HKIER

Abstract

Recent concern about the quality of education in schools has led both researchers and policy-makers to examine the nature of teacher education and to consider alternative ways in which teachers might be trained. In several countries, there have been moves towards making initial training more school-based, involving practising teachers as mentors, and making the training more practical. This paper examines the arguments for school-based teacher training and for the establishment of a mentoring role. Drawing on research in teacher education, it then considers the ways in which mentors influence student teachers' developing practice, identifies the skills that mentors may need in order to carry out their role and discusses the substantial implications for staff development in schools and higher education. It is argued that research and development initiatives in mentoring have greatly helped in highlighting the complexity of teaching and teacher education, and to draw attention to teachers' professional development needs.

摘要

學校教育的質素近來備受關注。從事有關方面研究的人員及政策制定者開始探討教師教育的本質，並考慮其他可行的訓練方法。有些國家在訓練教師的初階，委派在職教師擔任「導師」（mentors），因而令訓練過程更實事求是、更以學校為本。本文旨在探討實踐校本教師訓練及設立導師制度的論據。從研究教師教育的調查所得, 衡量導師如何協助準教師發展其教學模式；作者也指出導師若要發揮作用，該具備些甚麼才幹，並討論這些問題對在學校和高等學府的人力資源發展有何重要的啟示。本文認為引進導師制度的研究及發展，大大有助於突出教學和教師教育的複雜性；並且引發我們更注意教師專業發展的需要。