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Tinnelly, Deirdre (2023) “…new conversations, new ideas…”; mentoring trainee teachers within Ireland’s FET sector. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of initial teacher education (ITE) mentors in the further education and training (FET) sector in Ireland. The broader literature suggests mentors play a vital role in the professional formation of trainee teachers during ITE. However, trainee teachers report high variances within mentoring relationships. It seems mentors are willing, but not always able to perform all elements within this multifaceted role. At present, the voice of mentors in FET are underrepresented within Irish research. This interpretivist phenomenological analysis (IPA) study aimed to address this gap, by gathering first-hand mentoring experiences, through in-depth semi-structured interviews with three participants. To go beyond individual realities, to expose visible and invisible social structures, influencing and restricting the practices of mentors, this study applied Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and capital. Four themes emerged from the analysis: willingness to mentor, the mentor - placement tutor connection, mentoring: an extension of the teacher role, mentoring relationships and functions. The findings of this small-scale study reveal mentors intentionally and voluntarily open their classrooms to trainee teachers: to develop their own practices, to support the next generation of teachers, and to recruit new staff. They perform a wide range of functions in response to the needs of their trainee teachers. Yet, it emerged, mentors casually and informally perform the role, without training and without allocated time, which seems to prevent some mentors from personally benefitting. The study’s recommendations outline multiple avenues in which to repay the goodwill of these mentors.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Supervisors: | Name Email Emmett, Yvonne UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | mentor; mentoring; initial teacher education; further education and training sector; trainee teacher; student teacher |
| Subjects: | L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > Teaching Personnel H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management > Human Resource Management > Coaching L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > Early childhood education |
| Divisions: | Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning > Master of Arts in Educational Practice |
| Depositing User: | Tamara Malone |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jul 2024 10:38 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Jul 2024 10:38 |
| URI: | https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/6994 |
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