Addressing mentor wellbeing in practicum placement mentoring relationships in initial teacher education
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education
ISSN: 2046-6854
Article publication date: 30 July 2020
Issue publication date: 21 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
University-affiliated mentors serve as liaisons between schools and pre-service teachers during practicum placements, offering academic, administrative and relational support. In the context of academic workload intensification, increasing student numbers and the need to respond to issues as they occur in time-pressured environments, the wellbeing of mentors can become compromised. Mentor wellbeing is explored, highlighting corollary impacts of threats to pre-service teacher wellbeing on those who support them.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive single case-study explored mentor lived experiences of wellbeing during the pre-service teacher practicum placement and mentoring process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mentors supervising pre-service teacher professional experience placements. Adopting a shadowed data approach, mentors shared their own experiences and reflected on the experiences of others. Data was analysed using thematic content analysis.
Findings
Mentor and pre-service teacher wellbeing experiences exhibited similar wellbeing indicators, including personal and professional stress, workload strains and ethical dilemmas. Many mentors felt invisible in terms of supports for their own self-care as the focus was on meeting practicum stakeholder and student support needs rather than their own wellbeing.
Originality/value
Changes to professional experience practices must consider potential impacts on pre-service teachers, in-school supervisors and the university-affiliated mentors as the wellbeing of each is potentially impacted the wellbeing of others in this professional experience triad. Increasing emphasis on work-integrated learning experiences across multiple disciplines invites future comparison and contrast of wellbeing experiences.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The assistance of Renee Chapman in conducting the interviews on which this paper is based is acknowledged. We also acknowledge the positive reception of the work reported in this paper and the proactive actions taken to shape new practices in professional experience and provide additional support to Faculty staff undertaking this role. Funding: This work was supported by a Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Education Professional Experience grant.
Citation
Gillett-Swan, J. and Grant-Smith, D. (2020), "Addressing mentor wellbeing in practicum placement mentoring relationships in initial teacher education", International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 393-409. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-02-2020-0007
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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