Exploring Mentor Teachers’ Experiences and Practices in Japan: Formative Intervention for Self-Directed Development of Novice Teachers

Abstract

Abstract This study pursues interventions by mentors in different mentoring phases. The mentoring refers to Engeström’s (2011. From design experiments to formative interventions. Theory & Psychology, 21(5), 598–628) formative intervention to promote the self-directed development of novice teachers. This study involved data obtained from the preliminary survey, fieldwork experiences, and interviews with mentees during teacher training. The survey data were descriptively analysed for the close-ended question and thematically coded using an inductive approach. The fieldwork and interview data were thematically analysed. This study uncovered themes with supporting subthemes to identify mentors’ activities addressed during the mentoring process: designing a class, determining teaching methods, and reviewing a class. The themes for these processes were setting the direction for self-directed problem-solving, collaboratively clarifying unclear and ambiguous aspects of the teaching method, assessing good instructions and providing clues for further growth, and designing an opportunity for learning in dialogic communication and mutual negotiation. Mentor training opportunities are needed for experienced teachers to pursue the intervention that supports the self-directed development of novice teachers. This is a unique study to explore interventions that meet the needs of novice teachers according to mentoring phases, in certain contexts.