'Trying to decide … what sort of teacher I wanted to be': mentoring as a dialogic practice. Issue 1 (2nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Talbot, Debra; Denny, Jane; Henderson, Sarah
• Is Part Of: Teaching education. Volume 29:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 47
• Page End: 60
• Publication Date: 2018-01-02
• Subjects: Mentoring -- dialogic -- professional experience -- teacher education -- professional learning; Teachers -- Training of -- Periodicals; 370.11
• DOI: 10.1080/10476210.2017.1347919
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1047-6210

Abstract

Abstract: Mentoring of pre-service teachers in school contexts is acknowledged as an important part of initial teacher education. However, finding sufficient school-based professional experience placements for pre-service teachers, ensuring the quality of the learning experiences provided by such placements, and gaining a clear understanding of what teachers actually learn during placements continue to be of concern to all involved in this component of teacher education. In this paper, three interconnected perspectives are provided as a university-based teacher educator, a school-based teacher educator and a pre-service teacher learn together in a dialogic mentoring relationship. The work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Valentin Voloshinov is employed to theorise the nature of dialogic relationships and how such relationships differ from 'having a conversation'.