Mentor-Novice Conversations about Teaching: A Comparison of Two U.S. and Two Chinese Cases

Abstract

Mentor-novice collaborative reflection about teaching is crucial to the development of novices’ professional knowledge. However, few studies examine content and forms of mentor-novice conversations and opportunities that such interactions create for developing professional knowledge. Drawing on observation data from two U.S. and two Chinese mentor-novice pairs in induction contexts, this study analyzed the content and forms of mentor-novice conversations about novices’ lessons. We found that the U.S. and Chinese mentor-novice interactions were different in focus and form, and these differences were likely related to the curriculum structures and organization of teaching and mentoring in each country. The interactions either offered or restricted novices’ opportunities for developing professional knowledge necessary for reform-minded teaching.

Mentoring novices' teaching of historical reasoning: Opportunities for pedagogical content knowledge development through mentor-facilitated practice

“…A critical component of approximation is mentors' feedback, or the reviews of performances. Historically, U.S. mentors have provided praise for novices and withheld critical feedback because it is thought that positive feedback will nurture novice development (Wang et al, 2004). In this case, John engaged in discerning feedback that included both praise and critique.…”

“…We identified all possible configurations. This approach to looking at relationships among topics (e.g., subject, students, teaching) was seen in previous research on mentoring exchanges (Wang et al, 2004). Fourth, we conducted comparisons between mentoreteacher pairs for topics and multiple-code frequencies and configurations.…”

“…Research on U.S. mentoring conversations identifies a lack of attention to subject matter (Achinstein & Davis, 2014;Paine & Schwille, 2010;Strong & Baron, 2004;Wang & Odell, 2002;Wang, Strong, & Odell, 2004). Wang et al (2004) found that U.S. mentoring conversations, in comparison with Chinese mentoring exchanges, had few subject matter topics, and tended to address teaching, students, or subject matter in isolation. Strong and Baron (2004) found only 2% of mentor suggestions focused on subject matter.…”

“…Such mentoring can promote deeper understanding of disciplinary epistemologies, support classroom representations of content (Grossman & Davis, 2012;Luft, 2009;Wang et al, 2004), and lead to increased student achievement (Rockoff, 2008). Developing subject matter knowledge is a common objective in pre-service teacher education programs.…”

Bold Ideas for Improving Teacher Education and Teaching: What We See, Hear, and Think

“…This leads to providing different learning and mentoring experiences for teacher candidates in teacher education programs, which in turn shape teacher professional development and consequently student learning. For example, where teaching is conceptualized variously across cultures, case study research has shown that mentoring of teacher candidates has different impacts on teacher learning (Feiman-Nemser & Parker, 1992;Wang, 2001;Wang, Strong, & Odell, 2004). Further exploration is merited of the kinds of teaching practice and mentoring we want to connect to teacher learning and how to connect it.…”