Improvements in mentoring of pre-service teachers: Experiences of field placement

Journal of Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities

Thuthukile Jita, E-mail: [e-mail]¹  Barnabas Muyengwa, E-mail: [e-mail].² 

[1] University of the Free State, South Africa;Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe;

关键词: teacher education;    field placement;    school-based mentoring;    pre-service teachers;    teacher educator;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The latest shift in teacher education gives more responsibilities in the preparation of teachers to schools. This places special demands on the classroom teacher who acts as a teacher educator in a mentoring role that requires specialist skills. Though teacher education institutions have attempted to provide some guidance to mentor teachers through workshops and/or seminars there seems to be inconsistencies in the mentoring of pre-service teachers during field placement. This qualitative multi-case study explores how school-based mentoring of pre-service teachers in selected secondary schools in a district could be improved. Purposively sampled three mentoring pair participants were observed and interviewed in action for at least five months from a population of 340 Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) students of one university in Zimbabwe. The findings suggest that the participants were of the view that mentoring of pre-service teachers could be improved if schools and the university were to enrich the environment in which mentoring was taking place. Among other measures to be taken to improve mentoring of pre-service teachers was (a) mentor selection, (b) benefits of mentoring, and (c) mentor training workshops. The paper recommends that besides being motivated and selected on some known criteria, mentor teachers needed specialist skills in mentoring.

【 授权许可】

Unknown