Mentoring Styles and Their Contribution to Pedagogical and Didactic Competence Development

Abstract

The current educational theoretical and practical discourse intensively highlights the issue of the relationship between the mentor and mentee, in other words, the style of mentoring. The issue of influence of mentoring style to the development of mentees’ pedagogical and didactic competencies is still not sufficiently investigated. The purpose of the study is to explore mentoring styles and examine their contribution to the development of pedagogical didactic competencies of mentees. Reflective reports of student teachers (N=10) who had their internship practice in secondary schools, were analyzed using content (deductive) analysis method. The findings suggest that emerging mentoring style depends on the age and the previous pedagogical experience of mentee’s: young and having no pedagogical practice mentees tend to follow the traditional-hierarchical mentoring relationship, while older and with some pedagogical experience mentees prefer to practice reciprocal relationship with their mentors. Anyway, in both highlighted cases, the emphasis of mentors is placed on the development of didactical competencies rather than pedagogical. The prevailing mentor – mentee relationship in secondary education and implications for the professional identity of student teachers are discussed as well.

What is an Internship Report? Contributions to the Construction of its Meaning

“…Besides the internship process, the final product or result, usually in the written form of an internship report, seems to us worthy of further analysis that goes beyond the various casuistic normative formulations, but which may vary greatly (Ellis and Childs, 2019) either from one institution to another (Nisly et al, 2018) or in the area of scientific training and in the trainees", mentors" and host institutions" standpoint. Furthermore, it should be taken into account that "The issue of influence of mentoring style to the development of mentees" pedagogical and didactic competencies is still not sufficiently investigated" (Ciučiulkienė and Mičiulienė, 2019) and that "Mentoring is a process when a more qualified and experienced person teaches, supports, promotes, advises" (p. 131).…”