Conceptualizing a Mentoring Framework for Samoan and Pacific Island Teachers

Abstract

As teachers continue to leave the teaching profession Ministries of Education continue to find ways to address this problem. Research indicated mentoring as an effective approach to support novice teachers (Stock & Duncan, 2010) resulting in many countries developing mentoring programs. Research found that teacher mentoring programs positively impact teacher retention (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011), however Tomlinson (2019) argued that there is lack of structure to guide mentors within many mentoring programs. Knight et al. (2014) showed some concerns regarding the practice of those individuals who are involved in mentoring of novice teachers and went on to emphasize the importance of identifying and defining mentoring strategies. Moreover, Will (2017 cited by Tomlinson 2019) stressed the value of quality mentoring and the need for mentors to establish a defined set of mentoring strategies for effective facilitation of professional development of new teachers. In a similar vein, Schwan, Wold, Moon, Neville, and Outka (2020) citing Breaux and Wong, (2003); Callahan (2016); Darling-Hammond (2012; White & Mason, 2003) also stressed the importance of developing organized and meaningful mentoring programs to address the issue of teacher attrition. While numerous studies have been conducted on mentoring programs elsewhere however there is dearth research on a structured and meaningful mentoring program within the Pacific including Samoa. There is a great need to develop a mentoring program within the Samoan context as this can develop mentors’ knowledge and understanding in supporting teachers and to address the teacher attrition problem.