Abstract
This study explores the link between a mentorship program for in-service teachers and their professional development. The participants are under-qualified mathematics, science, and technology teachers employed in junior secondary schools. Using a mixed-method approach, data were collected through a questionnaire responded to by 163 mentees, and semi-structured interviews with 4 in-service teachers. Despite tensions between mentors and mentees, the results show a strong link between mentoring and the professional development of in-service teachers. The majority of the sampled teachers learnt new teaching approaches and improved their content knowledge. The findings are emergent, suggesting that experienced in-service teachers require different models of mentoring relationships between mentors and mentees to those suggested in the literature.
Highlights
The notion of mentoring can be traced to the epic poem, “The Odyssey,” by Homer which chronicled the adventures of Odysseus in the Trojan War and his homebound journey thereafter
We describe and analyze a professional mentorship development program that was arranged for in-service teachers of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST)
The results show that 17% of the in-service teachers were not satisfied with the workload for this program as exemplified by the following extract regarding the arrangement of conducting lectures during the teachers’ holiday period: We come first day to attend during holidays and you are writing a test the very day
Summary
The notion of mentoring can be traced to the epic poem, “The Odyssey,” by Homer which chronicled the adventures of Odysseus in the Trojan War and his homebound journey thereafter. We describe and analyze a professional mentorship development program that was arranged for in-service teachers of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST). The 203 teachers who participated in the study were enrolled in a formal 2-year, part-time certificate program which required completion of assignments, writing of examinations and a teaching practice component.
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