Silencing and Legitimizing Dominant Ideologies in Literacy

This dissertation utilized a qualitative collective case study (Stake, 1995) to examine four Black adolescent girls' science identities within the context of an afterschool science program featuring a culturally sustaining science curriculum. Employing a qualitative research design, the study utilized semi-structured interviews, video observations, reflective journaling, and Black girl cartography to examine how four Black girls perceived themselves in relation to science as they engaged with a culturally sustaining science curriculum and how their engagement in the afterschool program influenced how they perceived their science abilities. The analysis drew upon the theories of Critical Race Feminism (Berry, 2010; Wing, 1997) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (Paris, 2012) to explore the intersections of race, gender, culture, and science education. Findings suggest that the centering of participants' interests and perspectives within the curriculum played a significant role in fostering a sense of belonging, empowerment, and confidence in scientific abilities. The findings also underscore the impact of culturally sustaining practices on Black girls' attitudes towards science, illuminating how such approaches can shape their identities as science learners and practitioners. Central to these findings is the recognition of Black girls' intersectional identities and the significance of valuing these identities within science education settings. By honoring Black girls' multifaceted identities, the study advocates for utilizing a strengths-based approach that enhances understanding of how Black girls actively participate in and contribute to the science community. This research contributes to both theoretical understandings and practical applications in science education of how culturally sustaining educational practices support and empower Black girls engaging in science, offering implications for educators, researchers, and policymakers interested in promoting equitable access and engagement in science among Black girls.

Work-based learning is an influential period of teacher education, where a mentor teacher is assigned to support the student teacher. Mentoring conversations between the mentor teachers and student teacher seldom cover how student teachers cope with emotional challenges. Therefore, we aimed to investigate mentor teachers’ perspectives on student teachers’ reports of emotional challenges. The study had a particular focus on actions the mentor teachers described as preferable in reacting to scenarios of emotional challenges reported by student teachers. We conducted a constructivist grounded theory study and interviewed 22 mentor teachers. The findings of the study show that mentor teachers’ main concern revolved around student teachers’ understanding of challenges as learning opportunities. According to mentor teachers’ descriptions, the preferred actions in their role as mentor teachers were to regulate, engage/help, be exemplary, and take charge. Thus, our study shows that mentor teachers intended to aid student teachers in navigating emotional challenges.

Practicum in early childhood teacher education is widely acknowledged as essential, with kindergarten-based mentor teachers playing a key role in student teachers’ professional development. Despite their importance, research on early childhood education mentor teachers remains limited to date. This mixed methods study explores how mentor teachers perceive their role, including motivations and challenges. It combines survey data with qualitative interviews with Norwegian mentor teachers. Findings indicate that mentor teachers are highly motivated, view mentoring as a professional responsibility, and find collaboration with student teachers and teacher education programmes rewarding. However, several challenges are identified, particularly competing roles and responsibilities, academic pressure, and the organisation and demands of the practicum. The results offer insights to strengthen mentor teachers’ role, enhance partnerships between higher education institutions and the practice field, and support mentor teachers in providing student teachers with a realistic understanding of the early childhood profession.

