What can we learn from mentoring preservice teachers?
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Insights from Mentoring Preservice Teachers
Importance of Mentoring in Preservice Teacher Education
Mentoring plays a crucial role in preservice teacher education, particularly as programs increasingly emphasize field-based experiences. Mentor teachers are tasked with supporting preservice teachers' learning to teach, necessitating new approaches to mentoring that align with contemporary educational reforms. Effective mentoring can significantly influence preservice teachers' professional growth, both during and beyond their initial training.
Effective Mentoring Approaches
Conceptual Bases and Challenges
Four primary approaches to teacher mentoring have been identified, each with its own theoretical underpinnings and practices. These approaches face various challenges in guiding preservice teachers effectively. An integrated approach that combines elements from all four is proposed to better support preservice teachers in field-based education settings.
Literacy Tutoring and Mentoring
Research into literacy tutoring and mentoring highlights the importance of structured, one-to-one or small-group experiences. These experiences foster preservice teachers' learning and growth, both within and beyond the mentoring context. Key factors that mediate this growth include the design of the mentoring experience and the quality of mentor-mentee interactions.
Development Programs for Mentors
Effective development programs for mentors are essential to ensure reliable and beneficial student teaching experiences. Such programs should focus on communication skills, reciprocity, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Blended learning systems are recommended for delivering these development activities.
Impacts of Mentoring on Specific Teaching Areas
Science Instruction
A research-based mentoring program for elementary science teachers demonstrated significant positive impacts on both mentors' and mentees' beliefs about effective science instruction. The program improved mentors' ability to facilitate effective mentoring conversations, which in turn enhanced preservice teachers' instructional practices.
Differentiated Learning
Mentoring preservice teachers in differentiated learning strategies involves guiding them through planning, preparation, classroom management, and assessment. Effective mentoring in this area requires a focus on problem-solving and reflection-in-action to address diverse student needs.
Lesson Planning
Mentoring significantly influences preservice teachers' self-efficacy and progression in lesson planning. Effective mentors provide metacognitive modeling, address anxiety, recognize incremental victories, and offer focused feedback, which collectively enhance preservice teachers' confidence and competence in lesson planning.
E-Mentoring and Online Mentoring
Benefits and Challenges
E-mentoring leverages technology to overcome barriers of distance and time, providing valuable support for preservice teachers' professional development. Participants in e-mentoring programs report benefits such as increased interaction, experience transfer, and career planning support. However, challenges include the need for more time allocation and better online teaching resources .
Pandemic Adaptations
The shift to online education during the pandemic necessitated adaptations in mentoring practices. Preservice teachers generally had positive experiences with online mentoring, receiving sufficient contextual and technological support. However, they expressed a need for more professional support and better coordination from university supervisors.
Conclusion
Mentoring is a vital component of preservice teacher education, with significant impacts on professional growth and instructional practices. Effective mentoring requires well-structured programs, ongoing support for mentors, and adaptations to meet the evolving needs of preservice teachers. By addressing these factors, educational stakeholders can enhance the quality and effectiveness of teacher preparation programs.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic
Teacher Mentoring in Service of Preservice Teachers’ Learning to Teach: Conceptual Bases, Characteristics, and Challenges for Teacher Education Reform
A Research Review of Literacy Tutoring and Mentoring in Initial Teacher Preparation: Toward Practices That Can Transform Teaching
Characteristics of an effective development program for mentors of preservice teachers
The Impacts of a Research-Based Model for Mentoring Elementary Preservice Teachers in Science
Exploring experiences of an e-mentoring program in teacher education: Voices of pre- and in-service teachers
Mentoring pre-service teachers on school students’ differentiated learning
Preservice Teachers’ Mentorship Experiences during Teaching Practice in a South African Teacher Preparation Program
Learning to Lesson Plan: A Mentor’s Impact on Pre-service Teachers
Exploring online mentoring with preservice teachers in a pandemic and the need to deliver quality education
Supporting Mentors of Preservice Early Childhood Education Teachers: A Literature Review
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