School-based Mentors Research Articles

Review of Enhancing primary science teaching through school-based mentors: A study from Pakistan

Review of Enhancing primary science teaching through school-based mentors: A study from Pakistan

Risks and rewards of school-based mentoring relationships: A reanalysis of the student mentoring program evaluation.

In the United States, school-based mentoring programs are a large and widely funded form of mentoring. Despite widespread support, meta-analyses indicate that the effects of school-based mentoring programs are small. One hypothesis for these results is that school-based mentors are not able to develop a sufficiently high-quality relationship with mentees to produce the hypothesized positive effects. This study presents a reanalysis of a large randomized controlled trial of school-based mentoring and examines the estimated effect of mentoring as a function of mentee-reported relationship quality using a novel statistical approach. Although we found that average effect sizes were near zero and consistent with researchers' original findings, our findings also indicate that low relationship quality is associated with some harmful effects, particularly on misconduct, and that as relationship quality improves, so do effects. However, we found that this association decelerates and resulted in small, positive effects for some outcomes. These results suggest that that poor relationship quality may produce harmful effects and a strong relationship may not be sufficient to produce moderate, positive academic and behavioral outcomes in a school-based mentoring context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Dropouts Thoughts on Whether Having a Mentor Would Have Helped Them Remain in School

Millions of high school and college students drop out each and every year. For many of these individuals there are resultant problems associated with dropping out, such as being unemployed and living in poverty. Those that graduate from school, especially from college, realize many benefits over the life course. This study looked at the thoughts and attitudes of school dropouts regarding whether or not having a school-based mentor would have helped them to stay enrolled in their respective programs. This study collected information from 381 school dropouts. The findings from this project suggest that having a mentor would be a valuable resource for those students that are at risk of leaving their programs before they graduate. The general findings revealed that the majority of respondents felt that having a school professional working closely with them would have helped them to remain in their classes. Mentoring programs help at-risk students to feel more engaged, less isolated, and more committed to their studies. Mentoring programs aid in improving overall academic standing and they also serve to decrease dropout rates. These findings should be of use to professionals working in any educational setting, such as teachers, program directors, and counselors.

Understanding student teachers’ professional identity transformation through metaphor: an international perspective

ABSTRACTThis paper traces 120 student teachers’ professional identity transformation during practicums in China and US. By eliciting the participants’ 240 written metaphors at the start and the end of the teaching practicums respectively, this study reveals the change of the embodied metaphors revolving around four arenas: (1) from idealistic expectations of teachers’ roles to authentic perceptions; (2) from the felt inadequacy of professional knowledge and capability in teaching to varying professional growth; (3) from the transition shock to professional identity adjustment; and (4) the dynamic relationship with the school-based mentors. Meanwhile, this project found that the Chinese and American student teachers’ professional identity transformation is a continuous process of interpretation and re-interpretation of professional experiences, which involves the interaction between person and socio-political context. The process is also idiosyncratic and is replete with identity construction. Implications for facilitating student teachers’ professional identity transformation are discussed.

Reimagining the role of mentor teachers in professional experience: moving to I as fellow teacher educator

ABSTRACTNew accreditation requirements for Australian initial teacher education programs require that universities and schools establish quality partnerships to ensure strong links between pre-service teachers’ university-based learning and school-based professional learning experiences. This paper focuses on the shifts of identity, thinking and practice that occurred for five school-based mentor teachers as they co-created new professional experience practices alongside university-based teacher educators in a Teaching Academies of Professional Practice (TAPP) project. Interview data was analysed through the theoretical framework of Dialogical Self Theory to examine how the repositioning of mentor teachers as fellow teacher educators allowed for expansion in the understanding and enactment of their role. The findings of this study suggest that partnerships between schools and universities can enhance learning opportunities for all participants when commitments are made to creating collaborative and dialogical spaces to support new approaches to teacher education.

