Introduction

This paper focuses on a collaborative self-study process of four vocational teacher educators in Norway.  The purpose of the research is to investigate the effect collaborate self- study has on our professional practice and development whilst facilitating a course in mentoring for practice teachers for our student vocational teachers.

Background and context

The National Curriculum Framework for Vocational Teacher Education, states that teacher education should be a two-way collaboration between teacher education and the practical field (Ministry of Education, 2013). However, both Norwegian and international research indicate that there are challenges in coherence and cooperation between the two learning arenas (Canrinus, Bergem, Klette, & Hammerness, 2015, Darling-Hammond, 2006, Heggen, Smeby, & Vågan, 2015).

The Norwegian National strategy paper for quality and cooperation in teacher education (Ministry of Education 2017) addresses these challenges and indicates a need for the much closer cooperation. The intention being to develop a cooperation where both the university and the practice school will work together to improve the quality of teacher education and vocational education in schools (VET), to establish collaborative research projects (Ministry of Education, 2017).

In 2019, vocational teacher education at our university established a project l with one of our teaching practices schools. The first activity agreed upon was the development of a school-based mentoring course. The aim of the course is to improve the practice teachers’ mentoring abilities with student teachers during teaching practice and to improve coherence between the curriculum for teacher education and teaching practice. Since 2013, practice teachers for student teachers in Norway are required to have 15 ETCS in mentoring. Further, it was determined that 13 teacher educators would be facilitators on the mentoring course. The four researchers were part of that group of thirteen facilitators.

The collaborative self-study

We aim to examine both the dilemmas, challenges and opportunities that the mentoring facilitator-role presented to our role as teacher educators as well as on professional competence in our mentoring role.  Our intention is to improve our practice and our professional development, and to contribute new knowledge (Zeichner, 2005, 2007). We seek to examine contexts, relationships and our individual beliefs about our practice, using dialogue and critical collaborative reflective inquiry (LaBoskey, 2004).

Our research question is:

What are the effects of collaborative self-study on the professional practice and development of the four participating teachers?

Theoretical framework

The overall research project places particular emphasis on research-based literature and theory of collaborative self-study. We define self-study research as “intentional and systematic inquiry into one’s practice” (Dinkelman, 2003, p. 8). In this definition, Dinkelman includes “groups working collaboratively to understand problems of practice more deeply” (p 8).

Further, this approach is inspired by, amongst others, the work of Zeichner (2005, 2007), LaBoskey (2004a 2004b), Pinnegar and Hamilton (2009), Samaras & Freese (2006). These researchers emphasise self-study as a personal, contextual, systematic enquiry requiring critical and collaborative reflection to generate new knowledge.  LaBoskey’s (2004a 2004b) five elements of self-study will be central: Self-study is self-initiated and focused; it is improvement-aimed; it is interactive; it includes multiple methods and it defines validity as a process based on trustworthiness (LaBoskey 2004a p 817).  Zeichner believes that self-study research can open up new ways of understanding teacher education, highlighting the significance of context and persons to inquiry (Zeichner 2007p 43)

The participants in the research are four vocational teacher educators out of a group of thirteen facilitating in the mentoring course. Each of the vocational teacher educators have responsibility for 10 of the practice teachers who are undertaking the mentor course. The course lasts for two semesters and is completed with an exam. The main data in the self-study process is the four participants’ researchers written reflective logs. These are written during and after the mentoring sessions with the practice teachers, after our sub-group of four meetings, as well as individual reflections throughout the process. The writing of individual logs are a cyclic collective reflection process, as our individual logs are the basis for discussions in our sub-group meetings. Further, the discussions in the group initiate new individual logs, and so forth. In addition, informal conversations and discussions among the participants can be starting points for new individual logs. Minutes from the mentoring sessions are also included in the data. The main part of the data analysis started up in October 2020. To enhance the reliability of the analysis, the four researchers have been working together on coding the material in several coding cycles (Saldaña, 2016). We started by individual coding of the data material in accordance with principles for open coding (Gibbs, 2018) and by using the NVivo analysis programme.. We have construct new codes and categories in a combination of inductive and deductive approaches, by including concepts from previous research and the theoretical framework of the study (Saldaña, 2016). We are now in the process of working on of code-sets and working towards consensus of the categories.

• To achieve mutual benefits through dialogue, reflection and critical collective enquiry, to challenge, rethink, and improve our own practice. • To develop our mentoring competence. • To encourage self-study as a method for professional development in vocational teacher education • To contribute to the literature on collaborative self-study to the field of teacher education. • To contribute to the growing literature of collaborative self-study research being conducted by teachers in various European countries. • Further, we see this study as contributing to, not only our professional development, but also the development of the mentoring course and development and ownership of the university school project as a whole. These three being interdependent, and as a whole contributing to enhanced coherence between our university and the school, in which our vocational teacher students conduct their teaching practice

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