I have felt like a student ... because [Mary] is teaching me so many things and so sometimes we're in that role. But it's not me sitting on the other side of the desk. It's kind of like sitting beside her being a student. And, I have felt like we're colleagues when we share, particularly when we work with literature. ... We were able to feed off each other. It wasn't me so much learning, I mean I was learning, we were learning from each other. A student teacher in the Effective Mentoring in English Education (EMEE) project, Jessica (pseudonyms used), described the various relations she negotiated with her cooperating teacher, Mary. In this interview, she portrayed herself as both student and colleague. Later in the same conversation, Jessica described Mary as a friend who invited Jessica to dinner when her husband was out of town. Jessica's portrayal provides a glimpse into the importance she attached to her relationship with her mentor teacher, one in which she could find guidance, mutual learning, and friendship. This supportive, friendly relationship has not frequently appeared in the professional literature on preservice education. Most recent studies have focused on the student teachers' perceptions of their preservice experiences or the power cooperating teachers exert over their less experienced colleagues (Britzman, 1991; Vinz, 1996). In these studies, mentor teachers have often been viewed as impeding student teachers' professional growth rather than as promoting it. Considering the importance student teachers place on their practice teaching and the crucial role that mentor teachers play in this experience, the few portraits of effective mentors highlight the need for detailed examinations of effective mentoring in preservice teacher education. To this end, the EMEE project explored how effective mentors, such as Mary, supported student teachers during their practice teaching. We organized this project as a clinical partnership (Wagner, 1997). In these partnerships, teachers participate in reflexive, systematic inquiry sustained by the opportunity to engage in extended conversations about teaching practice (Wagner, 1997, p. 13). In the EMEE project, the cooperating teachers and student teachers served as both coresearchers and informants, exploring with us the significance of their evolving relationships for the education of new teachers. This research process was exploratory, emergent, and dialogic in character (Allen, Cary, & Delgado, 1995; Clark et al., 1996; Dyson, 1995). It emphasized the voices of teachers and student teachers in understanding experiences while it engaged them in expanding the boundaries of their own knowledge about teaching and professional growth. This approach and the topic of inquiry are significantly connected to contemporary thought on teacher development (Clifford & Green, 1996; Elliott, 1995; Hawkey, 1997; McNamara, 1995). Previous studies have suggested that mentors act as instructional models, sources of advice, and sounding boards for concerns about teaching; they challenge student teachers to think more broadly about their practice; and they guide the student teachers' professional development (Daloz, 1986; Elliott & Calderhead, 1993). Moreover, research suggests that mentoring relationships evolve over time in predictable ways, although student teachers' growth may be spurred by unanticipated but significant events (Fairbanks & Meritt, 1998; Maynard & Furlong, 1993; McIntyre & Hagger, 1993; Vinz, 1996). Current research suggests that mentoring relationships shape new teachers' professional practice in important ways (Hawkey, 1997). McNamara (1995) argues that the quality of mentoring influences student teachers' capacity to reflect on teaching strategies and to incorporate them into their own practice. In sum, these studies suggest that mentoring consists of complex social interactions that mentor teachers and student teachers construct and negotiate for a variety of professional purposes and in response to the contextual factors they encounter. …

PurposeThis paper is about mentoring of initial teacher education (ITE) students whilst on their practicum.Design/methodology/approachInformed by a social constructivist theoretical framework, an online survey was used to capture the breadth of quantitative data and the richness of qualitative responses relating to factors that impact student teachers' experiences during practicum.FindingsQuantitative data indicate that many student teachers were positive about the practicum, but this varied across the type of school in which they were placed. The qualitative data analyses showed a greater in-depth understanding of the range of issues that impacted how student teachers are treated in their role as a mentee by the mentor and the wider school community.Practical implicationsBetter understanding the experiences of student teachers helps to inform ITE providers of the critical role that mentor teachers play in preparing student teachers. The practical implications are that strategies to develop deep and collaborative partnerships amongst ITE providers, mentor teachers and school leaders, which build stronger understandings of a mentor teacher's role, are critical in order to support student teachers.Originality/valueThis research study repositions the critical nature of effective mentoring of student teachers so that mentor teachers and ITE providers can be informed by the voices and lived realities of these student teachers. The mentoring relationship needs to be critically interrogated to provide a more even and supportive “playing field” for all student teachers.

Effective teaching practices are crucial for fostering the intellectual development of learners, thereby making the evaluation of instructional practices during Teaching Practice (TP) sessions imperative. This study aims to investigate primary and secondary school mentor teachers' perceptions about teaching practice assessment rubrics and their role as mentor teachers, all to enhance teaching practice coordination. Drawing from constructivist, social cognitive, situated learning, professional identity development, and critical pedagogy theories, a qualitative case study approach was employed within an interpretivist paradigm. Data were collected through focus group discussions from 77 secondary and primary school mentors during a teaching practice orientation workshop in the central region of Botswana. The analysis of data was thematic, revealing mentor teachers' perceptions of assessment rubrics, challenges faced, and readiness to supervise student teachers. Results indicate that while mentors perceive the rubrics as effective tools, challenges such as lack of clarity and workload burden exist. The study further recommends enhancing assessment rubric clarification, addressing workload issues, improving student teacher resource supports, promoting collaboration, as well as conducting further research on teaching practice coordination. Implementing these recommendations can enhance teaching practice effectiveness, better preparing aspiring teachers for future roles, and fostering a supportive learning environment.

Student teaching is a powerful formative experience for special education teacher candidates. Crucial to candidate success in student teaching is the effectiveness of their mentor teacher. However, the role of mentor teacher does not occur in a vacuum and context factors into the quality of the experience. A growing body of research indicates that a placement school’s working conditions may also contribute to candidate outcomes. Yet, prior research provides little insight into how these elements may interact and relate to candidates’ development. This study investigates this potential relationship and the ways in which they may shape candidate development. Results suggest mentor teachers’ available planning time and collaborative relationships with general education colleagues are important working conditions in supporting relationships between mentors and candidates, candidate development, and candidates’ future career plans. Implications and future directions for mentorship research are discussed.

