Understanding Mentoring Practices in a Professional Development School Partnership
Open Access
- Author:
- Mark, Kelly Marie
- Graduate Program:
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- April 06, 2016
- Committee Members:
- James F Nolan Jr., Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Gwendolyn Monica Lloyd, Committee Member
Bernard Joel Badiali, Committee Member
Roger C Shouse, Committee Member - Keywords:
- mentoring
preservice teacher education
elementary education - Abstract:
- This qualitative dissertation study reports the findings of research conducted with four mentors in a Professional Development School [PDS] teacher preparation context. Two of the mentors were considered veteran mentors in the PDS with over ten years of mentoring experience, while two were novice mentors with around five years of mentoring experience. In addition, one veteran and one novice mentor in the study were prepared as teachers in the same PDS context in which they currently mentor. This instrumental case study with phenomenological underpinnings sought to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the self-reported practices of mentors in the PDS context? 2) Why do mentors engage in these practices? 3) How have these practices developed and changed over time? Through the methods of semi-structured interviews and classroom observations, the data were analyzed using open coding to create narrative profiles of each mentor. In addition, cross-case analysis was utilized to identify similarities and differences across the practices of the four mentors. Four specific mentoring practices are described and analyzed in this study: co-planning, providing “teacher” opportunities, co-teaching, and collaborating with the Professional Development Associate [PDA]. These practices were also compared to the Yendol-Hoppey and Dana’s (2007) framework for effective mentoring in order to provide illustrations of the domains for effective mentoring of preservice teachers and contribute a new component for consideration. Implications for mentor teachers, supervisors, and teacher preparation programs are discussed.