Mentor skills in a new context: working with trainee teachers to develop the use of information and communications technology in their subject teaching

Abstract

This article reports on the findings of a study looking at the role of the school‐based mentor in developing the competence of trainee teachers in relation to the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the classroom. One key factor in determining the contribution of the mentor appears to be the level of confidence in his/her ability to use ICT, both personally and in the classroom, which in turn has an effect on both the nature and range of the support given to the trainee teacher. Questionnaire and interview data indicated that many mentors feel that their ICT expertise is often not as great as that of the trainee (and therefore feel less confident and/or willing to offer guidance in this area) and that they are unable to offer support to trainees in relation to contexts that involve the use of ICT in the classroom. The authors would suggest that traditional approaches to mentoring might need to be reviewed in the light of this and they would argue that there could be benefits from adopting more innovative ways of working whereby the trainee’s ICT knowledge and skills might be used to full effect when combined with the mentor’s understanding of classroom teaching and learning. Such a model has implications for the providers of initial teacher training and these are discussed.

Notes

1. The current study was carried out prior to the introduction of these new Standards. At the time of the study the requirements for initial teacher training were set out in Teaching: High Status, High Standards—Requirements for Courses of Initial Teacher Training (Department for Education and Employment, 1998). The ICT requirements were set out in Annex B of the above.

2. A brief explanation of the structure of the PGCE course under discussion may, at this stage, be helpful. The first part of the programme (from September until December) is referred to here as Stage 1 and covers the time when the trainees are at the HEI for three days, and in school for two days each week. From January onwards the trainees continue in the same school within the partnership on a full‐time basis and this part of the programme is referred to here as Stage 2. A second school experience takes place in the final weeks of the course.