Competence in using information and communications technology (ICT) in teaching is required for Qualified Teacher Status and considerable attention is given to acquiring skills during initial teacher training and school experience. In the past, in secondary schools (ages 11-18 years), serving and student teachers of the more numeric subjects (sciences, social sciences, technology and maths) generally reported more positive views and use of ICT than their fellows of the less numeric subjects such as humanities and languages. However, there appeared to be considerable variation amongst individuals within subjects. Explanations of individual variation were explained by access to ICT equipment, preparation and opportunities for student teachers to use ICT in school experience, compatibility of views of ICT use amongst teacher mentors and their colleagues and competing demands on student teachers' time and energy. Both general trends and individual cases are considered in this article. Findings suggest that positive views and actual use of ICT in teaching have increased considerably in recent years. A sample of student teachers and teacher mentors were able to describe a range of uses of ICT; they valued ICT highly but generally less than teaching skills such as planning, preparation and class management.

Research has shown that mentor teachers play varied roles. Using a conceptual framework grounded in these roles, the researchers explored what seven student teachers said during multiple interviews about the roles they wanted for their mentor teachers. Findings showed that while some participants preferred emotional support and others wanted instructional support, none wanted socialization. The researchers identified a new category–mentor as gatekeeper–to capture the preferences of one participant and concerns of others. This category reflected a focus on the credentialing aspect of student teaching as something that students must complete before licensure. Implications for teacher education included additional support for mentor teacher–preservice teacher pairs such as conversations about desired, expected, possible, and emerging roles during the mentoring process.

The aim of this study was to learn the opinion of the teacher candidates who study pedagogical formation in Karabuk University in 2016-2017 teaching session, as well as mentor teachers and coordinators who lead them during the teaching practices at schools. This research study is mainly based on qualitative techniques. Working group of this study is composed of 155 teacher candidates, 56 mentor teachers and 16 coordinators. Three open-ended questions were given to the teacher candidates, mentors and coordinators for collection of data. The data were evaluated as in the mean of content analysis. According to the findings, teacher candidates expressed that “mentor teachers and coordinators at schools of implementation had a positive and supportive attitude towards them” while some of the candidates were expressing that “mentor teachers are not supportive.” Mentor teachers and coordinators found teacher candidates’ attitudes positive and refined. Mentor teachers and coordinators mentioned negative references about teacher candidates. They said that teacher candidates didn’t use proper teaching methods, techniques and materials when the teacher candidates are teaching, and failed to manage and maintain classroom atmosphere and the intended lesson time. It is considerable that teacher candidates had also mentioned that “they were doing the same mistakes what their coordinators and teachers determined.” As a result, teaching practice schedules should be well arranged in the way of cooperation between the University and the National Ministry of education, which was suggested to the authorities in the Turkish Higher Education Board.

Various studies have demonstrated that the role of mentor teachers in helping pre-service English teachers (PSETs) develop their professional experiences in school-based practicum is undeniably fundamental. Considering that mentor voices are still underrepresented in studies, this study aims to investigate the mentor teachers’ voices and beliefs to help the professional learning of pre-service English teachers (PSETs) in their school-based practicums. This is a qualitative study which involves seven mentor teachers who teach English in senior high schools in Indonesia. Data was gathered through questionnaires and unstructured interviews carried out in the participants’ school setting and analysed using NVIVO 9 (qualitative data analysis software). The findings reveal the mentor teachers’ beliefs in guiding PSETS during the school-based practicum. The mentor teachers viewed that PSETs need to learn and experience more fundamental aspects of teaching, namely interpersonal skills and emotional engagement in teaching, including their leadership. Implications for teacher education to improve the quality of relationship between PSETs and mentor teachers are addressed.

Although the poststructuralist critique of ideology has had a significant impact, a more devastating criticism has come from within sociology itself. The epistemologically external critique mounted by the anti-essentialist camp is thus reinforced by the internal, modernist and empirically grounded arguments of historical and political sociology, together nailing the coffin shut on both Marxist and functionalist concepts and theories of ideology. In a series of studies published between the late 1970s and early 1990s, Abercrombie, et al. (1978, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1990) made a decisive impact on the sociological understanding of ideology. In these works they provided a coherent theoretical, and a meticulous empirical, mostly historical, debunking of the so-called dominant ideology thesis (DIT). By challenging the two leading paradigms of their day, namely structuralist Marxism and structural functionalism, they attempted to demonstrate the analytical limitations of the dominant ideology concept in both of its uses: when linked to class structure as in Marxism, and in the notion of common culture apropos of the Parsonian functionalist tradition. Their argument was essentially that there is no, and never has been, such a thing as ‘dominant ideology’, in the sense of intra- and inter-group value unity, and that both functionalism and Marxism overstate the importance of shared values as generators of social action.KeywordsSchool TextbookDominant IdeologyIranian CaseIranian NationNationalist DiscourseThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

