A Duoethnographic Exploration of Two Counselor Educators’ Growth in Assessment in Teaching

Assessment in teaching is a challenge for many beginning counselor educators. Although many researchers have discussed the importance of student learning outcomes, few have explored counselor educators’ experiences using assessment in their courses. In this duoethnographic inquiry, we engaged in a critical and reflective dialogue of our experiences with assessment. We aimed to acknowledge our biases, identities, and emotions related to assessment in transformative ways. For [researcher 1], our dialogue helped me gain theoretical and emotional perspective on assessment and inspired specific changes to my assessment practices including focusing more on process-based, low stakes assessment, developing clearer learning goals, and providing feedback from a phenomenological perspective. For [researcher 2], our dialogue helped me link past experiences of being graded to my relationships with teachers, explore my role in subjectivity and performance based assessments, and deconstruct memorable moments of assessment to further my identity development as a counselor educator

Beginning Counselor Educators’ Experiences of Teaching Mentorship

Mentoring can positively impact counselor educators’ teaching in terms of self-efficacy and growth in skills. Yet, counselor educators have reported a desire for more mentoring in the development of their teaching. Utilizing consensual qualitative research methodology, we explored the teaching-specific mentorship of beginning counselor educators’ (N = 13) within their first two to four years as faculty. Emergent themes included mentoring structure such as mentors’ methods of providing mentorship, mentoring relationship dynamics such as relational supports and frustrations, and the positive and negative impacts of mentoring relationships. In addition to building rapport and strengthening mentees’ self-efficacy, mentors and mentees can develop intentional mentoring relationships with a comprehensive focus emphasizing the development of teaching knowledge and skills through practices such as teaching observation and feedback. Additionally, discussing the needs, goals, and expectations of both parties and the inherent power differential of the relationships can help focus the mentoring experiences

A content analysis of counselor educators\u27 teaching philosophy statements

An educator’s teaching philosophy can have a direct impact on student learning and many counselor educators report feeling underprepared in the development of their teaching philosophy. Utilizing conventional qualitative content analysis, the authors analyzed counselor educators’ (N = 15) teaching philosophy statements to understand how they described and structured their teaching philosophies. Emergent categories included theoretical influences on teaching, facilitation of learning strategies, student learning goals, developmental process as a teacher, and beliefs about teaching and learning. Developing a more specific theoretical orientation may help counselor educators intentionally approach their teaching in ways that could lead to better learning outcomes for counselors-in-training