Mentors in Initial Teacher Education - initiatives for professional development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v7i8.1431Keywords:
Initial Teacher Education, mentors, professional development, course designAbstract
The aim with this study is to increase our knowledge about how mentors in Initial Teacher Education get professional development to develop their skills in mentoring. As a case study, a formal course for mentors offered at university is presented and critically discussed. The central content in the course was theories about learning and mentoring and formulating an individual practical professional theory (PPT). The content, aligns well with earlier research about mentoring and the mentors gave mainly positive comments about the content of the course and the form. What they questioned was the academic level approach when lectures were not relevant and academic writing became a problematic issue. In addition, the pre-requisites for participating in the course varied too much. The conclusion is that design of course for mentors needs to have clarity about its aims, form and pre-requisites for participants, not to create expectations among stakeholders, which cannot be fulfilled.
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