Mentoring to Promote Courage and Confidence Among Elementary School Students With Internalizing Problems: A Single-Case Design Pilot Study

ABSTRACTThere is a paucity of selective, Tier 2 interventions that educators can implement for students with internalizing problems as part of their schools' Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports. To fill this void, the authors' purpose was to evaluate the efficacy, acceptability, and integrity of a structured school-based mentoring program, the Courage and Confidence Mentor Program (CCMP), for elementary students. A single-case experimental multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the efficacy of the CCMP with 6 students. Visual analysis of the results and single-case effect size estimates revealed that all but 1 of the participants demonstrated noticeable reductions in internalizing problems as measured by teacher-completed direct behavior ratings. Findings were confirmed by other dependent variables gathered from students and teachers. Limitations of the methods and directions for future research involving Tier 2 interventions for elementary students with internalizing problems are discussed.

Extending the teacher educator role: developing tools for working with school mentors

This article considers the ways in which a group of university-based teacher educators work with school-based mentors (cooperating teachers). Owing to a number of changes in teacher education policy in England, feelings of marginalisation from the teacher educators are presented before exploring how they undertake their work with school mentors. Using a cultural and historical activity theory lens through which to view interview data, the analysis explores how teacher education activity has changed over the nine years since first interviewing the teacher educators. The findings identify three tools which mediate the work with school mentors. How the teacher educators perceive these tools is analysed in order to compare work intentions driven by the object motive of the teacher education activity with those advocated in the teacher education research literature. Collaborative working practices established by appropriating tools developed from scholarship activity around subject journals, research projects and mentor collectives suggest ways forward for enhancing the teacher educator role. This role is diversifying in teacher education in England with the introduction of new school-based training routes for beginning teachers. Consequently, there is growing need for greater clarity around the work, training and professional development opportunities for teacher educators in England.

Supporting police community support officers to become effective school link officers: key stakeholder perceptions of a pilot professional development programme

This article presents the findings of a pilot professional development programme designed to support police community support officers (PCSOs) to become effective school link officers (SLOs) within urban secondary schools in the English West Midlands. Findings are presented via perceptions of key stakeholders: SLOs themselves; school-based mentors supporting the work of SLOs; and the West Midlands Police officer coordinating aspects of the project. The agreed professional development model comprised a two-day induction programme; school-based mentoring and coaching; and SLOs’ reflections via a small-scale action research project. Findings reveal the complexities of community policing in contemporary urban secondary school contexts and the challenges of enhancing the professional status of the SLO. Although PCSOs have been working as SLOs for several years, preparation for this role has been inadequate and the issue has generally been overlooked in the literature. The pivotal role of effective school-based mentorship, opportunities for reflection and gaining national professional recognition via the action research project emerge as particularly positive features of the professional development model. With the ultimate aim of safeguarding young people, recommendations are also made to further develop the model to enhance SLOs’ professional learning and effectiveness and to maximise inter-professional working.

Partnerships in action: establishing a model of collaborative support to student and mentor teachers through a universityschool partnership

South African universities have a crucial role to play in helping reduce inequalities in schooling by preparing teachers for working across diverse school contexts. This article examines a pre-service teacher collaborative support programme generated through a twoyear action research process. The programme was designed to support student teachers and their school-based mentors during Teaching Practice through an existing university-school partnership. Using a qualitative analysis of journal entries and separate focus group discussions with student and mentor teachers we describe students’ and mentors’ responses to the collaborative support programme. The findings of the study suggest that a collaborative support strategy pitched at both the university and school is critical to support student teachers during their pre-service teaching, especially in socially and educationally challenging contexts. Joint responsibility for initial teacher development requires a reconceptualisation of the role of the mentor teacher, and a shift towards the distribution of mentoring functions from a few designated mentor teachers to include a wider range of teachers at the school.

