Mentor teachers’ views of their mentees

Abstract

Mentor teachers' views of their mentees Gisbert van Ginkel a , Jannet van Drie b and Nico Verloop c a radboud teachers academy, radboud university, nijmegen, the netherlands; b research institute of Child Development and education, university of amsterdam, amsterdam, the netherlands; c iCLon graduate school of teaching, Leiden university, Leiden, the netherlands ABSTRACT Successful mentoring relationships are essential for novice teachers entering the teaching profession. The success of the mentoring process depends in large part on the diagnostic abilities of the mentor, but there is little research on how mentor teachers view their mentees. In this small-scale study, we explored how 11 mentor teachers describe similarities and differences between their mentee teachers. We found that mentor teachers' descriptions predominantly relate to differences in personal engagement with pupils, identifying as a teacher, perfectionism and self-confidence. Mentors tended to describe these differences in terms of traits and dispositions. We provide suggestions for addressing this issue in mentor preparation and for using findings in mentor training, and we provide a conceptual framework for future studies of mentor teachers' views of their mentees. High diagnostic ability is a distinctive feature of both successful teaching and mentoring (Schwille, 2008). In teacher mentoring, it requires professional knowledge of mentee teachers as adult learners (Reiman & Thies-Sprinthall, 1998). Successful mentoring relationships are considered essential for novice teachers to survive their initial teaching experiences, develop their teaching competencies, and define their teaching lives (Fairbanks, Freedman, & Kahn, 2000; Long et al., 2012; Marable & Raimondi, 2007). Precondition for such successful mentoring relationships is a good match between mentor and mentee. Therefore, mentor teachers are expected to attend to the different and individual needs of their mentee teachers (Bullough, 2012). These different needs may derive from mentee's different learning preferences, teaching concerns, stages of development, readiness levels regarding various teaching competencies, tensions in professional identity formation, images and beliefs about teaching, and goals and expectations concerning the mentoring relationship

The use of audio diaries to support reflective mentoring practice in Hungarian teacher training

“…This indicates an overvaluation of the instrumental (goal focused) nature of the mentoring relationships by these mentors. This finding resonates with Van Ginkel et al (2018) claims, according to which teaching performance and classroom control are underlying issues, and that mentors view their own teaching as models of good practice. Hence, when mentees' internal I-positions were re-examined, the tension or trigger had been acknowledged by both parties.…”

Newly Qualified Female Teachers’ Perception of Teaching Practicum as a Component of Initial Teacher Education in South Africa

“…Newly qualified teachers require practice teaching fused with successful mentoring to assist them to comprehend whatever would be essential in their new position. As argued by many (such as Hobson, Ashby, Malderez & Tomlinson, 2009;Gisbert, 2018), to reduce culture and reality shocks, mentoring must be provided for novice teachers to augment their learning experiences. This will arguably stand them in good stead to sustain a solid and long-lasting teaching career.…”

Definitions of Mentee Resistance to Mentoring: Experiences of International Teacher Mentors in Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools

“…van Ginkel et al (2018), in studying mentor descriptions of their mentees, came up with two major categories: Disposition and historicism, as determining mentee 'mentorability'. Disposition was the internal traits of a mentee, while historicism encompassed external influences and formative aspects that shaped mentee practice.…”