What Mentorship? Pre-Service and in-Service Teachers’ Experiences of a Teaching Practice Mentorship Programme

Oct 15, 2026

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Mentoring during teaching practice strengthens teacher training by placing pre-service teachers (PSTs) in authentic classroom learning under qualified in-service teachers’ guidance. Yet mentoring experiences are not always constructive, affecting both PSTs and in-service teachers (ISTs). This single case study investigates PST and IST experiences of one university’s teaching practice mentorship programme through semi-structured interviews with teachers in a suburban school, and highlights insufficient mentor preparation plus dissatisfaction with mentor and university support.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction and Background

Mentoring in teaching practice

Challenges affecting mentoring relationships

Literature

Roles of mentors and mentees in a mentoring relationship

Support offered during teaching practice

What Mentorship? Pre-Service and in-Service Teachers’ Experiences of a Teaching Practice Mentorship Programme Puleng Letloenyane Matseliso Mokhele-Makgalwa David Letloenyane University of the Free State, South Africa Abstract: Mentoring during teaching practice plays a crucial role in teacher training as it exposes pre-service teachers to an authentic teaching and learning environment, under the guidance of qualified in-service teachers. Although mentoring has the potential to enhance the preparation ofpre-service teachers and to improve the development of in-service teachers, the experiences are not always positive. The present study seeks to explore pre-service teachers’ and in-service teachers’ experiences ofone university’s teaching practice mentorship programme. This single case study employed semi structured interviews to collect data from one in-service and preservice teacher in one suburban school. The collected data indicate that the in-service teachers are not thoroughly prepared for their roles as mentors, and equally, the pre-service teachers are unsatisfied with the service rendered to them by the mentors and the university. The findings call for formal training on the teaching practice mentorship programmefor both pre-service teachers and in-service teachers. Introduction and Background Teaching practice is an essential part of teacher training as it aligns the theory learned by pre-service teachers (PSTs) at higher education institutions with its practical application ina school setting (Cilliers et al., 2020; Reed, 2014; Thompson & Schademan, 2019) . It also plays a crucial role in teacher training as it exposes PSTs to the teaching and learning environment, under the supervision and guidance of experienced in-service teachers (ISTs) who serve as mentors (Cutrer-Párraga et al., 2022) . The mentoring relationship established is therefore expected to cater to the PST’s needs and create meaningful learning opportunities for the IST and PST (Parker, Xu & Chi, 2022) . Mentoring or mentorship is an interpersonal relationship between a mentor and amentee that is constructed through purposeful and intentional social interactions focused on the development of the mentee’s professional skills (Ambrosetti & Dekker, 2010; Bearman et al., 2007; Phang et al., 2020). Mentoring is also a crucial component of teacher training programmes and teaching practice because the ISTs are relied upon to mentor PSTs during school visits. Mentoring PSTs during teaching practice may also offer ISTs opportunities to improve their classroom teaching practices and developmental growth (Hudson & Hudson, 2010). Despite this important role played by mentoring, few ISTs receive training or preparation for their mentoring role (Ambrosetti, 2014; Hudson, 2013; Shanks et al., 2022) . The assumption is that the IST’s teaching experience will be sufficient to enable them to mentor a PST effectively, allowing for a reciprocal transfer of skills and knowledge between the IST and PST pair (Ambrosetti, 2014; Parker, Xu & Chi, 2022) . Furthermore, good partnerships between universities and schools are essential for teaching practice to be a fruitful and worthwhile exercise that addresses the developmental needs of PSTs (Burroughs et al., 2020). However, these partnerships often place the bulk of the responsibility on the ISTs and schools (Ambrosetti, 2014). Mentoring PSTs is dependent on higher education institutions (HEIs) taking on a more prominent role to ensure that mentoring during teaching practice is meaningful, as mentoring is more than just attaching a PST to an IST (Dos Reis, 2012) . Teaching practice and mentoring around the world seem to be plagued by numerous challenges (Hoben, 2021; Orland-Barak & Wang, 2021), and South Africa (Sokhulu, 2022) is no exception. Challenges of poor management, lack of staff, non-mentoring, and non-existent timetables in schools all negatively affect the practice, leaving some PSTs disillu

FAQs

What is the purpose of teaching practice mentorship in teacher training?

Teaching practice mentorship aligns theory with real classroom practice and provides pre-service teachers guidance under experienced in-service mentors. It also supports professional growth for both mentors and mentees.

Why do mentorship experiences not always lead to positive outcomes?

Mentoring may fail when stakeholders do not fully commit to role expectations and when mentoring structures are poorly managed. The study notes that some pre-service teachers feel disillusioned and demotivated.

What does the study find about mentors’ preparation and pre-service teachers’ satisfaction?

In-service teachers are not thoroughly prepared for their mentoring roles. Pre-service teachers are unsatisfied with the service rendered by mentors and the university, leading to a call for formal training for both groups.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Kurz