Influence of the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Mentor Teachers and College Tutors to Classroom Practice of Student Teachers

The study surveyed student teachers (n = 130) from two Colleges of Education in northern and southern Ghana who reported a significantly greater influence by school-based mentors on their teaching practice when they had been with them for 10 weeks. The study is correlational that employed a questionnaire that sought the opinions of student teachers on the influence of school mentors and college tutors on their classroom practice. Descriptive and correlational data analyses were performed on the data collected. Independent t-test was used to test the null hypothesis of research question 3 at .05 level of significance. The results of the study revealed that the correlations between student teachers’ perceptions of their school mentors’ PCK in planning and preparation of lessons, cordial relationship with the student teacher, feedback received, and methods of teaching and how these influenced their classroom practice were all statistically significant at p = < .05. The results also revealed that the correlations between student teachers’ perceptions of their college tutors’ PCK in planning and preparation of lessons, cordial relationship with the student teacher, feedback received, and methods of teaching and how these influenced their classroom practice were all statistically significant at p = < .05. However, t-test results indicated that student teachers related well with their school mentors than college tutors. The difference in this cordial relationship was statistically significant (t = 6.045, p < .01). The student teachers also perceived that they received more feedback from their school mentors than from their college tutors during their internship. The difference was again statistically significant (t = 4.565, p< = .01). These findings have important implications as they suggest a greater transfer of learning from the school to the classroom than from the college, producing student teachers who are willing to incorporate and implement school-based practices in a new context. Colleges of education need to have closer links with partnership schools than it is now. There is a growing need to rethink of student teaching and how to tightly link the university with the school system for effective and qualitative training of student teachers.

Mentor teachers as leaders and followers in school-based contexts in the Republic of Ireland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to exploratory small-scale study is to examine the intertwined leadership and followership aspects of the roles performed by school-based mentors in the Republic of Ireland. Design/methodology/approach – In order to investigate mentor teachers’ perceptions of their role with reference to leadership and followership in their school contexts, a questionnaire was distributed to the full cohort of 56 mentor teachers who participated in the National Programme for Teacher Induction. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with four mentor teacher facilitators from different regions across Ireland who were also mentors in their respective schools. Findings – The findings from this exploratory small-scale study suggest that the hierarchical nature of the school context influenced mentor teachers’ perceptions of their leadership and followership roles. They regarded themselves as leaders in a general sense and considered that all members of staff had something to contribute to the leadership process in the school. However, the school context moderated their own perceptions about their individual approaches to leadership. Participants in this study were unclear about the term followership and were reluctant to use it. They considered themselves to be performing a supportive role in the hierarchical structure of the school context. Research limitations/implications – As this is an exploratory qualitative study with a small sample size in a country where the role of a mentor teacher in schools is a relatively new concept, the findings should be interpreted with caution. Future research would benefit from multi-method approaches to data collections that examine variations in followership perceptions from individuals prior to becoming mentors in order for comparisons to be made. Practical implications – The practical implications of this study from a management perspective suggest that followership needs to be considered very carefully in school contexts as a way of contributing to the co-construction of leadership which engages all members of staff. It is clear that there is a need to move away from hierarchical interpretations of middle management posts of responsibility. More emphasis should be placed on the ways in which teachers construct their roles within schools as this impacts upon leadership processes and organizational effectiveness. Equally important is an open acknowledgement of the tensions involved in developing such roles and responsibilities. Originality/value – Followership is not researched widely in schools, particularly with reference to the role of mentor teachers. This is an interesting group as the very nature of their work involves maintaining boundaries and managing multiple relationships. They are generally collaborative in their approach and are well placed to co-construct leadership with their colleagues and their principals with appropriate supports in the school context.

The Role of Mentors in Developing and Implementing High-Quality Field-Based Placements

Teacher preparation programs (TPP) rely on school-based mentor teachers and university mentors to assist their teacher candidates with bridging the information presented in courses to the “real world” of teaching. Given the important role that the clinical components of teacher preparation provide in terms of candidate development, the variation across TPPs in terms of support provided for mentor teachers (from minimal to extensive) is pronounced. This article describes how one university delivered comprehensive training for mentors that reflects research-recommended practices in mentoring and delivery of special education practices. Outcomes from mentors, faculty, and teacher candidates are presented to illustrate how other TPPs can increase the level of support provided for mentor teachers and university mentors.

