RCEL publication series editors: Bessie Dendrinos & Kia Karavas MENTORING STUDENT TEACHERS OF ENGLISH A HANDBOOK Kia Karavas RCEL publications, 2008 Faculty of English Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Published by the RCEL (Research Centre of English Language Teaching and Testing), Faculty of English Studies, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Campus Zographou, 157 84 Athens. RCEL and Kia Karavas 2008 First published 2008 Printed in Athens S. Athanasopoulos & S. Papadamis Press 80 Ioannou Theologou Street Zographou, Athens-Greece Kia Karavas Mentoring student teachers of English. A handbook / Kia Karavas Includes bibliographical references. 1. Language teacher education training, 2. Foreign language education, 3. English language teaching and learning, 4. Mentoring in language teacher training programmes, Practice teaching, 5. Language pedagogy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners.
Dedicated to all the EFL teachers who have collaborated with our Faculty for the Practice Teaching in TEFL project
Ο τόμος αυτός τυπώθηκε στο πλαίσιο του Επιχειρησιακού Προγράμματος Εκπαίδευσης και Αρχικής Επαγγελματικής Κατάρτισης (ΕΠΕΑΕΚ ΙΙ), Μέτρο 2.2 «Αναμόρφωση Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών Διεύρυνση Τριτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης», Ενέργεια 2.2.2. «Ολοκλήρωση της διεύρυνσης και αναμόρφωση των Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών», Κατηγορία Πράξεων 2.2.2.α. «Αναμόρφωση Προπτυχιακών Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών», Πράξη «Αναμόρφωση Προπτυχιακών Προγραμμάτων Σπουδών του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών». Το έργο συγχρηματοδοτείται από την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινωνικό Ταμείο) και από Εθνικούς Πόρους. O τόμος διανέμεται δωρεάν.
Acknowledgements This Handbook brings together years of collective effort and work so as to develop the Practice Teaching and Mentoring Programmes. Many people have contributed to the success of these programmes kindly giving up their time to discuss ideas and supporting any efforts related to the development of the programme and its related research. I am grateful to Prof. Bessie Dendrinos, my mentor, my colleague and my dear friend who has placed her trust in me and has supported all my efforts to develop and implement the Mentor programme. Without her invaluable advice, encouragement and practical help this Handbook would not have been written. I am indebted to Dr Mary Drossou, colleague and friend, who has served as programme coordinator and taught the Practice Teaching courses very successfully. For many years she has tirelessly worked for the courses and has supported all my efforts to further develop the Mentoring Programme. I appreciate her advice and her help in conducting research related to student teacher and mentors beliefs and in evaluating the Mentor Programme. A very special thanks to Prof. Mary Sifianou, the Scientific Coordinator of the Practice Teaching Project, who accepted this responsibility in addition to her many other responsibilities and helped us by giving her expert advice and support throughout all stages of the project. Warm thanks also to our Associate, Ms Aikaterini Zouganelli, for her significant contribution to the training events organized for our Mentor teachers. Finally, many thanks are due to our Mentor teachers who have, on a voluntary basis, cooperated with our Faculty for many years accepting our student-teachers in their classrooms and facilitating their professional development as EFL teachers. Their enthusiasm and support for the Mentor Training programme was a source of motivation for the development of this Handbook.
Contents 1. Background to the Mentor Programme 01 2. Preparing teachers for the future: new visions of learning and teaching 07 2.1 New roles and responsibilities for language teachers 10 2.2 Reconceptualising language teacher education 12 2.3 Redefining the aims of language teacher education 15 2.4 The aims of European language teacher education 16 3. Understanding the student teacher 20 3.1 What kinds of learning does learning to teach involve? 20 3.2 The role of student teacher beliefs 22 4. The value of the teaching practicum 27 5. Pre-service teacher education and mentoring practices 33 5.1 Defining mentoring 37 5.2 The roles and significance of a mentor 38 5.3 The origins of mentoring 40 5.4 Characteristics of a mentor teacher 41 5.5 The process of mentoring 43 5.6 Ways mentors can influence student teachers 46 5.7 Providing effective feedback 47 5.8 Strategies for encouraging reflection 51 6. The multiple benefits of the mentoring experience 52 7. The Pre-service Programme 55 7.1 The nature of the programme 55 7.2 Aims and rationale of the programme 55
7.3 Staff 56 7.4 Structure of the programme 57 8. PETETP innovations 58 8.1 The professional portfolio 58 8.2 Developing skills in ICT 58 8.3 Developments of the Practice Teaching course 58 9. The Practice Teaching in TEFL Course 59 9.1 Aims of the course 59 9.2 Structure of the course 60 9.3 Student teacher assessment 64 9.4 The student teachers responsibilities during practice teaching 65 9.5 Mentoring responsibilities 66 10. Programme evaluation and the Practice Teaching course 68 11. The future of mentoring at the Faculty 69 REFERENCES 72 APPENDIX 1: Coordinators and participants in the practice teaching and mentor training programmes 85 APPENDIX 2: Mentoring conference programme 87 APPENDIX 3: The pre-service teacher education and training programme 91