The influence of mentor teacher identities on beginner teachers' professionalism

Abstract

Using a social constructivist and a transformative paradigm, this study set out to explore how mentor teachers’ identities influence beginner teacher professionalism. The study was qualitative in nature and used a bounded case study approach and narrative inquiry. Mentor role theory and identity theory provided the theoretical moorings of this study. Five mentor–beginner teacher pairs across five diverse primary schools in Pretoria participated in this study. The participants were all females from different races, ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds. Data capture included a mix of semi-structured and focus group interviews and a research journal. The data was analysed by means of content analysis, and the findings were threefold. First, a move away from social identity to a celebration of ubuntu and a rainbow nation. All the participants showed ubuntu and treated each other with compassion and integrity. They transgressed their social identities and exercised agency as they saw professionals before black, white, Zulu or Ndebele. Teachers were changing the narrative not just for themselves, but for the learners that they taught. Second, beginner teachers as active agents in cultivating their professionalism. The confidence and trust cultivated by the mentor teachers in beginner teachers witnessed beginner teachers driving their own professionalism through conducting independent research, reaching out to fellow colleagues and leaning on heir mentor teachers for support and guidance whenever they felt stuck. Lastly, the intentionality of mentor teachers to develop beginner teachers. Mentor teachers in this study were intentional about ensuring that beginner teachers develop substantially, and they created an outline for themselves about how they would mentor beginner teachers to optimise results and provide relevant support. This study makes the following recommendations for policymakers and practitioners a tailored mentorship structure should be introduced to outline the selection of mentor teachers as well as the key objectives that mentorship should advance for beginner teachers. Future research might explore what measures mentor teachers take to fully understand others and reduce their ignorance about diverse cultures in South African society, and what the attributes are that beginner teachers consider meaningful in a mentorship.