MENTORS USE OF DIALOGUE WITHIN A SECONDARY INITIAL TEACHER-EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

This paper analyses conversations between mentors and students, record ed during a major placement on a I year secondary Postgraduate Certifi cate in Education course. Analysis of dialogue between eight mentors a nd 15 students confirms the complexity of the mentor role which others have described. The importance attached to particular roles seems to vary from one mentor to another and this may Lead to a mismatch betwee n the needs of individual students and what the mentor offers. Scrutin y of the nature of the interactions, based on discourse analysis, indi cates significant differences between mentors. An extension of the ran ge of roles which mentors are able to play together with the capacity to vary style of interaction may help to maximise the potential for st udent learning within the mentoring context.