An in-depth analysis of perceptions about the relationships between Turkish pre-service EFL teachers and their mentor teachers in terms of classroom management skills

AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TURKISH PRE-SERVICE EFL TEACHERS AND THEIR MENTOR TEACHERS IN TERMS OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT SKILLS ABSTRACT Teaching practicum is a process that aims to prepare prospective English teachers for their future professions by enhancing their teaching skills. Teaching skills is an umbrella term that includes many subskills. Classroom management skills are one of the most essential ones because classroom management affects all aspects of teaching and learning activities. Because of this undeniable effect, giving the necessary importance is inevitable to improve it during the teaching practicum. However, other stakeholders of the practicum play a vital role in improving pre-service English teachers' classroom management skills, especially the mentor teachers who are assigned to guide them in the practicum. To this end, the study focuses on an in-depth analysis of the relationships between pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and mentor teachers in terms of classroom management skills. A qualitative research design was used to conduct the study. Although semi-structured interviews were used as the main data collection tool, focus group interviews, which were used as a source of data triangulation, were conducted immediately before the semi-structured interviews with six prospective English language teachers and six mentor teachers to frame the questions asked in the semi-structured interviews and to observe the effects of group dynamics and group culture on the way the participants answered the interview questions. Focus group interviews were used as a data triangulation source. Apart from focus group interviews, 15 pre-service English teachers and 15 mentor teachers were interviewed separately for semi-structured interviews for a detailed investigation of the research topic. Before these interviews, pilot interviews were conducted with a prospective EFL teacher and a mentor teacher, and these interviews were also included in the data collection process. Finally, a research journal kept by the researcher, which aims to present the thesis writing process, was used for data triangulation. In the data analysis process, an inductive approach and thematic analysis were applied, and expert opinion was consulted regarding the results of the analysis. The findings of the study demonstrated that the relationships between prospective English teachers and mentor teachers affect the productivity of the teaching practicum process regarding classroom management skills. However, the way it is affected by these interactions depends on the mentees' and the mentor teachers' perceptions and approaches to constructing relationships during teaching practicum. The findings showed that having positive and supportive relationships with mentor teachers provides opportunities for mentees to enhance their classroom management skills through guidance, support, and instructions from them. Yet, constructing negative and unsupportive relationships with mentor teachers prevents them from learning from a more knowledgeable other and improving their classroom management skills. Considering the details that the findings presented about the relationships between these two significant components concerning classroom management skills, this study may contribute to the field by giving special attention, which is necessary for in-depth analysis and comprehensible understanding of the topic. Keywords: Pre-service EFL Teachers, Mentor Teachers, Classroom Management.