The Divergence of Experts’ Views on a Mentor Competence Profile

Authors

  • Alena Hašková Department of Technology and Information Technologies, Faculty of Education, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Dražovská 4, 949 01 Nitra, Slovakia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8592-7451
  • Tereza Guziurová Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava, F. Šrámka 3, 709 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7739-8980
  • Slavomíra Klimszová Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava, F. Šrámka 3, 709 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic
  • Eva Malá Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava, F. Šrámka 3, 709 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5889-1075

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2023.1.53.65

Keywords:

mentor, mentees, mentor competences, mentor training, international projects

Abstract

Aim. The paper focuses on the divergence of views of experts from four European educational institutions on key competences, which would become the basis for a successful performance of a mentor position. They should be taken as the key items of a mentor competence profile.

Methods. A panel discussion – specifically, a focus group interview as its alternative form – was used to determine how the experts assessed particular competences of the mentor competence profile, i.e. to identify which competences they considered to be the key ones of the mentor competence profile. The panel discussion was led by six focus groups, members of which were experts representing four different countries from six universities: two from Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and one from Hungary and Serbia.

Results. The intention of the conducted panel discussion was to find a common view and consensus on the key competences required for a successful performance of the mentor position. However, the results of the panel discussion showed a significant divergence of the opinions on the fundamental mentor competences depending on the country the experts were from. Differences in the views on the issue examined by experts representing different institutions from the same country also occurred, but proved to be inconclusive. 

Conclusion. Mentoring is currently considered one of the most important means of developing pedagogical competences of future and novice teachers. The results of the conducted panel discussion may contribute to the creation of a platform on which an adequate professional mentor training can be designed.

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Author Biographies

  • Alena Hašková, Department of Technology and Information Technologies, Faculty of Education, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Dražovská 4, 949 01 Nitra, Slovakia

    She is a professor of Technology of Education.  She works at Faculty of Education, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. Her primary interests are methodology of teaching, IT applications in education, development of educational environments and their use for specific purposes, evaluation of teachers’ competences, school leadership and optimization of school management. Currently she acts as the guarantee of the postgraduate (Ph.D.) study program Didactics of Technical Subjects and guarantees habilitation and inauguration procedure in the science branch Branch/Subject Didactics - Didactics of Technical Subjects. She is an author and co-author of 20 monographs, 10 textbooks and approximately 400 articles published in Slovakia and abroad.

  • Tereza Guziurová, Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava, F. Šrámka 3, 709 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

    She has a PhD in English linguistics. Her research interests include genres of academic discourse and English as a Lingua Franca in academic setting. She has participated in pre-service teacher training at the University in Ostrava since 2012, providing courses on English morphology, syntax, discourse analysis, academic writing and general English courses. Furthermore, she has been teaching academic English to university teachers. She published a number of studies, for example a book chapter in the Contrastive Analysis of Discourse-pragmatic Aspects of Linguistic Genres published by Springer in 2017.  

  • Slavomíra Klimszová, Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava, F. Šrámka 3, 709 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

    She is the Head of the Department of English Language Teaching and the departmental Erasmus+ coordinator. She is also an experienced primary and secondary school English teacher and a school mentor. Her research and educational focus is on CLIL and ELT in primary education in Moravian and Silesian region. She also created extensive comprehension exercises for authentic English texts to supplement basic English study materials and enhance overall language abilities such as reading and speaking.

  • Eva Malá, Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava, F. Šrámka 3, 709 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

    She is a professor at the Department of English Language Teaching of the Faculty of Education at the University of Ostrava. Her research interest focuses on theoretical and applied linguistics. She actively takes part in the design of e-learning study programmes and the implementation of ICT in selected English courses. She has several years of experience in educational and research project participation. The results of her research activities have been published in a number of books, textbooks, and scientific papers. She has given several presentations at national and international conferences.

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Published

2023-06-20

How to Cite

Hašková, A., Guziurová, T., Klimszová, S., & Malá, E. (2023). The Divergence of Experts’ Views on a Mentor Competence Profile. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 14(1), 53-65. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2023.1.53.65