Evaluation of Faculty-School Partnership Model: Mentor Teachers’ Perspectives
Abstract
As a result of restructuring secondary science teacher education efforts, re-conceptualized “Faculty-School Partnership” model has been implemented since 1998. However, studies on the effectiveness of the model consistently reported some problems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate “Faculty-School Partnership” model from the mentor teachers’ perspectives in order to improve the current practices. Participatory action research methodology based on critical theory was adopted in this study. Participants were 13 secondary science teachers who were acting as mentors to physics, chemistry, and biology teacher candidates. Semi-structured interview protocol was used for data collection. Interviews were transcribed. Using qualitative data analysis software (NVIVO 8) interviews were coded with constant comparison method. Codes were organized in six categories. Mentor teachers did not have enough and/or adequate understanding of the philosophy, content, and functions of the partnership. They were neither provided with enough information and documentation nor trained for mentorship. Moreover, they reported a need of guidance on how to mentor candidate teachers. In order to improve the partnership; suggestions about candidate teachers, nature of the partnership, expectations from the faculty and supervisors were proposed.
Key words: Mentor teachers, faculty-school partnership.
Keywords
References
- Yapıcı, Ş. & Yapıcı, M. (2004). Öğretmen adaylarının okul deneyimi I dersine ilişkin görüşleri. İlköğretim-Online, 3(2), 54-59.
- Zeichner, K. (2002). Beyond traditional structures of student teaching. Teacher Education Quarterly, 29(2), 59–64.
Details
Primary Language
en.
Subjects
-
Journal Section
-
Authors
Mustafa Çakır
This is me
Feral Ogan Bekiroğlu
This is me
Serhat İrez
This is me
Ajda Kahveci
This is me
Hayati Şeker
This is me
Publication Date
December 25, 2013
Submission Date
December 25, 2013
Acceptance Date
-
Published in Issue
Year 2010 Volume: 31 Number: 31