Mentoring Matters in Workplace: The Impact of Formal Mentoring Program on EFL Instructors’ Performance at ELI, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

Aishah Khojah,Fariha Asif

doi:10.5539/elt.v13n4p140

Abstract

An unprecedented acceleration in globalization, cross-culture integration and intensified innovation are a few elements that have triggered the need for availability of mentoring as the professional identity of any institution of higher learning. It has got the status of a foundation stone of mutual accomplishments between universities in the provision of teacher development. Therefore, this research study was carried out to evaluate the experiences of faculty members who participated in a formal mentoring program organized by the English Language Institute (ELI) at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) from 2017 to 2019. In this mixed-method study, a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data in order to respond to questions connected to the effectiveness of the mentoring program for mentors and mentees. The study particularly sought to discover the character of the work issues discussed and the worth judged by participants as emerging from their contribution to a programmed mentoring correlation. Data analysis transpired that mentoring promoted all of those who participated in the program. The study concluded that mentoring could assist in constructing capability in two ways: featured and standardized mentoring of trainee teachers through overt mentoring practices, and demonstrating and deconstructing teaching methods and practices for mentors&#39; pedagogical progression. This study emphasizes the worth and value of the formal mentoring program as a valued and fitting professional development approach.&nbsp;

Highlights

It is but a truth that the current century has witnessed revolutionary changes in every walk of life and teaching is, no exception
The purpose of this research is to present an account of English Language Institute (ELI)'s Formal Mentoring Program which was successfully conducted for the academic years 2017-2019, to determine the experiences of participating faculty members, fifty-one novice teachers, twenty-eight in-service teachers and twenty-six mentors who participated in the mentoring program
The formal mentoring program has been successfully implemented at the ELI in the Women Main Campus (WMC) only of King Abdulaziz University (KAU)

Summary

Introduction

It is but a truth that the current century has witnessed revolutionary changes in every walk of life and teaching is, no exception. The way the elements of education, content, mode of delivery, teaching tools, artifacts and means of assessment are undergoing transition, the need for a source of practical guidance has become more vital than ever. Mentoring and its consistent presence in any school of teaching and learning is becoming inevitable and unavoidable element. A thorough view of the body of literature on mentoring and its implcations may reaveal that a subtle poise of mentoring someone is not moulding and developing them in your own identity or icon, but permitting them to develop themselves It is a kind of voluntary transference of one’s knowledge skill and professional expertise to somone who is comparyively newer in the profession. This study will reflect on the conclusive nature of the venture of mentoring

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Conclusion