Associate Teachers’ views on dialogic mentoring

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to examine Associate Teachers’ (ATs) views on dialogic mentoring. More specifically it considers the views of 48 ATs who were involved in an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) partnership that has emerged in response to several changes that have occurred in Welsh education. Educational reforms in Wales have highlighted the value of mentoring and the new ITE partnership is uniquely committed to a dialogic approach. A questionnaire and three focus group interviews were used to generate data from the 48 ATs who were completing a one-year postgraduate programme. Thematic analysis was then used to interrogate the data and identify patterns of response. Adopting a dialogic approach was found to remove some of the anxiety around formal observations and help establish trusting collaborative relationships where ATs were willing to take risks. The dialogic approach was more democratic and gave ATs a stronger voice, but this also created some conflict as mentors’ own beliefs were more likely to be questioned. The dialogic approach relied on mentors being fully invested in the process and being committed to open conversations about learning.

KEYWORDS:

• dialogic mentoring
• associate teachers
• learning conversations
• initial teacher education

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Luke Jones

Luke Jones is a senior lecturer and a member of the Mentoring and Coaching in Education (MACIE) research group at the University of Chester. His research interests are mainly focused on mentoring and teacher education within the subject area of physical education. 

Steven Tones

Steven Tones is a Director of Partnership and Head of School Direct Programmes at the University of Chester. His mentoring and coaching interests focus on transformational learning and he is currently exploring the use of 'duoethnography' as a research method for mentoring in Teacher Education. Steven is part of the Mentoring and Coaching in Education (MACIE) research group in the Faculty of Education and Children's Services.

Gethin Foulkes

Gethin Foulkes is a senior lecturer in ITE and a PhD candidate at the University of Chester. His PhD focuses on primary school physical education, while other research interests include coaching and mentoring, learning theory and resilience. Gethin is part of the Mentoring and Coaching in Education (MACIE) research group in the Faculty of Education and Children's Services. 

Rhys C. Jones

Rhys Coetmor Jones is a lecturer at the School of Education and Human Sciences at Bangor University. He is currently completing his PhD in the professional learning of teachers and the development of schools as learning organisations. His other major research interests involve mentoring and coaching within education and physical education pedagogy.