109- Reach an unforced consensus about what to do in the particular situation in
which they find themselves (p. 293).
In his later work, Habermas ( 1996 ) identified the ways in which communicative
action opened a particular kind of space. It was a space that built solidarity between
participants, enabled their understandings and decisions to be legitimated and in
turn facilitated a sense of agency in that people could identify what was true and
authentic in relation to the circumstances in which they found themselves. As such,
in situations where we are genuinely acting collaboratively with others in the con-
text of practical and collectively shared reason, communicative action is an invalu-
able social resource for navigating the process of learning and reformulating what
is of value and what is or is not to be valued.
Current research (Hudson, 2013 ) indicates Australian universities are often lim-
ited in the necessary resources for effective mentoring of preservice teachers during
their professional experience in tertiary education. Concurrently, Australia’s pri-
mary teachers are generalists, teaching from Foundation/Reception to Year 6/7. The
Australian curriculum supports eight key learning areas including English,
Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education (HPE), Humanities and
Social Sciences (HASS), The Arts, Technologies and Languages. These key learn-
ing areas interconnect to seven general capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, Information
and Communication Technology Capability, Critical and Creative Thinking,
Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding and Intercultural
Understandings towards developing lifelong learners. The Australian Curriculum
also embeds into the curriculum three cross-curriculum priorities that are to be
developed: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Asia and
Australia’s Engagement with Asia and Sustainability (ACARA, 2017 , v8.3). As
such, primary generalist teachers are expected to integrate learning across the cur-
riculum by embedding at least one of the three cross-curriculum priorities into their
programs in order to equip young Australians with twenty-first century skills
(ACARA, 2017 ; Chapman, 2015 ).
A concern, highlighted by Kampylis ( 2010 ) and expanded on by Wade-Leeuwen
( 2015 ), was uncovered through an investigation into the implicit theories of preser-
vice teachers on creativity and how their implicit theories could influence their
everyday practices in the classroom. Questions arose as to whether they were being
supported in their role of fostering creativity in children. In this chapter, we argue
that effective mentoring relationship strategies, established within tertiary teacher
education programs, not only enhance preservice teachers’ confidence but also con-
tribute towards their professional knowledge and capacities.
The literature shows the characteristics of an effective mentoring relationship
that involve an emphasis on high-quality relationships that build on trust, mutual
respect and non-judging ways of being and are affirming and empowering (Meyer
& Wood, 2017 ). According to Wenger ( 2000 ), a mentoring relationship is a dynamic
intentional relationship in which one person enables another to grow and learn in
the role. The effectiveness of the relationship is dependent on the resources, includ-
ing time and space, allowed for this relationship to grow. A growing body of research
7 Reconsidering the Communicative Space: Learning to Be