'Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb'
Abstract
The first part of the article presents the role of mentors in the practical educational training of students who are offered gradual and controlled access to teaching and mentors’ help in teacher training and school practice. In the process students develop various skills. It is therefore extremely important that student teaching programmes are well planned and implemented to the highest possible standards by the appropriately experienced and educated mentors. In the second part of the article the results of a qualitative study involving twenty-six mentors are presented. In the academic year 2009/2010, these mentors offered mentorship to the fourth-year students of the Elementary Education academic programme at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor. The study focuses on how mentor teachers evaluate their work and roles. The study further explores how the mentors evaluate the work of the students as teachers, what mentors gain from students, and the relationship between mentors and students. The results indicate that the majority of mentors are neither sufficiently intrinsically motivated to take on the mentorship, nor are they professionally ready. The mentors believe that the mentorship support offered to students is not a burden and that the relationship between them and the students is professional. The mentors believe that students have limited teaching experience and their questions refer mostly to the preparation and implementation of the class. The mentors appreciate novelties and motivational games introduced by the students who thus indirectly affect the mentors’ professional development.U prvom dijelu rada predstavljamo ulogu mentorstva u praktičnom pedagoškom osposobljavanju studenata. Pedagoška praksa omogućuje studentu postupno uvođenje u pedagoški rad i osposobljavanje za poučavanje pod stručnim vodstvom mentora, a to je istodobno i kontakt s praktičnim radom. Veoma je važno dobro planirati pedagošku praksu, kao i da je kvalitetno provode mentori s odgovarajućim obrazovanjem i iskustvom, kako bi student pri tome razvijao različite sposobnosti. Drugi dio izlaganja iznosi rezultate kvalitativnog istraživanja u kojem je sudjelovalo 26 mentora. Oni su u studijskoj godini 2009./2010. bili mentori studentima 4. godine sveučilišnog studijskog programa Razredna nastava na Pedagoškom fakultetu Sveučilišta u Mariboru. U istraživanju nas je zanimalo kako učitelji mentori ocjenjuju svoj rad i ulogu mentorstva. Također nas je zanimalo kako se ocjenjuje rad studenata tijekom pedagoške prakse, što dobivaju od studenata te kakav se odnos razvija između mentora i studenata. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju kako većina mentora, zapravo, nije dovoljno motivirana te je i nedovoljno stručno pripremljena za mentorstvo. Mentori smatraju da mentorstvom nisu preopterećeni te kako ih ono potiče na razvoj međusobnog profesionalnog odnosa. Studenti koji, prema mišljenju mentora, imaju skromna pedagoška iskustva obraćaju im se s različitim pitanjima, a najčešće ih zanima kako pripremiti i izvesti nastavni sat. Mentori kod studenata cijene različite novine, motivacijske igre koje uvode u nastavu i time posredno utječu na profesionalni razvoj mentora
