The success of this partnership model of teacher education is dependent upon the existence of shared goals and clarity in the roles and responsibilities of participants. The role of schools and teachers has been significantly enhanced in school-based initial teacher education. This Mentor Handbook has been prepared to provide teachers with support in their critical role in the process. It supplements the PGCE Secondary Programme and PGCE Secondary Programme and Assessment Procedures Handbook, which contains programme specific information needed by student teachers as well as their mentors and tutors, by providing guidance on implementing the mentoring procedures appropriate to the programme. Detailed course outlines for professional studies and each subject are also available separately in Professional Studies and Subject Studies Handbooks, so that these may be distributed to appropriate subject mentors.
Professional mentors are responsible for the planning and oversight of the school-based experience.
The Mentor Handbook focuses on the mentor s role in implementing assessment procedures rigorously and sensitively. The PGCE Secondary Programme and PGCE Secondary Programme and Assessment Procedures Handbook describes the assessment requirements student teachers have to meet and the procedures they must follow to ensure that they are successful. Procedures Handbook include the criteria for written assignments so that mentors will be able to support student teachers in the school-based work which forms part of these tasks. The role of school-based mentor is still relatively new in teacher education although there are now many excellent experienced mentors in the partnership. It is important that mentors develop their own understanding of the role and the skills and strategies needed through a process of critical reflection.