Adapting to Change: Investigating the Awareness of University Supervisors in ELT Field Regarding Their Changing Roles in the New Mentoring System in Turkey

Abstract

Practicum plays an indispensable role in teacher education. In 2018, a new model called the Clinical Supervision Model (CSM) was put into practice in Turkey; however, there is no nationwide research study related to the evaluation of the practicum process and the model from the perspectives of the university supervisors (US). With this in mind, the current study aims at evaluating the mentoring system and the CSM from the perspectives of the university supervisors (US). The study also tries to reveal how aware are the supervisors of their changing roles in the new mentoring system. The study adopted a qualitative research design and 12 USs from ELT departments participated in the study. The results revealed that the perceptions of the USs involved in the process were positive towards the CSM with varying degrees. The challenges that the stakeholders face in the process and their awareness of the new roles was also identified in the light of the qualitative data.