Preservice teachers’ mentoring experiences of teaching practice as distance learners.

Abstract

Despite the transformation and evolution of the higher education landscape since distance learning was introduced in South Africa, the mentoring experiences of distance learning preservice teachers during Teaching Practice block sessions, remains under researched. This study aimed to ascertain the mentoring experiences of distance learning preservice teachers’ mentoring experiences during Teaching Practice. The purpose of the study was to investigate the mentoring experiences that private higher education distance learning preservice teachers experienced during their Teaching Practice block sessions, with specific focus on the learnings gained from the mentoring process, the challenges experienced, and the learnings omitted by mentor teachers. The study addresses the knowledge gap in academic literature by asking the following research questions: 1) What were the final year distance learning preservice teachers’ experiences of mentoring during school-based teaching practices? 2) What professional learnings were received from the mentor teachers across the mentoring sessions during school-based teaching practices? 3) What did the final year distance learning preservice teachers gain from these professional learnings? Using a qualitative research approach and narrative inquiry to explore the mentoring experiences of final year distance learning preservice teachers, the study combined digital collages and unstructured interviews to generate data for analysis. This approach is suitable for gaining indepth insights into preservice teachers’ experiences and professional learnings during Teaching Practice because it uncovered themes in the digital collages and interviews and allowed for a deeper understanding of the context and nuances surrounding the data. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data and organise the findings. The study adopted a relativist ontology, subjective epistemology, and an interpretivist philosophy. The interpretivist paradigm, which assumes that reality is subjective and differs from one individual to another, enabled the exploration and understanding of the preservice teachers’ mentoring experiences. A total of 5 participants were purposively selected for the study. Alongside other vital skills and knowledge, the study revealed that, among other things, the preservice teachers developed a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted roles and responsibilities of teachers, cultivating essential skills and knowledge that foster adaptability, flexibility, and teacher agency. The study is significant to teacher education institutions, preservice teachers and mentor teachers. It is recommended that: 1) teacher education institutions provide explicit guidelines to the mentor teachers to facilitate effective mentoring of the preservice teachers 2) preservice teachers have a full understanding of their roles and responsibilities within in the mentor relationship and the kinds of learning they could achieve 3) mentor teachers engage in mentor development workshops to better understand the process and extent of mentoring.