Pre-services teachers' lived experiences of a mentoring intervention during work-integrated learning

Abstract

Mentoring during work-integrated learning has been identified as an important aspect for pre-service teachers’ professional development. Within the South African context, it was noticed that mentoring during work-integrated learning (WIL) was linked to mentor teacher responsibility exclusively and not necessarily to university supervisors per se. Therefore, no formal mentoring intervention (MI) currently exists at South African higher education institutions (at least not the eight institutions who participated in the Colloquium held in 2018) that can guide university supervisors in the development of their role as mentors during WIL. The purpose of this descriptive case study was thus to explore and describe the lived experiences of final-year pre-service teachers pertaining to their experience of a seven-week MI they underwent during their second 10-week WIL practicum, and their lived experiences of how they perceived the mentoring of the university supervisor who guided them through the MI. I utilised a descriptive case study design embedded in a qualitative research approach. I relied on phenomenology as a philosophical paradigm to assist me with the capturing of pre-service teachers’ lived experiences of the MI. Hudson’s adapted mentoring model served as theoretical framework for this study. Eleven pre-service teachers and one university supervisor who acted as a mentor for the students were purposefully selected to participate in the study. Various data collection techniques like semi-structured interviews, pre- and post- open-ended questionnaires, verbatim audio recordings, mentoring intervention booklets, posters and self-reflections to mention but a few, were utilised during this study to gather data. Inductive thematic analysis were used to ensure that these pre-service teachers’ lived experiences were captured, analysed and interpreted. Two themes and four sub-themes emanated from the data I analysed. The findings revealed that the MI, enhanced pre-service teachers’ professional development because it made room for peer mentoring amongst others. Findings further indicated that the mentoring input of the mentor and the mentor’s approach in helping the pre-service teachers to build their own unique professional identity, contributed to their professional development. This study contributed to practice and confirmed that a well-structured MI enhances pre-service teachers’ holistic professional development. Furthermore, the study contributed to Hudson’s adapted mentoring model and added an additional factor, namely peer mentoring that should be seen as an important part of any MI that assists with the professional development of pre-service teachers who undergo work-integrated learning practicum.