Angi Malderez

Group dynamics and foreign language teaching

Abstract This paper highlights the importance of the dynamics of the learner group in shaping the L2 learning process. We argue that group characteristics and group processes significantly contribute to any success or failure in the L2 classroom, and therefore language teachers could potentially benefit from an awareness of the principles of group dynamics. First, we provide an overview of the aspects of classroom dynamics that we consider most relevant to L2 teaching. Then, based on the theoretical insights and our own teaching experience, we make practical suggestions for teachers on how to exploit the principles of group dynamics in their classrooms to good effect.

Judgementoring and other threats to realizing the potential of school‐based mentoring in teacher education

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to identify and examine root causes of the failure of school‐based mentoring to realize its full potential.Design/methodology/approach – The article draws on the re‐analysis of data from two major mixed‐method empirical studies carried out in England. It focuses on data generated from interviews with beginner teachers and mentors in both primary and secondary schools.Findings – The findings point to a failure to create appropriate conditions for effective mentoring in England at the level of the mentoring relationship, the school, and the national policy context.Practical implications – Implications of the findings include the need to achieve a greater degree of informed consensus on the meaning and purposes of mentoring in teacher education, and to ensure that mentors of beginner teachers are appropriately trained for the role.Originality/value – The article identifies the practice of judgemental mentoring or “judgementoring” as an obstacle to school‐based mentori...

Student teachers’ experiences of initial teacher preparation in England: core themes and variation

Drawing on data generated via large‐scale survey and in‐depth interview methods, this article reports findings which show that being a student teacher in early‐twenty‐first‐century England is a demanding personal experience which requires considerable engagement and commitment in the face of built‐in challenges and risks, and which engenders, for many, highly charged affective responses. Student teachers are centrally concerned during this time with their (changing) identities, their relationships with others and the relevance of course provision. Findings also indicate that, in some respects, student teachers’ accounts of their experiences are systematically differentiated according to a number of factors, notably the initial teacher preparation route being followed, their age, and their prior conceptions and expectations of teaching and of learning to teach. These findings are situated in the broader literature on teacher development and some implications for teacher educators are discussed.

Mentoring in Teacher Education

This article begins by tracing the modern roots of mentoring in teacher education, major themes supported by recent perspectives on professional learning, and the evolving relationships between these two strands. It then outlines, under three different headings, what growing research in this area is beginning to yield: effectiveness and benefits of mentoring, conditions for effective mentoring, and potential negatives in mentoring. While this demonstrates that research has begun to offer useful findings, the authors express the hope that while respecting the complexities involved, future research should help progress investigation of the effectiveness of mentoring and mentoring strategies.

Teachers' experiences of initial teacher preparation, induction and early professional development in England—does route matter?

The last 10–15 years in England have witnessed a number of government-driven changes to initial teacher preparation (ITP) and the early professional development of teachers. One important development is that potential entrants to the teaching profession are now offered a wide range of routes for achieving Qualified Teacher Status. In addition, other initiatives, such as the introduction of the Career Entry and Development Profile, have sought to encourage closer integration between initial teacher preparation and the school-based induction of newly qualified teachers. Given this, there is a need for research that explores how the experiences of teachers following different routes into the profession compare, and how integrated their ITP, new teacher induction and early professional development programmes appear to be in practice. The ‘Becoming a teacher’ project (2003–2009), funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and the Teacher Training Agency (TTA), and carried out by researchers at the University of Nottingham, the University of Leeds and MORI Social Research Institute, addresses this need.