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Cultivating Positive Teacher Identities: Using Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory to Mentor Deeply Reflective Practitioners

Sat, April 18, 2:45 to 4:15pm, Hyatt, Floor: East Tower - Purple Level, Riverside West

Abstract

This paper focuses on an innovative, theoretically-grounded approach to mentoring student-teachers. Using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Ecological Systems Theory and Spencer's (1995) Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST), these theoretical frames are important in helping student-teachers to understand their own process of development within their own ecology, and have an awareness and understanding for the students' ecology whom they teach, ultimately shaping curricular, instructional, and pedagogical decisions. The data showed that student-teachers greatly benefited from the mentoring provided through the PVEST lens, and demonstrated transformational thinking by reflecting on their moment-to-moment experiences in the classroom through the PVEST model. Participants reported positive emerging teacher identities as a result of this innovative mentoring.

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