Mentor Teachers in Turkish Teacher Education Programs

The role of mentor teachers in teacher education programs is regarded as the most significant role in guiding students' work during student teaching. This paper focuses on the selection and training of those mentor teachers in Turkish teacher education programs during the 2010-2011 academic year. It is based on evidence from an on-line survey of program coordinators in teacher education programs at 22 universities across the seven regions of Turkey. The researcher found that the procedures for selecting, educating, and compensating mentor teachers are, in general, given little or no attention at most Turkish institutions, and are often not even known or understood by the program coordinators.