| Summary: | This study explores the role of the school advisor in teacher education. The role of the school
advisor has been viewed as problematic because of the ambiguity surrounding the expectations
of this position. In fact, 13.7% of the beginning teachers found that uncertain expectations of
the school advisor's role were a source of conflict in their practicum (BCCT, 2001, p. 17). This
study examines responses to the "Voice of the School Advisor" survey, which asked school
advisors to provide perceptions of their role. The qualitative responses provided for these
questions were analyzed using comparative analysis (Strauss and Corbin, 1998), where
categories are developed from the similarities and differences among responses.
Twenty-seven response categories emerged from the advisors' responses to Question (10):
What are the three most important things that you try to communicate to your student
teachers? Nineteen categories emerged from Questions (17/18): If you were able to change
one thing about the way in which UBC organizes its practica, what would it be? Is there
anything else you would like to highlight in your work with student teachers?
The definition and explanation of these categories presents a colourful and dynamic picture of
the advisory role, which is generally found to be professionally satisfying and personally
invigorating. Their paramount focus as advisors is to instil practical skills, while at the same
time, the main concerns revolve around the way the university addresses these same issues.
The identification of advisors' perceptions has implications for pre-service teacher education.
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