Mentoring practices in a teaching school

Abstract : The focus of this study was to contribute to the growing body of knowledge being developed on the mentoring practices at a university-affiliated teaching school in Johannesburg through an in-depth investigation into the mentoring practices of one mentor teacher. The study was guided by a main research question that centered on how the concerned teacher conceives of her mentoring encounters (including practices and processes) with student teachers in a teaching school. I focused on her own conceptualisation of her role, the nature of the mentoring relationship/s between her and the student teachers and the factors which influence her practices. Using a qualitative case study design, I gathered data including methods such as video recordings of mentoring encounters, document analysis and an interview. The key findings of this study was that mentoring to student teachers in a teaching school is multidimensional and evolving, with the mentor teacher fulfilling both a generalised and subject specific role. Additionally I found that the mentoring relationship with student teachers is characterised by dialogue, encouragement, mutual cooperation and developing trust which are the basis on which a community of practice is being built. The study also revealed that in the transition from knowledgeable teacher to teacher educator, the mentor teacher continues to encounter challenges in helping student teachers to integrate university coursework with classroom practice.M.Ed. (Childhood Education

Differentiating between experience and expertise in mentoring student teachers

Mentoring is intended to guide student teachers towards pedagogical decision-making within the complexity of the classroom. In this article we focus on the mathematics mentoring practices of 1 primary school teacher at a university-affiliated teaching school in Johannesburg. The teacher had many years of experience and had undergone some development as a mentor over a period of 5 years. With the research reported on here, we aimed at gaining insight into how the teacher conceptualised her mentoring encounters with student teachers and how this aligned with her mentoring practices and processes. Using a qualitative case study design and multiple methods of data collection, the findings point to the mentor teacher making substantial progress towards functioning as an expert teacher. However, the data confirmed a fluctuation in enactment of mentoring between experienced and expert teacher, in both generalised and subject-specific contexts. The implications of the findings are relevant for the thousands of school teachers who mentor student teachers and novice teachers, particularly in primary schools where teachers are often generalists and not subject specialists. The findings could also inform guidelines and policy briefs for training by higher education institutions, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the South African Council of Educators in order to support the development of expert mentor teachers