Student teacher experiences of mentoring during teaching practice in a primary and a secondary school.

Abstract

The South African schooling context is complex and diverse, with many challenges. In many school contexts, the challenges include large class sizes, limited resources, and high staff turnover. It is for this reason that the mentoring of novice teachers takes on particular importance. The current South African teacher education policy, as well as the Department of Education’s policy on teacher professional development, reveals an increasing focus on the role of mentoring in underpinning teachers’ professional development. It was thus important to gain an understanding of how student teachers experienced mentoring in their teaching practice placements. This study focused on student teachers’ expectations and experiences of mentoring during their teaching practice placements in two selected township schools in the Howick Circuit in KwaZulu-Natal. It also considered strategies for the improvement of mentoring experiences, as suggested by the student teachers. This was a qualitative study within an interpretive paradigm. A narrative inquiry design was adopted, with semi-structured interviews and reflective journals used as the data collection methods. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to identify four student teachers (two in a primary school and two in a secondary school) to participate in the study. Qualitative content analysis was then used to analyse the data. Hudson’s Five-Factor Model for Effective Mentoring was used as the conceptual framework in order to understand the student teachers’ expectations and experiences of mentoring. The findings of the study revealed that the student teachers’ expectations of the mentoring practices in the schools were not met fully. The student teachers all viewed the role of mentors as central to their professional development, yet their experiences differed from participant-to-participant in particular areas, although there were areas of similarity. Collaboration between the mentees and their mentors did not happen as expected for the student teachers, although the mentors were generally friendly, welcoming, and supportive in terms of sharing school policies, routines, and other system requirements. However, there was minimal transfer of the pedagogical skills sorely needed by student teachers to develop into fully-fledged professionals. This was due to the mentors only availing themselves sporadically, if at all, to observe and be observed by their mentees during lessons. Had this been done properly; it would have given both mentors and mentees opportunities to learn from each other through skills being modelled and the provision of oral and written feedback. Strategies suggested by student teachers to improve mentoring included the development of formal mentoring programs and closer collaboration between schools and universities so that a common understanding of mentoring is developed. An effective strategy that would improve the student teacher experience would be the proper implementation of school policies such as the Continuing Professional Teacher Development System (CPTD) and the Quality Management System (QMS) that place mentoring as central to these policies. Though these policies already exist, their implementation remains a challenge in most schools. Instead of focusing on policy compliance, this study recommends strengthening the implementation of these policies that encourage mentors to understand their roles in professional development.