Student Teacher Mentors in Turkey: New Program Challenges Traditional Relationships

Mentoring a student teacher not only affects student teacher development but may also have a concomitant effect on the mentor's development. In Turkey, with a long tradition of an apprenticeship model in learning to teach and a traditional teacher education program, how mentors respond to student teachers and how they use this experience to further their own development may be problematic. The purpose of this study is to describe and explain Turkish mentor teachers' beliefs and knowledge about student teacher development, their own development, and the new university role in their schools. Researchers analyzed surveys from 25 mentors, minutes from 3 end-of-year program evaluation meetings, and 2 in-depth mentor teacher interviews. Results indicate that the Turkish mentor teachers were generally positive about student teacher growth in the program while at the same time a little less positive about their own professional development as a mentor. Thus, even though the new national teacher education program challenges the traditional Turkish apprenticeship model of learning to teach, Turkish mentor teachers have responded positively. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/SM)