Effective Mentoring Strategies

Words: 2963
Pages: 12

The purpose of this study is to determine what kind of mentoring strategies are used in the video-observation mentoring program at the University of Houston. The research questions were:
1. What kinds of video-observation mentoring strategies are used for preservice teachers’ reflective practice and what are the processes of implementing them as understood by the facilitators?
2. Are there discrepancies between mentors’ and preservice teachers’ perceptions on effective mentoring strategies? If yes, what are they and what are the possible explanations?
This section details the methodology used in this study, including the: (1) setting for research; (2) research design; (3) participants; (4) data collection procedures; and (5) data analysis of results. Setting for Research
My study is centered on finding out what strategies mentors use during the one on one video-observation mentoring sessions. These are sessions where the mentor and the preservice teacher sit side by side to watch the videotaped lesson and together they discuss the preservice teacher’s areas of successful practice and areas of potential improvement. These
…show more content…
The complex process of mentoring preservice teachers cannot be explained by quantitative methods alone, it needs to be thoroughly examined through understanding the behavior and interactions of the participants involved. This is done by examining “the nature of action, experience, and their conditions as part of their methodological framework" (Carspecken, 1996, p. 26).
Carspecken’s critical qualitative research enables one to critically analyze a process and come up with a well-articulated social theory. This study will therefore involve five stages of Carspecken’s critical qualitative research (Carspecken, 1996) that are preceded by preliminary activities