating scale attributes. Findings allow us to understand the relationship between aspects of the cohort’s social network and key development constructs and demonstrate the importance of considering informal interactions within the programme to improve the performance of pre-service teachers.     

Reconceptualising professional experiences in pre-service teacher education…reconstructing the past to embrace the future

This paper provides a conceptual framework for developing high-quality professional experiences for pre-service teachers. The paper begins with a discussion of how professional experiences are conceptualised, structured and supervised in each of three orientations, which we have termed traditional, reflective and learning communities. We then describe a number of professional experience initiatives at two Australian universities, which are being reconceptualised around the notion of learning communities. We argue that framing professional experience around the notion of learning communities has the potential to support pre-service teachers to work with their peers and mentor teachers in more collegial and reciprocal ways.