Mentors and Modelling Primary Science Teaching Practices

Abstract

Final year preservice teachers' perceptions of their mentoring in primary science teaching were gathered through a survey from two separate studies. The two studies (n=331, n=60) provided an indication of the degree mentors model primary science teaching practices. This research argues that mentors need to model primary science teaching particularly in the areas of modelling: enthusiasm, classroom management and a rapport with students, science teaching, and effective science teaching with well-designed lessons that include hands-on experiences. Mentors also need to model syllabus language so that mentees develop appropriate discourse towards understanding science teaching practices. The key study results (n=331, from nine Australian universities involved in primary teacher education) indicated that on average 55% of mentors did not model primary science teaching in each of the associated mentoring practices (mean range: 2.68 to 3.66, standard deviation range: 1.22 to 1.30).