Winning and Losing: A case study of university tutor-student teacher interaction during a school-based practicum

Using a case study this paper analyses in some detail the ways in which both a university based subject tutor's and student teacher's implicit theories manifest themselves in the heat of the conversational moment. It illustrates how easy it is for tutor and student to 'get across each other' or to pick up messages that may or may not be intentionally communicated, and to adopt a stance that is in the last analysis self-preservative rather than developmental. The tutors' art, and their responsibility, is to present their enquiries and comments in such a way that the chances of this 'closing down' are minimised; and to be adept at repairing the relationship when it does go wrong. In defensive mode, both participants in the case study are convinced of their own rightness, take their judgements about each other as literal truth, and are quite unable to reflect on their contributions to the situation. The paper ends with some suggestions for avoiding such an impasse in similar situations.