- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Theses and Dissertations /
- Troubling the taken-for-granted : mentoring relationships...
Open Collections
UBC Theses and Dissertations
UBC Theses and Dissertations
Troubling the taken-for-granted : mentoring relationships among women teachers Thompson, Merrilee Susan
Abstract
This dissertation challenges the traditional patriarchal conception of mentoring, in which mentors are cast as experts and the task for novices is to assimilate their mentors' knowledge and proposes an alternate feminist conception in which mentors and novices are learner-teachers. The conception is based on practices of conversation and shared experience, through which mentoring partners develop trust and reciprocity. Through reciprocity, mentoring dyads move to a practice of thoughtful critique, in which they trouble taken-for-granted structures within schools. Central to feminist mentoring are issues of concern to the teachers involved, including issues of gender, race and culture as experienced in their own lives. To explore the conception of feminist mentoring, a qualitative research study was undertaken. Data about four mentoring dyads and one triad were collected through a series of structured interviews with individuals and pairs of teachers during one school year. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the resulting transcripts were analyzed for common themes. It was found that more successful dyads formed on the basis of the beginning teacher's choice and involved considerable time commitment. Successful mentoring dyads participated in frequent conversations, both casual and planned, in which they talked about students, shared resources, and co-planned curriculum. Conversations centred on both work-related and personal issues. The most successful dyad created numerous shared experiences which provided opportunities for the partners to learn reciprocally. Mentoring conversations and shared experiences led to two complementary ways of coming to know about teaching. In percolated learning the beginning teacher came to know based on hearing and thinking about the mentor's experiences. Thoughtful critique is a more deliberate mode of learning in which the mentor and beginning teachers intentionally address issues of common concern. Although there was some evidence of explicit thoughtful critique emerging within the mentorships, critique was expressed tentatively and cautiously. I suggest that the conditions of schools discourage critique and beginning teachers feel discouraged from being overtly critical. Mentoring dyads may need to work together for more than one year to develop a sufficient level of trust to move to a more critical feminist reconception of mentoring that supports and challenges both mentors and beginning teachers.
Item Metadata
Title |
Troubling the taken-for-granted : mentoring relationships among women teachers
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1999
|
Description |
This dissertation challenges the traditional patriarchal conception of mentoring, in which
mentors are cast as experts and the task for novices is to assimilate their mentors'
knowledge and proposes an alternate feminist conception in which mentors and novices
are learner-teachers. The conception is based on practices of conversation and shared
experience, through which mentoring partners develop trust and reciprocity. Through
reciprocity, mentoring dyads move to a practice of thoughtful critique, in which they
trouble taken-for-granted structures within schools. Central to feminist mentoring are
issues of concern to the teachers involved, including issues of gender, race and culture as
experienced in their own lives.
To explore the conception of feminist mentoring, a qualitative research study was
undertaken. Data about four mentoring dyads and one triad were collected through a
series of structured interviews with individuals and pairs of teachers during one school
year. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the resulting transcripts were
analyzed for common themes.
It was found that more successful dyads formed on the basis of the beginning teacher's
choice and involved considerable time commitment. Successful mentoring dyads
participated in frequent conversations, both casual and planned, in which they talked
about students, shared resources, and co-planned curriculum. Conversations centred on
both work-related and personal issues. The most successful dyad created numerous
shared experiences which provided opportunities for the partners to learn reciprocally.
Mentoring conversations and shared experiences led to two complementary ways of
coming to know about teaching. In percolated learning the beginning teacher came to
know based on hearing and thinking about the mentor's experiences. Thoughtful critique
is a more deliberate mode of learning in which the mentor and beginning teachers
intentionally address issues of common concern.
Although there was some evidence of explicit thoughtful critique emerging within the
mentorships, critique was expressed tentatively and cautiously. I suggest that the
conditions of schools discourage critique and beginning teachers feel discouraged from
being overtly critical. Mentoring dyads may need to work together for more than one year
to develop a sufficient level of trust to move to a more critical feminist reconception of
mentoring that supports and challenges both mentors and beginning teachers.
|
Extent |
17250021 bytes
|
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-07-17
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0054939
|
URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
2000-05
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.