81common to both of these activity systems involved in professional experience. In
Wenger’s ( 1998 ) words, they are ‘boundary crossers’ or ‘brokers’. Wenger ( 1998 ,
p. 109) posits that brokering is a complex process of ‘translation, coordination and
alignment between perspectives’. The university mentor in this case study played a
critical role in assisting students to bridge the theory-practice gap as well as to con-
tribute to a supportive and cohesive learning environment for preservice teachers
and supervising teachers.
The theory-practice gap is a common theme in the professional experience litera-
ture. In this study, the university mentor perceives that one of their roles is to medi-
ate this gap:
We need to have theory and we need them to strongly see how it’s implemented. Not one or
the other. Not ‘this is how the school does it and this is what they told me at uni’. We need
it to be brought together.
As part of both the university and school activity systems, the university mentor
is in a good position to enhance the praxis for preservice teachers during profes-
sional experience. In this respect, the university mentor is an important boundary
broker between the two activity systems in professional experience.
The university mentor is also a key community builder as they join in an ongoing
relationship with the same school. In this study, the university mentors identified
that working with the same schools allowed them to build a robust, dynamic rela-
tionship that involved reciprocity in professional learning that constitutes boundary
crossing in professional experience. One of the simple innovations in this study was
to implement measures that assured university mentors visited the same schools
over a 5-year period. One of the university mentors commented that this led to a
feeling of authenticity:
I really like it when I get to go to the same schools because then I can establish a relation-
ship with the principal, with the teachers and the prac coordinator and it becomes very
authentic and we can help each other.
This is supported by another university mentor who believes that:
... what I wanted to do [is to] develop strong ties with schools so that our [preservice] stu-
dents weren’t sent out randomly to someone who said ‘I want a student’. They were going
to the same site every year, and at that site the same person would be there so that they
would be happy to talk to the university from the point of view of knowing the person. They
don’t have to ring up and ask ‘I’ve got a problem here’, they know who’s going to be there
and we put a face to it. So all the inclusion developments that we want at the university, I
thought this was a strong grassroots way to do it where we actually brought professionals
together.
Such genuine and ongoing relationships are of great assistance when there are
problems experienced by the preservice teacher on professional experience accord-
ing to one of the mentors:
... if the mentor has a strong relationship with the school it’s much easier for everybody, for
that [preservice] student, because we can ease over the problems, but also to guarantee
future placements because they understand that everyone can’t be perfect.5 Boundary Objects and Brokers in Professional Experience