Competencias del Maestro Mentor de Prácticas

Abstract

This article is the result of research centered on the figure of the primary school teacher practicum mentor. The article aims to determine and identify the main professional competencies that these mentors should assume and acquire and that will contribute to the future primary school teachers training during their teacher-practicum period. Additionally, we wish to explore how prepared the teachers’ mentors feel to undertake their role as mentors.

The research specific goals are:

• Determine which competencies the mentors of future primary school teachers should assume and acquire.
• Contribute to the training of the mentors in order enable them to fulfill their roles.

This research uses a quantitative analysis methodology. A questionnaire utilizing the Likert scale has been elaborated and applied to practicum mentors of the Community of Madrid with the purpose of collecting as much information as possible about the specific competencies assumed by the mentors during the practicum period. During the 2012-2013 school year, 105 schools took part in the research. The real sample consists of 674 teachers. The fiability of the questionnaire was obtained by Cronbach’s Alpha with a 0,859 fiability in the blocs: the tutor and the teaching institutions on one hand and the tutor and the development of the teacher’s specific competencies during the practicum. SPSS 20.0 software has been used to analyze the results and back-testing has been done with ANOVA. For segmentation analysis, Chaid’s growth method has been used in order to identify the mentor’s level of satisfaction with their ability to exercise their role as mentors.

Among the results obtained, we emphasize the importance of the relationship between mentor and student on one hand that will establish an atmosphere of trust and counseling that will facilitate their further professional development. On the other hand, we have corroborated the mentors’ abilities and professionalism in the performance of their roles. The conclusions and suggestions focus on the necessity of offering mentors continued training that will enhance their performance as mentors and advisors for the future primary school teachers.