Pixel International Conferences

Graduate teaching fellows in foreign language departments in the United States, who cannot teach in their first year due to accreditation requirements, are typically assigned to a master class instructor, take a methodology course, observe classes taught by experienced faculty, do guided grading in their first semester, and teach some parts of a class in the last third quarter of their first semester to earn their stipend. Collaborative models that integrate novice instructors, under the guidance of a course coordinator (master teacher), get a hands-on experience. The master teacher provides models in teaching principles and best practices. Also provides an opportunity for training and mentoring new instructors. The time investment for mentors is significant with such models, but their mentees gradually gain confidence in more aspects of teaching, departmental policies, educational training, and are better prepared to teach independently in their second year. Mentors benefit from the positive relationship developed with their mentees who contribute ideas and insights as members of a team rather than mere apprentices. Mentees feel that they can develop a relationship with the master teacher and other experienced instructors which will allow them to assume full responsibility of their own classes and already be familiar with the responsibilities of the team’s workload under the supervision of their coordinator (master teacher).  Language students also benefit because they attend smaller classrooms and have access to more individual help from members of a teaching team. Presentation of variations on models used in such pedagogical training for Spanish, French, and Italian will demonstrate the importance of the mentoring moments that these training and mentoring models afford. The value of incorporating principles drawn from the Appreciative Inquiry approach as tools for mentoring will also be highlighted.

Keywords: Mentoring and training novice Spanish instructors;