Aim

To examine student teachers’ (STs) mentoring experience on a large scale and compare two preparation tracks that include different fieldwork and mentor role designs.

Theoretical framework

The global trend towards field-based teacher preparation (Zeichner, 2012) promises to improve multiple aspects of teaching. Mentoring is one of its most significant vehicles for nurturing socially and culturally sensitive teachers (Kent, 2013). School-based mentors are more than just teacher educators (Feiman-Nemnser, 1998); they are experienced teachers familiar with the culture of their school and its community, who help student teachers (STs) attune the knowledge they learn at the teacher preparation institution to the specific needs of their students (Dallavis & Holter, 2014; Efron et al., 2021). However, despite their importance, these issues are rarely examined on a large scale.

Methods

We used a mixed-method approach. First, we constructed a taxonomy that describes high-quality mentoring practices and goals based on field-grounded methodologies (Authors, 2023). We used this taxonomy to design a questionnaire distributed among Israeli STs. We collected data from STs (n=1341) in two different teacher preparation tracks – traditional and practicum-oriented.

Findings

Mentors in the practicum-intensive track provided STs with more opportunities to teach, bolstered by more reciprocal mentoring relationships. Nevertheless, they failed to achieve better results in other mentoring categories compared to mentors in the traditional track. These findings complicate the discussion concerning field-based preparation and its promise to better support novice teachers by providing them with contextually relevant experience.

Relevance to Conference

The study exposes the shortcomings of field-based teacher preparation and mentoring. We do not underestimate their importance, but we suggest not considering them magic bullets for solving the complex challenge of preparing culturally and contextually aware teachers. Moreover, we discuss practices and policy decisions that may better cater for this purpose.

As classrooms become more diverse, teachers are increasingly required to meet the needs of students with varying abilities, cultural backgrounds, and socio-economic status. However, many educators feel inadequately prepared to manage these complexities, underscoring the need for enhanced teacher preparation (Smith & Doe, 2019).

This research explores challenges and best practices in preparing teachers for inclusive education, to identify effective strategies and address gaps in current teacher education programs.

Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of equity, social justice, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), this study investigates how these principles are integrated into teacher education programs (Rose & Meyer, 2002). The research focuses on a qualitative method, employing semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 8 teacher educators, 12 pre-service teachers, and 12 in-service teachers.

Interviews with pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators revealed the need for specific strategies to incorporate inclusive practices into curricula, such as culturally responsive teaching and differentiated instruction. Focus groups with pre-service and in-service teachers provided a deeper understanding of the challenges they face in implementing these practices in diverse classroom settings, including issues related to insufficient training, lack of resources, and resistance from school communities.

The findings highlighted significant challenges and effective practices in teacher preparation for inclusive education. By addressing these challenges, the study aims to support the development of more equitable and socially just educational environments (Tomlinson, 2014).

References

Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Smith, J., & Doe, A. (2019). Preparing teachers for diversity: Examining the role of teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 70(2), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487118807124

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners (2nd ed.). ASCD.

In recent Scottish policy, there has been recognition of the need to reevaluate the focus of education to ensure it is a responsive system that includes community and youth workers to work for, and with, all young people (Scottish Government, 2023). Young people do not function in isolation from their local communities and schools are increasingly being viewed as community hubs (Cleveland et al., 2023). Teachers getting to know and developing supportive relationships with community residents and organisations can aid positive knowledge exchange.

Research on social justice-focused teacher preparation has established the importance of pre-service teachers (PSTs) learning about community cultural wealth (CCW, Yosso, 2005) to make relational and curricular connections between school and home. Through community connections, teachers can empower students to take critically conscious action toward social justice in their own lives and in their communities (Benjamin & Arshad, 2020; Zeichner, 2024).

This paper describes a pilot study in one master’s course in which we collaborated across the initial teacher education and the community development programs at one Scottish research university to connect 80 pre-service teachers with community liaisons to study one school community with the goals of: a) identifying the sources and content of CCW; b) giving examples of how social (in)justice is perpetuated in the community and what impact that has on young people; c) learning about funds of knowledge and frames of reference and applying that learning to classroom practice; and d) learning how to develop professional relationships with community members and youth workers. Drawing upon focus group interviews with students, teachers, and community members as well as content analysis of students’ work, we identified specific areas in which students’ dispositions, knowledge, and skills grew through the community study. We also report on challenges faced and implications for future research and practice in teacher education.

Equitable access to high-quality educational opportunities is key for developing health communities for all, with teacher quality being the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement (Goldhaber, 2016). Therefore, how preservice teachers are recruited and then prepared to enter the workforce is valuable to the overall success of the education system and can shape the design of the workforce itself. With this in mind, MLFTC has designed structural shifts to the way we design and implement educator preparation programs. These shifts have focused on five systems (1) workforce design, (2) program design, (3) learner-centered curriculum, (4) professional experiences, and (5) partnerships. Historically, educator preparation programs had been largely guided by requirements from external agencies and organizations regulating and building the educator workforce (e.g., state boards of education, school districts). This resulted in educator preparation programs that were highly structured with limited flexibility effectively reducing access for many potential future eduactors, especially those from historically under-resourced and/or under-represented communities. Understanding the impact of these barriers within the system was the impetus for wide-scale change. Consequently, we redesigned our teacher preparation programs to be accessible, personalized, and transformation for preservice teachers. However, we went even further to create changes in our educator preparation programs that could potentially influence the design of the workforce our students are entering. In this presentation we will share the lessons we have learned from moving away from a traditional approach to educator preparation to designing programs which leverage variance and champion human potential. Further, we will address how we plan to continue growing and developing across these five systems.