Mentoring the beginning teacher: developing professional autonomy through critical reflection on practice

Abstract

The authors draw on the work of Maudsley and Scrivens (2000) to explore the elusive but crucial concept of critical thinking in terms of the extent to which it is reflective practice that joins discussion of critical thinking with experiential learning'. We present some of our evidence base derived from a sequences of formal professional review meetings between induction tutors (mentors) and their newly qualified teachers (NQT) (mentees). We describe the frameworks used for analyses for examination of critical questioning by mentors and the resulting articulation of practice by mentees, and for locating any shifts in the mentoring styles adopted by the mentors in the course of the year of study. We show that the adoption of particular reflective practice strategies, and/or associated interventions, are clearly linked to changes in ways of working by both mentor and mentee and which illustrate, in several instances to an increase in professional independence on the part of the NQT. Finally we present some emerging issues for a range of stakeholders including those involved in mentor training, school managers and policy makers, and the mentors themselves.

Clarifying pre-service teacher perceptions of mentor teachers’ developing use of mentoring skills

“…There is some evidence that training mentor teachers matters, because it may influence their mentoring behaviour during mentoring dialogues (Edwards & Green, 1999;Evertson & Smithey, 2001;Harrison, Lawson, & Wortley, 2005;Timperley, 2001). Changes established in mentor teachers' use of mentoring skills may gain in significance if they are also perceived by pre-service teachers.…”

Student teachers’ perceptions of feedback as an aid to reflection for developing effective practice in the classroom

“…Much has been written about the importance of mentoring by a more experienced teacher, with relation to the development of reflection (Danielson 2002, Harrison et al 2005. Within a social-constructivist approach, students are helped to operate in their 'zone of proximal development', identifying and deconstructing apparent successes and areas requiring improvement in lessons, through discussion with the more knowledgeable other (Vygotsky, 1978).…”

O valor formativo das comunidades de prática na construção da identidade profissional

“…Em última análise, esta aceitação permite-lhes negociar significados e entendimentos mais ricos e adequados às suas próprias metodologias e crenças. Os novos membros de uma CoP, neste caso os EE, necessitam de oportunidades para praticarem e se tornarem experientes, para assimilarem novo conhecimento e, ainda, para produzirem e atribuírem significado à vivência em comunidade através da sua prática (Harrison, Lawson, & Wortley, 2005;Morton & Gray, 2010).…”

“…No entanto, isto nem sempre acontece e, no caso de uma CoP não estar perfeitamente legitimada ou de as relações de poder entre os novos membros e os antigos impossibilitarem o acesso à CoP e à participação plena na mesma, os EE podem enfrentar sérias dificuldades aquando da definição da sua IP, competência e acesso à profissão (Harrison et al, 2005;Yuan & Lee, 2015). De acordo com Skerrett e Williamson (2015), os EE, historicamente, sempre se posicionaram como participantes periféricos, o que poderá estar relacionado com o carácter passageiro do estágio, já que a integração dos EE enquanto professores numa escola (participação plena) não é um dos objetivos iniciais do estágio (Wenger, 2008).…”