The Reliability of Mentor Assessments in Teaching Practice in an Open Distance e-Learning (ODeL) Context

All Teacher Education Institutions depend on school-based mentors to assist and guide student teachers doing teaching practice. Some also depend on mentors to do some of the assessments of these student teachers. ODeL institutions depend on these mentors even more as their lecturers cannot visit all students everywhere. For an ODeL institution it is therefore of critical importance that assessments done by mentors should be reliable. Research for this article was undertaken to determine if assessments done by mentors that were utilised by a particular ODeL institution were reliable and if not how that can be remedied. The findings indicate that most mentor assessments are not very reliable at this stage but that good training in mentoring and assessment can improve the reliability of such assessments. For ODeL institutions it is therefore critical to ensure that quality mentor training precedes the appointment of mentors so that more reliable mentor assessments can be made.

The Lesson Observation On-line (Evidence Portfolio) Platform

At a time when teacher training is being moved to school-based programmes it is important to engage in a research-informed dialogue about creating more distinctive, and cost-effective 21st century models of teacher training. Three years ago I began feasibility field testing the Lesson Observation On-line (Evidence Portfolio) Platform [LOOP] concept (Cooper, 2012). Student-teachers from a university in the Midlands of England were video recorded, with their schools’ permissions, teaching mathematics’ lessons during their second period of teaching experience. The video recorded lessons together with the trainees’ lesson plans, accompanying lesson resources, lesson self-evaluations and snapshots of tangible, written pupil outputs captured from three representative pupils were subsequently collated in each individual teacher’s evidence portfolio. The trainees’ lesson observation feedback reports by their university tutors and school-based mentors were also included in the lesson evidence portfolios. These provided trainees with better, and richer, sources of detailed evidence about their teaching performances during their second periods of teaching experience than had previously been available. Since this paper was initially drafted a Lesson Observation On-line Platform [LOOP Australia] project has been developed and Seed funded by the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching in 2014/5.

Exploring School-Based Mentors’ Assessment of Practicum in Diverse Teaching Contexts

Practicum is one of the important processes preservice teachers engage in during their preparation. In this study, we explored school-based mentors’ (SBMs) assessment and feedback comments of preservice teachers’ (PSTs) teaching ability during practicum. We aimed specifically to assess mentors’ judgment comments on lesson teaching activities during a six-week practicum in diverse teaching contexts. For a deeper understanding of the judgment comments, we invoked two theories; the cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and the social judgment theory (SJT). We collected and analysed data through qualitative and quantitative methods. Our findings show that mentors’ judgment comments vary across and within contexts. That is, assessment comments differed between individual mentors within and across contexts in terms of what assessors focused on or about the aspects of the criteria that were mentioned in their comments. As for the quality (e.g. comprehensiveness, accuracy or appropriateness) of the judgment comments (as feedback), mentors were not comprehensive in their comments and their reference to criteria was limited and in some cases inconsistent. In some instances, comments were inappropriate; they did not add any formative value or relate to the criteria. Generally, mentors’ feedback comments lacked usefulness to the university educator’s and preservice teacher’s formative purposes. In conclusion, the study highlights the importance of quality and equity of and in assessment, especially of the same cohort in diverse teaching contexts. That is, there is the need for an assessment instrument that would ensure that most aspects of the criteria are comprehensively assessed and commented on, especially for formative purposes. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p821

