Utilization of Reflective Strategies by Mentors in the Student Teacher Mentoring Program (STMP) in a Selected Province in Zimbabwe (original) (raw)
Related papers
In this qualitative study we sought to establish the usefulness of school based mentoring in the professional development of student teachers in Zimbabwe using schools in Masvingo urban as case studies. The central question guiding us in this study focuses on what student teachers and their mentors felt towards the current school based student teachers practicum supervision. Many contemporary authorities believe that an effective teacher training programme can be ensured when both the school and the college (department of teacher’s training) work in tandem. They argue that whereas the college plays a leading role during the days of classroom-based theory exposition, this leading role is subsequently ceded to the field or school-based mentor. In the college, students are fed with theoretical concepts of the teaching and learning process. But these theories mean nothing if they do not guide practice. How then can we ensure that theories guide practice? Traditionally teaching practice (without mentors as we know them today) has been believed to be the best way of attaining this goal. In this study, most participants felt that both the college lecturer and an experienced and knowledgeable person in the school compound should supervise students on teaching practice. They agreed that school based supervision is of great value as it plays a critical role in the development of student teachers, but still it requires enough resources and the complementary role of the college professional supervisor.
2007
The small post-war former socialist country of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been under constant reform in each area of its existence for the last ten years now. The reforms concerning the education system have been of the greatest interest for me, an educator who truly believes the future of every country depends on tolerance, open-mindedness and the absence of prejudice. These three basic principles of a successful democratic society are best acquired through competent teaching in the classroom. Sharing my teaching experience and helping novice teachers develop their own knowledge, awareness, skills and attitudes has not only helped the growth of my new colleagues coming into the profession but has also enriched my own teaching repertoire as well as my personality. Working as a mentor and teacher educator in circumstances which, for most people, are far from satisfying made me realize how little is needed to start making a significant change in the world I live in. The research described in this paper has the purpose of showing my colleagues what we as working professionals can do to help the education reform in our country. It is research on mentor work with a novice teacher based on a reflective approach to teaching, with the goal of developing a 'reflective practitioner' with a positive attitude to learning and an awareness of the constant need for further professional improvement.
Inside Mentor-Mentee Meetings in Pre-Service Teacher School-based Teaching Practice in Zimbabwe
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2019
Mentor-mentee meetings are a critical aspect of student teacher mentoring during teaching practice (TP)as they significantly contribute to the success of the whole mentoring process and consequently to the positive accomplishment of the entire practicum. This study contributes to debates on mentor-mentee meetings given the limited research on this phenomenon. By investigating the kinds of knowledge student teachers gain from such meetings, the findings may influence researchers to investigate other aspects of mentor-mentee meetings. The study sought to explore from the student teachers' perspectives, the domains of knowledge that they gain from mentoring meetings during residential TP. A qualitative approach which employed openended questionnaires was used to generate data from 16 student teachers: seven men and nine women in two education districts. Students indicated that they had good relationships with their mentors, and held formal meetings weekly, fortnightly or monthly. They also reported gaining general pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, curriculum knowledge, knowledge of learners, and knowledge of educational contexts. Three students experienced ineffective mentoring, as such had limited benefits from mentoring processes and most likely from the practicum. Knowledge of what to teach, how to teach it as well as appropriate strategies for particular topics, the kinds of students and their specific settings often merge into what student teachers are expected to learn in teacher preparation inclusive of residential practicum. Comprehensive, prolonged, ongoing mentor training workshops would expose mentors to the entire essence of mentoring and the centrality of formal mentor-mentee meetings not only for student teacher TP mentoring, but also for mentor growth and rejuvenation in their practice. Introduction and Background Teaching Practice (TP) is a period when pre-service teachers go into the field to gain practical and professional experience, through 'on-spot' guidance and supervision, interactions and formal meetings with qualified, experienced practicing teachers (Mukeredzi & Mandrona,
Mentoring and the development of reflective practice: concepts and context
System, 1998
In a mentoring scheme the responsibility for the professional development in school of a student or newly quali®ed teacher is taken on by an experienced teacher. Mentoring is a relatively new concept in English Language Teacher Education and its origins lie largely in changes in the theory and practice of Teacher Education in the UK and North America. The overriding message in books and articles published on mentoring has been that the mentor needs to help the student teacher to develop`re¯ective practice'. This message has at times been imbued with the tenets of humanistic psychology, so that a student teacher's ability to re¯ect and develop is sometimes seen as dependent on personal change. This paper focuses on what transpired during a mentor training course in Hungary which involved prospective mentors and student English Language teachers. In this course role plays, which were at ®rst designed to provide prospective mentors with the chance to practise giving post-observation feedback, proved to be the stimulus for an exploration of how far the model of mentoring commonly promoted takes sucient account of contextual factors.
