TUTORING EFFECT IN TEACHERS CONTINUOUS LEARNING PROCESS: A LONGITUDINAL CASE STUDY IN SPORTS EDUCATION

Effective continuing learning for teachers should meet individual needs and developed in specific school contexts. In this process of updating teaching, tutoring effect has not been yet sufficiently explored. A tutoring protocol was designed and implemented for three consecutive school years in order to support in situ an inexperienced teacher on the Sport Education model. The process was progressively increasing the degree of professional autonomy and initiative, and allowed to address different contents (14 sports seasons) in Primary Education 2nd to 6th grades. From a qualitative and longitudinal approach, 10 interviews were performed to deepen the perception of the inexperienced teacher mentoring process. Five categories emerged related with tutoring. Results show the value of: a) the contextual character of tutoring, b) the need for specific monitoring in specific contents to increase the awareness of professional competence, c) the specific support depending on the age of students, d) the relevance of the characteristics of the model, and e) the perception of a personal change in methodological terms. These findings are discussed in connection with the relevant literature.