Exploring the practice of mentoring student teachers in an internship programme.

Abstract

Mentoring is maintaining the delicate balance between an experienced practitioner and a novice teacher and giving them the opportunity to develop and grow to become a better teacher. In this study, the experienced practitioner is the mentor and the person working alongside the mentor is referred to as the intern. The mentoring practices were explored through the relationship, which developed, between a mentor and her intern in an internship programme in a private secondary school. The interpretivist paradigm was used and a qualitative case study design was adopted. Holistic understanding within a context through conversations with participants was undertaken through semi-structured interviews. Participants created collages, which were a reflection of their mentoring experience. The study used four data generation methods, semi-structured interviews, collages, focus group discussion and a written reflection. A summary of the findings reveals that not only the mentors have an influence in the development of the intern’s teaching ability but the interns also play a vital role. The mentors had different views and beliefs on aspects of teaching and mentoring and this influenced the overall experience and the mentoring relationship. The interns were able to reflect on their experience and some felt cared for and supported. Mutual respect was shown in the relationships but some relationships were able to develop further than others were. Hudson’s five-factor model (2004) was used to explore the mentoring practices and suggestions on how the model could be adjusted have been discussed together with recommendations on how the internship programme could be structured. Further research on the power dynamic and cultural diversity was recommended.