2016
This study examines the perceptions of student teachers on the importance of mentoring, in teacher education programme at Zimbabwe Open University, A total of 50 student teachers doing Post Graduate Diploma in Education in the Department of Teacher Education during the 2015-2016 academic year participated in the study. A researcher-designed questionnaire was utilized to collect data. The results indicate that participants perceive high disagreement toward the effectiveness of mentor teachers. They express that they wish mentor teachers to be understanding, good models, to treat them as a teacher candidate not as a student and to give constructive feedback. The study concludes by offering a number of practical and theoretical implications for the field of study.
International Journal of Higher Education
Mentor teachers are instrumental in teacher preparation programs during the teaching practice of preservice teachers that involves mentor-mentee relationships. This qualitative paper reports on the mentoring experiences of preservice teachers during eight weeks of teaching practice in 2020 using Gibbs’ experimental learning as a conceptual framework. Forty-five preservice teachers participated in a reflective exercise, sharing their stories through reflective essays guided by open-ended questions. A thematic approach was used in data analysis. Findings indicated that mentors’ experiences and personal characteristics, and abilities to create opportunities for growth influenced the preservice teachers’ experiences during teaching practice. The mentees’ perceptions toward mentor-mentee relationships also influenced their experience. Based on the findings, it is important to upskill mentors to equip them with professional and mentorship ethics to enable preservice teachers to acquire th...
South African Journal of Education
Establishing a close alignm ent b etween teacher education program m es and the realities of the actual classroom rem ains a challenge in preparing pre-service teachers at higher education institutions. The literature indicates that reflection is a core quality of effective teachers. W e investigate how the developm ent of reflective practice through m entoring p rogram m es can facilitate the inevitable transitions that students have to m ake to the professional sector. Through a narrative analysis, we report on the insights of a selected group of Postgraduate Certif icate in Education (PG C E) students particip ating in the initial developm ent phase of a m entoring system during their practice teaching in schools guiding them to reflect critically on their learning and practice. The data suggest that m entoring can act as a catalyst to enhance reflection. The developm ent of reflection as praxis can assist in bridging the gap between theory and practice.
African Journal of Teacher Education
Mentor teachers play a vital role in the pre-service training of teachers. The role of mentor teachers assumes even more significance when the training is done at a distance education institution. It is impossible for lecturers and university representatives to reach every teacher student during the weeks of teaching practice done at schools in a big country like South Africa. The feedback obtained from the mentor teachers is thus important to train student teachers when they present their lessons during weeks of teaching practice at schools. But the feedback from mentor teachers can also be used for the future training of student teachers. Mentor teachers should, however, also be informed about their role as mentors for student teachers. In this article the way feedback of mentor teachers could be used to improve the quality of the lessons of student teachers when offering language lessons in Grades 1 – 3, is discussed.
Experiences during teaching practice: perspectives of Zimbabwean primary school student teachers
The researchers conducted a qualitative study based on unstructured questions and open-ended questions as data collection instruments was undertaken with a sample population of second-year training student as teachers in one of Zimbabwe's Primary School Teachers' Colleges. The sample comprised 50 (18 male and 32 female) students deployed in schools in Zimbabwe to determine the negative and positive experiences of student teachers during their teaching practice. The study revealed that the most outstanding positive experience of the student teachers concerned was the support system offered to them by their mentors. Negative experiences included exposure to bad discipline in the classroom and the disruption of lessons due to unplanned activities. Students also faced challenges in the form of shortage of teaching resources and work overload. Some of the students also felt that some of their mentors were over-dominating them. The study recommends that colleges should prepare students during their time in college more thoroughly for what they might experience during their teaching practice.
International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (ICEMST 2017), 18-21 Mayıs, Kuşadası, İzmir, Turkey, 2017