What is the difference between tutor and mentor roles?


-      The roles of mentor and tutor vary between courses, national systems and school contexts.
-      The term mentor is used to indicate the person (usually a member of the school staff) who works with the beginner teacher on a daily basis in the school context supporting their development while on placement.
-      The role of tutormay include providing academic support, if the student is studying for an academic qualification, and visiting the school to observe teaching in order to moderate and coordinate grading with the school mentor.
u  It may also involve leading tutorials or seminars that helps students to link theory and practice.
u  The tutor is unlikely to be from within the immediate school context (i.e. from the same department) and may be from a Higher Education Institution, external teacher education provider or from a different school within an alliance of schools.
-      The student experience:
-      Four themes that underpin the process of learning to be a teacher:
u  The concept of teacher identity or sense of self as teacher.
u  The importance of potential and actual relationships with a number of ‘significant others’
u  The role of emotion in student teachers’ reasons for becoming a teacher and (more strongly) in their accounts of their early experiences in schools.
u  Student teachers’ concerns about the relevance of ITP (Individual Training Plan) course provision.

Next page: Mentor Role

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