The Inquiry Community as a Space for Mentors to Show Their Knowledge

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Ten
  In Roundtable Session: Mentoring Novice Teachers (Table 19)

Abstract

We examined how a mentor inquiry community served as a space for mentors to show their knowledge and the design features of the inquiry that stimulated knowledge sharing. Over the course of 15 months, three university-based mentors of pre-service teachers and the first author engaged in monthly inquiry meetings guided by the principles of Design Based Research (DBR). A thematic analysis revealed that mentors showed their knowledge through storytelling and engaging in joint problem solving. Results suggest that storytelling and joint problem solving were techniques that encouraged mentors to expose their knowledge, a necessary first step to learning or conceptual change. Results also suggest that DBR, when carefully planned and implemented by the interventionalist and the community, supported knowledge-sharing practices.

Authors

• Erin E. Riley-Lepo, The College of New Jersey
  Presenting Author

• Nicole Barnes, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author