Student teachers’ self-dialogues, peer dialogues, and supervisory dialogues in placement learning

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper compares three types of dialogues as reflective tools in placement learning: supervisory dialogues (mentor to student-teacher), peer dialogues (student teacher to student teacher) and self-dialogues (student teachers to themselves). Forty-four Dutch student teachers utilised the procedure of guided reflection to talk about their teaching experience. Stimulated recall data were analysed through qualitative and quantitative methods. Most poignant result was that supervisory and peer dialogues seemed to have similar reflective power considering student teacher’s practical knowledge and richness of argumentation for appraisals. We suggest more frequent use of peer dialogues. Only when expert advice is needed, should one employ supervisory dialogues. As self-dialogues engendered most rules and resolves, they could arguably be employed for student teachers to consolidate their own knowledge and manage their learning behaviour.