Student teachers’ responses to critical mentor feedback: A study of face-saving strategies in teaching placements

Cato R.P Bjørndal

doi:10.1016/j.tate.2020.103047

Cato R.P Bjørndal

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103047

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Abstract

Despite much research on feedback in teaching placement, there is a limited number of interaction studies. Moreover, how student teachers respond to critical mentor feedback remains quite unmapped. This article aims to explore this interactional aspect through the analysis of 12 post-observation sessions.Critical feedback sequences are analysed by face-work theory (Goffman, 1967). Findings suggest that student teachers are deeply concerned about saving face when receiving critical feedback. Their strategies include “contradicting”, “withdrawing”, and “repairing” face, in addition to “emphasising a self-reflective and progressive face”. This article offers insights that may be helpful for communicating critical mentor feedback.

Highlights

The aim of the present study is to gain insight into how student teachers react to critical feedback in teaching placement supervision
The importance of mentor feedback in this context is subsequently emphasised, and it is argued that critical mentor feedback is both a main challenge and a necessity in supervision sessions, which underlines the need for more interaction research on critical feedback
The aim of this article is to better understand how student teachers respond to critical mentor feedback in supervision sessions during the teacher training placement part of teaching education, and the research question to be answered is: What facework strategies do student teachers employ when their competence face is threatened by critical mentor feedback?

Summary

Introduction

The aim of the present study is to gain insight into how student teachers react to critical feedback in teaching placement supervision. Critical mentor feedback is understood as information that asserts or asks whether there is a need to change aspects of one’s performance or understanding, and which is provided by a mentor in post-observation supervision sessions during the teaching. This research-based introduction starts by arguing that student teachers encounter a self-threatening context when they embark on their teaching placement. The importance of mentor feedback in this context is subsequently emphasised, and it is argued that critical mentor feedback is both a main challenge and a necessity in supervision sessions, which underlines the need for more interaction research on critical feedback. The analytic concepts from face-work theory (Goffman, 1967) used in the analysis are presented, and the few studies done on face-work in supervision of teaching in schools are described

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