Teacher mentoring and the reflective practitioner approach

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on reflective mentoring practices. Teacher mentors are widely known to be an important catalyst for reflection. Through dialogue and professional conversations, teacher mentors can help their mentees to improve their teaching performance by facilitating their discussion of the praxis from different perspectives. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative mixed methods study is based on three separate studies from the Republic of Ireland, Malta and Norway involving: mentors of undergraduate student-teachers (U-M, n: 37); mentors of newly qualified teachers (NQT-M, n: 4); student-teachers (ST, n: 16); NQT, n: 8; and university tutors (UT, n: 8). In each study, mentors were provided with varying degrees of education on facilitating critical reflection for mentees. This study sought to draw out what reflective practices were being employed in mentoring across European contexts and what perceived impact they had. A cross-case analysis of data across the three countries was conducted using coding and constant comparison. Triangulation of data was employed across not only cases, but also across multiple methods data sets and across participant types. Findings All three studies reveal that mentoring approaches aiming to promote critical reflection have to be based on a developmental approach towards mentoring. They also have to challenge traditional hierarchical relationships and involve a commitment to collaborative, inquiry-oriented approaches towards mentoring. Research limitations/implications By bringing different studies of reflection in mentoring practices together, it is possible to gain new knowledge on mentoring in teacher education. However, being a cross-country, cross-context and cross-cultural approach in itself contains certain restrictions. Originality/value The authors of this paper propose that professional forms of inquiry depend on the type of relationship and collaboration forged between the teacher mentor and mentee. A cross-case analysis approach provided evidence of reflective practice, which is common across three European countries and offers a snapshot of trends.

From teacher to senior teacher educator: exploring the teaching-research nexus in Israeli Academic Colleges of Education

“…The term 'reflective practitioning' is defined as the ability of the individual to create a relationship between his or her social and emotional world in the professional context (Arkell 2012). According to Tonna, Bjerkholt, and Holland (2017), in the area of teacher education such a process is carried out by exploration of teachers' professional knowledge. This affects their active involvement in personal learning and increases a sense of agency.…”

Mentorsamtaler og professionel udvikling for nye lærere

“…11., 2009). For at understøtt e den professionelle udvikling af de nye laerere, understreger Tonna et al (2017), at refl eksion er afgørende, saerlig kritisk refl eksion. Faglige og paedagogiske introduktionsforløb kombineret med mentorskab i de første år i professionen kan give strukturerede muligheder for, at nye laerere kan laere i og af praksis og derigennem støtt es i den fortsatt e professionelle udvikling (Frederiksen & Lund, 2011;Jensen et al, 2000;New Teacher Center, u.å.…”

Flerstemmighet i veiledningssamtaler?

“…Andre studier av triader knytter synet på kunnskap til den tradisjonelle hierarkiske modellen hvor teorien har forrang, og hevder at modellen må utfordres. Tonna et al (2017) har sammenliknet studier av veiledning fra tre land, Malta, Norge og Irland, hvor alle plasserer seg innenfor en utviklende og konstruktivistisk tilnaerming til veiledning. Forskningskartleggingen viser at en tilnaerming som verdsetter mangfold og ulike kompetanser, fremmer et gjensidig laeringsmiljø.…”

“…I forskning på veiledning argumenteres det for at veiledning kan styrke studentenes profesjonelle utvikling når praksislaereren og universitetslaereren samarbeider (Cohen, Hoz & Kaplan, 2013;Tonna, Bjerkholt & Holland, 2017). I finsk laererutdanning foregår samarbeidet om veiledningen i trepartssamtaler som beskrives som selve limet i utdanningen (Hansén, Sjöberg & Eilertesen, 2014).…”

“…I finsk laererutdanning foregår samarbeidet om veiledningen i trepartssamtaler som beskrives som selve limet i utdanningen (Hansén, Sjöberg & Eilertesen, 2014). Videre argumenteres det for at veiledning med en utforskende og konstruktivistisk tilnaerming (Tonna et al, 2017), og veiledning hvor praksislaereren og universitetslaereren utfyller hverandres kunnskapsområder (Cartaut & Bertone, 2009), kan bidra til studentenes profesjonelle utvikling.…”