The first-year as a mentor in Norwegian teacher education – asking for the authoritative word

Abstract

Abstract:In this article I describe and interpret how a first-year mentor for student teachers, Anna, lacks support in her new role within the context of field practice in Norwegian teacher education. Even though she is employed at what is called a "practice school", she feels alone in her work with the student teachers. There is no one there to answer her questions on how to perform her new role. I argue that due to the lack of an arena where she can discuss her questions, Anna positions herself as someone who should act upon what others have decided. She subsequently asks for the authoritative word from the University College.Keywords: mentor, practice school, authoritative discourse, internally persuasive discourse I artikkelen beskriver og tolker jeg hvordan en første års praksislaerer, Anna, savner støtte i sin nye rolle som veileder for laererstudenter i norsk laererutdanning. Selv om hun er ansatt på det som blir kalt praksisskole, føler hun seg alene i arbeidet med laererstudentene. Det er ingen til å besvare hennes spørsmål om hvordan hun skal utføre sin nye rolle. Jeg argumenterer for at mangelen på en arena hvor hun kan diskutere spørsmålene sine, bidrar til at Anna posisjonerer seg som en som skal gjøre det andre har bestemt. Hun spør derfor etter det autoritative ordet fra høyskolen.Nøkkelord: praksislaerer, praksisskole, autoritative diskurs, indre overbevisende diskurs

An online teacher professional development programme as a boundary artefact for new school-based mentors

“…While earlier studies (e.g. Nilssen, 2016) have found that school-based mentors feel loneliness in their jobs as mentors, this study's findings showed that almost all participants felt they belonged to a professional community in the OTPD programme, which seems to have motivated them in their professional development. Motivation and satisfaction are indeed closely connected, and Andreasen et al (2019) claim that job satisfaction is important for teachers in the start-up phase.…”

“…Butler and Cuenca (2012) describe the situation for new school-based mentors as a “sink-or-swim approach” (p. 35), where the teacher education institution leaves them alone to discover what to do by themselves. This aligns with other studies presenting teachers as insecure in their role as a school-based mentor (Bullough, 2005; Nilssen, 2016).…”

“…By connecting theory, research and experiences with mentoring, the OTPD activity resulted in participants who described themselves as teacher educators and not just as guests, as found in Heggen and Thorsen's (2015) study. The school-based mentors reported that they felt more secure in their new roles as well, compared with the participants who felt insecure in Bullough (2005) and Nilssen (2016). Furthermore, the participants valued the design of the OTPD programme, with the content presented being closely connected to their needs.…”

“…The fourth challenge is that the job of a school-based mentor is "an isolated affair" because they are lonely and feel they do not belong to a professional community, neither with other school-based mentors at their school nor with staff at the university (Butler and Cuenca, 2012;Heggen and Thorsen, 2015;Nilssen, 2016). The feeling of standing alone is problematic because personal and relational aspects are important for school-based mentors' engagement and achievement when mentoring pre-service teachers (Sandvik et al, 2020).…”