Paradigms in Language Teacher Education
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a final or even a state examination to complete this phase, be granted a university diploma and have their teaching qualification recognized (Eurydice 2002: 18–19, 77–82; Wiłkomirska 2005: 48–50). Both the final on-the-job qualifying phase and the induction phases in schools call for the so-called mentor, a qualified and experienced teacher whose task is to offer support and guidance to the trainee in his/her first months in school. Mentor training is often part of postgraduate university study. Decisions related to the final on-the-job qualifying phase and/or the induction phase are strongly determined by the structure of teacher education. Two basic structural models can be distinguished in the process of teacher training: a sequential (consecutive) model and a parallel (concurrent) one. In the sequential model the teacher education component is provided after the general period of study, as it is done in England, Scotland or Ireland. In the parallel model pedagogical preparation forms a built-in component of academic education, a solution adopted in Germany, Denmark as well as in most of the new member countries of the European Union. In some countries, e.g. in Finland, Norway and Sweden, both models coexist. Teachers for primary schools are usually trained in the concurrent model and consecutive models are often used in training teachers for lower secondary schools. In half of the European countries in the training of teachers for secondary schools both models coexist (Eurydice 2008: 81). Irrespective of the structural model heated discussions focused on the ratio of academic and professional education and training. Debates on the subject referred, however indirectly, to sequential and parallel models of teacher education discussed above, because the dominance of the academic component often resulted in the choice of the sequential model, while stress on professional training led to parallel or mixed models. In sequential models academic studies preceded professional training. Parallel models opened an even more fierce fight over time given to both aspects of teacher preparation. Whatever the final decision, the academic component comprises courses leading to language proficiency, linguistics, literature as well as life and culture of a given language community. In teacher training institutions this component, frequently reduced to a minimum, was often referred to as background studies. The academic component is strengthened in countries opting for university education for all the teachers in the school system. This tendency can be seen in Luxembourg, Holland or Spain to mention just a few examples (Zawadzka 2004: 52). In the 1970s and 1980s the strengthening of the academic