Repositioning professionalism: teachers, mentors, policy and praxis

Abstract

This article reflects on the interplay between the recommended policy of providing mentors for PCET ITT (Post-Compulsory Education and Training Initial Teacher Training) students and the praxis or application of this policy. The findings are based on questionnaire data that has been gathered from 80 PCET ITT students and their mentors alongside semi-structured interview data from eight mentors. The research has been funded by the UK Higher Education Academy via ESCalate’s Developing Pedagogy and Practice research grant scheme. There appears to be a repositioning of professionalism because the ideal of a mentoring relationship that is developmental may become in reality a process that is judgemental in nature. The research data sheds new light on the work of Michel Foucault by viewing PCET ITT mentoring through this theoretical lens.

Keywords:

• mentoring
• discourse
• power
• reflective practice