Mentoring strategy in the supervision of secondary teacher education students in the postgraduate diploma in education of the Zimbabwe Open University

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the effectiveness of the mentoring strategy in the supervision of secondary teacher education students in the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programme. The study was qualitative in nature using a case study approach. Mentoring was the phenomenon studied in depth. A convenience sample of three students and their three mentors was used for the study. This sample was done from a total population of eight student teachers and their eight mentors in the Masvingo region of Zimbabwe. Data was collected through observation of lessons taught by each of the three students. Students and their mentors then produced autobiographical accounts of their experiences with the mentoring process. Data was also collected through document analysis of the students’ teaching practice fi les, which contained their schemes of work, detailed lesson plans, pupil records and mentors’ supervision reports. The study found that all six participants had a clear understanding of what mentoring entailed. The students and their mentors had collegial relationships that facilitated the guidance the students needed. The mentors used different strategies to guide the students, such as joint planning of lessons, conducting demonstration lessons in areas of student diffi culty and observing students’ teaching in order to facilitate the students’ acquisition of skills and knowledge in lesson delivery and interactive classroom management. Students indicated that, through being mentored, they had developed positively in teaching skills, refl ective teaching and classroom management.