It is 40-plus years since the upstart Professional Development Program was initiated at Simon Fraser University. Among its many audacious innovations, the program offered opportunities for practicing teachers to play leading roles in the professional development of student teachers. Seconded (temporarily released) to the university for two-year terms, these not only supervised student teaching, but also were given responsibilities for directing, organizing, and implementing teaching seminars for students on campus. While the advantages of involving faculty associates in the professional development of students were immediately clear, it was not initially foreseen that such experiences would contribute to the professional development of the faculty associates as well. Forty years later seems, then, a good vantage point from which to examine how the role of faculty associate became a pathway to personal and professional change. While professional development comes in various shapes and sizes, there is, arguably, no experience comparable to the two years in which practicing teachers are given opportunities to play key roles in the education of future teachers. They are changed in major ways as a result of their experiences--both in terms of their teaching practice and in their personal behavior. The Professional Development Program The Professional Development Program, launched in 1965, turned all the rules of teacher education upside down. Students, in teams of two, begin their three-semester experience with a half-semester of student teaching. They observe and participate in such tasks as tutoring individual students, helping the teacher with various instruction-related jobs, and offering instruction to small groups, closely supervised by the mentor teacher. Students working in pairs can support each other. Most important, this initiation into practice disabuses students of any romantic notions they might have about teaching. In the second half of the first semester, students attend seminars in which they examine and reflect on classroom experiences, read relevant texts, and advance their understandings and skills in key curriculum areas. The second semester includes 16 weeks of student teaching. The third semester consists of coursework. Given this bold new approach, critics claimed that it would never fly. We'll give you two they said. The rest, as they say, is history. The program has become one of the most highly regarded teacher education programs in Canada. But this is not a paean to the teacher education program. It is, rather, an examination of the role of the faculty associate--what it actually is and how it not only serves the students in the program, but advances the professional development of the practicing teachers. Selecting Faculty Associates Approximately 40 to 50 faculty associates work in the program each year. Each is a practicing teacher who has been released temporarily from his or her school district to join the Simon Fraser faculty. Most come from British Columbia, though a few may come from other provinces and, over the years, some have come from abroad and even from the United States. The selection process is very much like any other job search. Ads are placed in newspapers and education journals, and applications are sought from practicing teachers who have at least five years of teaching experience. Teachers assemble a portfolio that includes a formal application, letters of reference, plus any other relevant materials, including a DVD that shows the teacher's classroom work. At the first screening level, all applications are reviewed by a selection committee that includes faculty and program coordinators (former faculty associates who have responsibilities for program development). Candidates are selected based on several criteria: length and breadth of teaching experiences, nature of teaching experience, reasons for wishing to become a faculty associate, and the relationship between a candidate's area of expertise and program needs for that year. …

Traditionally, classroom teachers have been asked to “cooperate” during student teaching, providing advice to imitate and emotional support to meet immediate needs. Based on theories of educative experience, educative mentoring focuses on growth, continuity, and inquiry. The purpose of this study was to understand what educative practices look like through the eyes of 10 mentor teachers who participated in six mentor study groups across a school year. We report on mentor’s talk about and enactment of three practices: coplanning, observing and debriefing, and analyzing student work. Although we introduced and gave name to particular mentoring practices, the mentors’ interpretations of what these look like when done in educative ways helped us craft the definitions we present in our findings. The findings of this study highlight that mentors benefit from professional learning that is focused on concrete practices with opportunities to develop over time in educative ways.

Team teaching as a form of collaborative teaching practice is increasingly employed in teacher education. Positive and trusting relationships with the team partner and the mentor teacher are at the core of such internships and form the basis for optimal learning experiences and successful cooperation in the practicum. However, trust has been little explored in pre-service teacher education. The present study addressed students’ perceptions of trust in their team partner and their mentor teacher. A total of 109 Swiss students studying pre-primary and primary teacher education filled in questionnaires (open-ended questions), and another 27 student teachers were interviewed. The results reveal that many different facets contributed to student teachers’ perceptions of trust. These could be divided into the two main dimensions: interpersonal and professional trust. Open communication based on mutual appreciation and respect was the core element of a ‘trusting’ relationship from the students’ perspective.