Exploring the resonance between how mentor teachers experienced being mentored and how they mentor pre-service teachers during teaching practice

Abstract

With the study reported on here we aimed to explore and compare the experiences of pre-service teachers with their mentor teachers and of mentor teachers with their own mentor teachers when they were pre-service teachers. The design of this qualitative research was narrative inquiry. The study group consisted of senior pre-service pre-school teachers taking the Teaching Practice I course (n = 8) in the Faculty of Education at a state university and their mentor teachers (n = 4) teaching in public kindergartens. Qualitative data was collected through individual narrative interviews with pre-service teachers and their mentor teachers. The data was subjected to content analysis using inductive coding. Three themes emerged from the content analysis: (1) mentoring experiences of pre-service teachers and their mentor teachers, (2) mentoring memories of pre-service teachers and their mentor teachers, and (3) wishes of pre-service teachers and of their mentor teachers about mentoring. The most striking finding of this research was that the memories and wishes of pre-service teachers and their mentor teachers about mentoring were similar. The findings of this research are anticipated to bring about different perspectives and contribute to the content and effectiveness of teaching practice courses.