Mentoring student teachers; a vulnerable workplace learning practice

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of mentoring as a workplace process. The mentees are post-graduate student teachers hosted in placement schools. The research aims to explore the experiences of key participants in a policy context where the role and scale of school-based teacher training is expanding rapidly.Design/methodology/approach– This is an interpretative case study of mentoring practices assigned to a secondary level initial teacher training partnership, with the mentors being subject teachers working in school departments which host post-graduate student teachers. The case study was investigated over two years and included focus groups, interviews, questionnaires and content analysis. Participants were student teachers, their mentors and both school-based and university-based tutors.Findings– Positive experiences of mentoring are not universal. Mentoring interacts with the required processes of monitoring and reporting and in some cases the power structures associated with these processes conflict with the less performative aspects. However, when mentors are offered evidence of student teachers’ perceptions and theoretical constructs of mentoring as practice they can start to recognise that it can be enhanced.Practical implications– The quality of mentoring in initial teacher education will take on even greater significance in jurisdictions, such as England, where the role of workplace learning is strengthened as a result of changes of government policy.Originality/value– The outcomes of this study will be relevant to policy makers, school-based mentors and system leaders for teacher education – whether school or university based.

Peers, Mentors, and University Educators Assessing Science Student Teachers during School-Based Practicum: Whose Assessment Matters?

In this paper, we explore the assessment practices of peers, school-based mentors, and university educators during teaching practicum for students registered at a South African university. Student teachers in their second year of Bachelor of Education study were assessed while teaching a science lesson at a school during practicum. Each of the assessors observed a student teacher teaching a separate lesson and the comments were recorded in a teaching journal. Using a coding system, we analyzed all the assessors’ comments recorded in 53 journals. The analysis indicates that the assessors focused on four areas of teaching knowledge, i.e. praising of student teacher, learner knowledge, teaching strategy, and subject matter knowledge. Although there were some differences in the way the assessors assessed these knowledge areas, we suggest that all assessors should undergo some training before assessing student teachers. Because their comments were mostly focused on praising student teachers during the teaching practicum, we also suggest that peers should only assess for formative purposes during practicum. Mentors and university teacher educators should be the only people assessing student teachers for both formative and summative purposes. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1782

Exploring the Roles and Responsibilities of Mentors During Teaching Practice Session

The role and responsibilities of mentors is extremely important to the student teachers. Mentors are to provide student teachers with the skills and knowledge needed to allow them to learn and use them in their teaching practice. The study sought to explore the roles and responsibilities of mentors during teaching practice sessions. The study adopted a qualitative case study design in which a purposeful sample of ten mentor teachers participated. Open ended questionnaires were used as the main and sole data collection tool. Content analysis was used to analyse data thematically after coding. The study found that school-based mentors were generally helpful to student teachers in numerous areas ranging from teaching and learning, assessment of learners as well as classroom management. The study concluded that attaching trainee teachers to mentors is a good approach which could be further enhanced by adequately preparing mentors for their roles. Recommendations are made. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1833

Student teachers’ views of practicums (teacher training placements) in Turkish and English contexts: a comparative study

How student teachers experience their transformation into serving teachers in the liminal social spaces of the school-based practicum (teaching practice) is of key importance to them, their future students and their educators. The practicum is a challenging experience for student teachers, even with help from university and school-based mentors, as their knowledge of practice, power and culture in schools lacks sophistication. The practicum, an under-researched but important aspect of education, was investigated by this study by asking 480 student teachers in three universities in Turkey and England in 2010–2011 about how well their universities prepared them for the practicum, what made practicums successful and how practicums fostered their professional development. Participants generally thought the practicum helped them to develop skills in student and classroom management, in meeting students’ diverse learning needs, in recognising multiple students’ perspectives and in grounding their understanding of what it meant to be a teacher ‘for real’.

Assessing the Helpfulness of School-Based Mentors in the Nurturing of Student Teachers’ Professional Growth on Teaching Practice

The study sought to assess the helpfulness of school-based mentors in the nurturing of professional development of student teachers on teaching practice. The study adopted a qualitative case study design in which a purposeful sample of twenty-five final Bachelor of Education students participated. Open ended questionnaires were used as the main and sole data collection tool. Content analysis was used to analyse data thematically after coding. The study found that school-based mentors were generally helpful to student teachers in numerous areas ranging from record making and keeping to classroom management. There were concerns of some mentors who only waited for students to ask for assistance. The study concluded that attaching trainee teachers to mentors is a good approach which could be further enhanced by adequately preparing mentors for their roles. Recommendations are made. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n7p402