The mentoring mindset: a constructivist perspective?

Abstract

Internships have been explored as potentially valuable routes for extending teacher education. However, the ways in which the beliefs, values and attitudes (platform) of the mentor interacting with that of the associate teacher shape the internship, have not been investigated. Even though particular emphasis here is on the role of the mentor, because mentors are in the situation of working with many associate teachers, the platforms of both mentors and associates were considered as important in constructing the professional learning environment and the outcomes of professional development achieved. The platform, which is the basis of practice, is therefore also nominated here as a mindset. As the mentoring mindset is rarely explicit then the mentoring practice often is a revelation. These concepts are illustrated through the use of cases and conclusions drawn regarding the constructivist perspective of the mentoring mindset.

Internship: interpreting micropolitical contexts

“…Writers in the field have researched to show how mentoring as a generic pedagogic capacity can scaffold learning in many spheres-in schools (Carr et al 2005;Fletcher 2000); for teachers (Cox 2004;Hurst and Reading 2002); for preservice teachers (Millwater and Ehrich 2008;Millwater and Yarrow 1997); for beginner and first year teachers (Podson and Denmark 2000) and within specific disciplines (Hudson 2004). The research and writing in the field suggests that mentors, whether they are appointed mentors, buddy mentors or peer mentors, must build and maintain a relationship, with the purpose of creating a psychological climate of trust and respect (Zhao and Reed in Kochan and Pascarelli 2003).…”

Discovering the tutors’ perspective on the quality of internship programs in a pandemic context

“…Researchers have addressed the activities performed by a mentor in various fields. Millwater and Yarrow (1997) identified a series of tasks that a mentor should fulfill: assisting the learners in their activities with advises, increasing the learners' knowledge by "taking the learner from where they were and developing the person from there". Also, the mentor should develop a connection with the learner and should earn the trust and respect of the student.…”

Loss and Grief Experiences of Mentors in Social Work Education

“…For the most part, there are no social rituals for expressing unrecognized grief as there is little social construction of the mentor's grief. When grief is not socially recognized, it is "disenfranchised" or set apart from, mainstream social attention and accompanying expressive rituals (Doka, 1989;Jackson, 2003;Millwater & Yarrow, 1997). Jackson (2003) describes disenfranchised grief as "sadness in a vacuum" (p. 12).…”