Mediation in autonomous practices among novice language teachers while discussing conflicts in their teaching practice

Abstract

Becoming an effective language teacher does not only depend on how well the teacher knows the language but also on how the teacher can deal with the complex situations that emerge in the profession. Therefore, it is crucial to provide novice teachers with opportunities to share with others these complications during their teaching training programs. This document has the purpose of presenting the results of a research which aims to explore how novice language teachers mediate their discussions while they reflect on the emerging conflicts that they have faced during their initiating teaching practice. The study has a twofold purpose: to inquire about the main hardships these teachers deal with and the implications of mediation in their solution.  Twelve English language teachers were involved as participants who were grouped in four groups of three each to discuss during 6 sessions. The study used a mixed method research approach that involved discourse analysis of the transcribed discussions, the teachers’ diaries and open observations by the researchers.  The results show that socializing conflicts leads to cognitive, social and affective dimensions of mediation; in such a way that mediation reinforces teacher’s self-efficacy and decision making to solve their problems.