Abstract

NUNEZ, Carmen Gloria; PINO, Mauricio  and  LOPEZ, Verónica. Horizons of possibilities of mentoring in Chili: an analysis of the pilot experience from the discursive perspective. Educ. Soc. [online]. 2011, vol.32, n.117, pp. 1149-1164. ISSN 0101-7330.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0101-73302011000400014.

Different discourses on teacher training can be identified throughout the history of Chili. A recent form of teacher training is mentoring, in which an experienced teacher works together with a teacher who has just entered the school system. Based on a Foucauldian perspective, this paper presents a discursive analysis of the systematization of a pilot mentoring program carried out in two regions of Chile. It appears that the horizons of possibilities from which the practices of this experience have emerged form a discourse of training where teachers should be able to manage their own work and teacher development should be an individual enterprise. Such horizons of possibilities promote certain kinds of mentoring practices, such as reflection of the individual work of teachers within their own classrooms; but limit others, such as collective reflection on educational policies.

Keywords : Discourse; Teacher development; Teacher training; Mentorship.