Rewriting the Script of Mentoring Pre-Service Teachers in Third Space: Exploring Tensions of Loyalty, Obligation and Advocacy

Abstract

Supporting pre-service teachers as they develop their understandings of teaching, learning and their identities as teachers is complex and multi-faceted work. I draw on self-study to explore my work in a new partnership model between a school in Victoria, Australia and a regional university. During 2013, I worked in both contexts and carried out the dual roles of teacher educator and secondary teacher. In this partnership, I set out to create a third space for mentoring and supporting pre-service teachers, making connections between their on-campus work and their developing practice in schools. Throughout the self-study, I kept field notes and a reflective journal. In analysing these, I identified the tensions and challenges of working in this space and in articulating my pedagogy as a university mentor. I experienced uncomfortable moments of learning, where I faced tensions related to issues of obligation, loyalty and advocacy. I argue that engaging in processes of translation and mediation enables university mentors to articulate a pedagogy of mentoring and, in so doing, to rewrite the script of mentoring for pre-service and supervising teachers.

Keywords::

• mentoring
• pre-service teacher education
• third space
• professional experience placements