What cooperating music teachers say about educative mentoring: A focus study research project

Abstract

In this study, we examine and provide a framework for “educative mentoring” by investigating five cooperating music teachers’ experiences and strategies of serving as mentors to student teachers. Data collection included a survey, focus groups, and individual interviews. The themes that arose suggest that cooperating teachers use narratives and wait for educative moments to emerge rather than preparing them ahead of time when mentoring. Cooperating teachers also wanted more guidance from the teacher education programs they serve. From this, we suggest that educative mentoring for the cooperating teachers was structured by the negotiation of three dialectical relationships: reflecting versus modeling; emergence versus purposefulness; and learning to teach in specific contexts versus preparation that transfers to teaching music in all settings. These findings may inform music teacher education practice and research by providing a framework for how cooperating teachers support novice teachers’ educational growth and providing cooperating teachers with the guidance they may desire from universities.

Teacher agency and teacher improvisation: A study of experienced teachers and student teachers in music classrooms

“…According to DeZutter, "to teach effectively, teachers must improvisationally scaffold evolving student thinking" (2011, p. 28). One can argue that scaffolding and reflection on progression within jazz, mentioned above, can serve as an inspiration for the development of a way of thinking within improvisational and agentic teaching, for example, in much the same way as Abramo and Campbell (2018) describe similar processes as "educative mentoring".…”

A Multiple Case Study of Music Cooperating Teacher Roles in Mentoring Dialogues

“…Participants in this study also approached mentoring their student teacher in a similar way to how they would approach their students (Achinstein & Athanases, 2006). This may indicate that a cooperating teacher's approach to mentoring aligns with their pedagogical approach to teaching and learning (Abramo & Campbell, 2019).…”

“…providing student teachers with the ongoing guidance, reflection, and coaching needed to develop as professionals (Abramo & Campbell, 2019).…”

Who Are the Music Teacher Educators? Part II

“…(JMTE Focus Group, 2023) Within general education, Clarke et al (2014) examined 185 research studies and organized them into 11 categories representing the ways in which cooperating teachers 3 participate in teacher education including feedback providers, gatekeepers, modelers, supporters of reflection, gleaners of knowledge, purveyors of context, conveners of relation, agents of socialization, advocates of the practical, abiders of change, and teachers of children. Several recent music education studies have utilized this framework (Abramo & Campbell, 2019;Baugh & Conway, 2024;Palmer, 2018;Pennello, 2020) and suggested it is useful in considering the many positive ways in which cooperating teachers are teacher educators.…”