Mentors as Learners: Enhancing and Exploring the Experiences of Veteran Mentor Teachers in an Elementary School Context Using Stimulated Video Recall Cycles

The purpose of this study was to engage veteran mentor teachers in a professional development experience through the use of stimulated video recall (SVR) sessions to explore and enhance mentor teacher learning processes and outcomes during a student teaching practicum in an elementary school context. The concept of "mentors as learners" encompasses adopting an educative mentoring stance when guiding student teachers. Taking an educative mentoring stance entails mentors cultivating a vision of teacher learning that emphasizes creating opportunities for inquiry and supporting the conditions necessary for teacher growth (Feiman-Nemser, 2001). This study provided mentor teachers with a unique opportunity for growth by employing educative mentoring strategies identified in prior research that promote mentor learning. I used an action research methodology to engage two veteran mentor teachers in professional development that I created and led, while they hosted a student teacher. Findings were mixed. The mentor teachers had opposing views regarding their role as a mentor. The degree to which the educative mentoring strategies were implemented by each mentor varied. The strategy of "mentor asked questions to elicit student teacher thinking" was discovered during the co-planning conferences. Also, both mentors used the strategy of "stepping-in" while one mentor also used "co-teaching and demonstration teaching" during the semester. In addition, although both mentors had unfavorable opinions about the SVR sessions, they showed positive outcomes from participating in them, such as realizations about their language use, improved suggestion-making, and more concise interactions with the student teacher. Mentors also expressed growth with identifying examples of instructional practice that can be improved as a result of their reflection and participation in the professional development cycles. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]