SELF-ENHANCING SEMINARS AND EXPERIENTIAL JOURNALS FOR COOPERATING TEACHERS: A PROFESSIONAL GROWTH MODEL

Since 1989, professional growth seminars at St. Norbert College (Wisconsin) have brought cooperating teachers together to share their thoughts and emuLions related to the experience of student teacher mentoring. In these seminars, the mentors gather for mutual instruction and support. Each seminar series consists of six 2-hour meetings during a 16-week semester. Each mentor supervises a student teacher during seminar participation and keeps a journal of personal reflections on the experience. The seminar aims to elicit in-depth discussion about effective student teacher guidance. Seminar facilitators guide cooperating teachers through Rogerian-based reflective dialogue sessions, with frequent reference to the experiential journals. Use of Rogerian principles that involve self-disclosure and empathic listening during the intimate dialogue sessions help participants not only to become better mentors, but also to become more "self-actualized " and "fully functioning. " Presented are excerpts fro