Mentor Feedback for the Professionalism of the Teacher Candidate

Mentor Feedback for the Professionalism of the Teacher Candidate

PEKKANLI, Ilknur

In Turkey, foreign language teacher candidates, registered at a faculty of education, have compulsory teaching experience courses which are conducted under the guidance and supervision of mentors- namely the practicing school teachers and faculty field supervisors. These experiences are important collaborative processes between the teacher candidates and their mentors because the constructive feedback received from the mentors are vital for the teacher candidates‘ professional growth and success. However, at times the teacher mentor may not be skillful in giving feedback pertaining to various reasons such as refraining to give knowledge to the candidate due to avoiding conflict or perhaps even lack of pedagogical knowledge. Within the framework of such concerns, the aim of the present study is to become familiar with the types of feedback that the teacher candidates receive from the teacher mentors during or after the candidates teaching experience performances. In order to investigate this situation, data collection for the study is comprised of a questionnaire administered to 70 final year students at a faculty of education English language teaching department. The questionnaire consisting of 20 items was originally designed and published by the author. The results of the study display that the feedbacks are mainly based on the following dimensions; the ensuring of learner participation and interaction, the development of communicative competence in learners, the improvising of teaching methodology, and current trends in language teaching.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2011-05

683