Lesson-Based Discussion Between Mentor and Novice: Cases From U.S. and U.K. Preservice Teacher Education

• In Event: 63.071 - Core Issues in the Study of Mentoring in Preservice Education: Toward an Integrative Research Agenda

Abstract

Objectives: Pre-service mentoring is presumably useful in helping novices learn to teach in classroom (Feiman-Nemser, 2001). Observing novices’ teaching and discussing with novices about their lessons constitute the most active and contextualized intervention of mentoring in learning to teach (Hammerness, 2006). However, the purposes, content and processes of mentors and novices' talk about the lessons is mostly examined through observation at in-service level (Wang & Fulton, 2012). This study employs multiple data sources to examine the focuses and patterns of lesson-based discussions, and the culture of teaching that shape them.
Theoretical Framework: Two theories frame this study: Pedagogical Content Knowledge which stresses effective teaching as dependent on teachers’ ability to crate connections between content and students through appropriate pedagogical approaches (Shulman, 1987). This framework helps the study identify the discussion focuses that are valuable for novices’ learning to teach. The Zone of Proximal Development which emphasizes the role of mentor-novice interactions in scaffolding novices towards a level of teaching that is beyond what they can accomplish without assistance (Vygotsky, 1978). This framework helps capture the interaction patterns necessary for scaffolding novices, towards teaching outcomes and skills.
Method and Data Sources: The participants include two US high school mentoring pairs in mathematics and science respectively from a five-year teacher education program and two UK pairs in social studies from a field-based program. One lesson from each novice were analyzed to establish the bases for understanding the lesson-based discussions (Erickson, 2006). A lesson-based discussion between each pair was coded to capture the discussion focuses and patterns (Wang, Odell, & Strong, 2006). An interview with each participant about their mentoring relationship and interactions and the documents about the program and school contexts were analyzed to triangulate with other data sources (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).
Results: Both US and UK lesson-based discussions shared similar focuses and patterns, although from different subject areas, programs, and countries. They focused predominantly on behavior and managerial issues and relevant pedagogical or managerial solutions with little attention to content knowledge and its representation, which is consistent with the studies at in-service levels (Achinstein & Barrett, 2004; Wang, Strong, & Odell, 2004) and reflect the culture of teaching in which teachers’ content knowledge is their personal property (Lortie, 1975). The interaction patterns featured mentors’ soliciting novices’ ideas about the lesson. Once novices responded, mentors would move to a different event with little scaffolding to move novices to knowledge beyond their existing level, which echoes the studies at in-service level in US (Strong & Baron, 2004).
Significance: The study developed a micro-level understanding about the focuses and patterns of lesson-based discussion between pre-service level mentor and novice that is rarely explored (Anderson & Stillman, 2013). It raises the issue of field-based teacher education programs that rely on mentors heavily to help novices develop effective teaching (NCAT, 2010). It contributes to knowledge development of effective policy initiatives to help novices learn to teach.

Author

• Jian Wang, Texas Tech University