Intermediate phase teachers’ experiences of a mentoring programme in two selected schools in metro central education district of the Cape Metro municipality in the Western Cape

Abstract

This is a qualitative study that explores the experiences of Intermediate Phase (IP) teachers during the Edufundi Mentoring Programme (EMP). The Edufundi mentoring programme aims to provide teachers with practical skills for effective teaching and learning in the Western Cape and other provinces. Six teachers from two schools participated in the study. The study discusses the benefits of mentoring and the factors that affect mentoring as perceived by IP teachers in selected schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. It uses semi-structured interviews to understand how the IP teachers experienced mentoring. Content analysis was used to analyse collected data. Findings suggest that the IP teachers’ experiences of the mentoring model used by Edufundi, support theory that is maintained by the literature while its practice, as evidenced by the teachers in this study, the potential to bring about sustainable change in teachers’ practice of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), confidence and classroom management. IP teachers also highlighted that mentee selection, delivery mode of the professional development presented by EMP, and the qualities of the mentor may influence one’s experience of mentoring. Taking place in two selected schools in Metro Central Education District of the Cape Metro Municipality the Western Cape, the study contributes with information on the lived experiences of teachers in the context of the selected schools’ school cultures in this district. More particularly, this study provides a window into the practice of mentoring as a professionally development strategy for teachers in under-resourced and low performing schools which has the potential to inform where there are existing gaps in teachers’ subject content and pedagogical content knowledge.