Introduction and theoretical background
An increase of the practical proportion in teacher education also implies stronger emphasis on the relationship and cooperation between students and mentoring teachers. Study results unanimously agree that the teachers take significant influence on the learning process during school internships. In theory, they serve as role models for students, arrange scaffolding and initiate reflection processes and promote independency. However, students experience school internships as incoherent and perceive contradictions between university and schools (especially between theory and practice). To develop professional competence, theoretical knowledge and practical teaching skills need to be combined (Blömeke, Gustaffsson, Shavelson, 2015).
Methods
13 structured guideline interviews have been conducted with teachers who cooperate as mentors with university scholars in Hamburg, Germany, in the central internship for PE master students (six months duration). In the accompanying seminars, tasks for student-mentor interaction were being developed and carried out. The guideline interviews focused on the mentors’ experiences of those tasks but also involved general questions on the expectations, benefits and limitations of their involvement. Qualitative content analysis has been conducted and produced a heuristic category system (Kuckartz, 2014).
Results and Discussion
The study indicates that academic knowledge needs to be transformed to be productively implemented in student-mentor interaction. Subjective theories of mentors (as opposed to objective theories) are crucial for cooperation, especially with regard to emotional support and the learning process of students. The attitudes whether to co-structure the learning process of the students or rather act passively before and during lessons and focus on post-reflection differ significantly amongst mentors.
Mentors positively evaluate working on the tasks with the students, but express the need to be able to handle them flexibly (space, time). The results will be used to modify and dilate tasks.
