Abstract
This case study aimed to clarify the contents of mentoring in physical education lessons during practical teacher training at elementary school level.
First, the investigator observed the mentoring process involving Mentor X during physical education lessons, and completed field notes about conversations between Mentor X and student teachers at the physical education feedback meeting. These field notes were then classified by the KJ method to clarify the characteristics of the individual mentoring. We then selected and analyzed the characteristics that were typical of Mentor X's approach.
The following results were obtained: 1. The mentoring contents were classified from seven viewpoints: “facts in the lesson”, “activities of the student teacher”, “facts about children”, “understanding of teaching materials”, “ideas as a teacher”, “ideas of student teachers” and “ideas of the mentor”. 2. The mentor's seven viewpoints were classified into two broad categories, i.e. “lessons” and “ideas”, as well as three small categories, i.e. “student teachers”, “children” and “teaching materials”. 3. The mentor talked about “children” in order to change the student teachers' interest from their teaching to pupil learning during the lesson. 4. The mentor talked about “ideas” in order to change the student teachers' interest from pupil learning to lesson objectives and the intended teaching activities during the lesson. 5. The mentor talked about “teaching materials” in order to deepen the student teachers' understanding of teaching materials when able to share the lesson objectives with them.
