© JSS 2021 J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

PRINT: ISSN 0971-8923 ONLINE: ISSN 2456-6756 DOI: 10.31901/24566756.2021/66.1-3.2271

Development and Psychosocial Support to Trainee Teachers by

Mentors during Teaching Practice in Zimbabwe
Rosemary Madzore1, Symphorosa Rembe2 and Nyarayi Chinyama3
1
Department of Educational Foundations,
Belvedere Technical Teachers’ College, Harare, Zimbabwe
Contact: 1<+263 772450 0634>, E-mail:1<rosemadzore@gmail.com>
2
University of Fort Hare, Department of Education, Alice, South Africa
Contact: 2<+27822003618>, E-mail: 2<srembe@ufh.ac.za>
3
Fort Hare Institute of Social and Economic Research, East London, South Africa
Contact: 3<+27781 596 075>,3<nchinyama@ufh.ac.za>
KEYWORDS Career Development. Mentor. Practice. Psychosocial Support Teaching Practice. Trainee Teacher

ABSTRACT Facilitation of career development and provision of psychosocial support to trainee teachers during
teaching practice can be a challenge. The interpretive paradigm and the qualitative approach and case study
research design were employed in this study. Purposive sampling was used to select 27 participants which included
6 mentors, 15 trainee teachers and 5 college lecturers. Data were obtained through face to face interviews, focus
group discussions and document analysis. The study revealed that mentors performed both career development and
psychosocial support roles during teaching practice. It emerged that there was lack of qualified school mentors
resulting in inadequate provision of career development and psychosocial support. The participants indicated that,
mentors and trainee teachers encountered various challenges which hindered the effectiveness of the mentorship
programme including financial constraints. The study also recommended a mentorship policy that fuses global and
national trends and considering alternative mentorship models from secondary teacher-training colleges in Zimbabwe.

INTRODUCTION Limeri et al. 2020). This paper examines mentors’

practices in facilitating career development and
The main purpose of the teacher education providing psychosocial support to trainee teach-
programme is to produce quality teachers who ers during teaching practice.
can perform adequately in the world of work,
and meet the present-day challenges (Avidov- Objectives of the Study
Ungar and Forkosh-Baruch 2018). Thus, teacher
education programmes should consist of differ- The purpose of this study was to examine
ent dimensions such as the content and peda- mentors’ practices in facilitating career develop-
gogy of the formal curriculum as well as the hid- ment and providing psychosocial support to
den curriculum (Glazer 2018; Johnson and trainee teachers during teaching practice in one
Golombek 2020). Most teacher education pro- teachers’ college in Zimbabwe. The findings of
grammes include different components like gen- the study were used to develop a framework for
eral education, subject matter studies, founda- mentoring of trainee teachers during teaching
tion of education studies, method studies, and practice.
field experience-which is commonly known as
teaching practice (Chernikova et al. 2020). It is Background
through teaching practice that trainee teachers,
supported by mentors, experience the normal Trainee teachers are expected to learn worth-
classroom situation (Dunn and Doolittle 2020; while content (theory) before going for teach-
ing practice. They need to know their subjects
Address for correspondence: in pedagogical perspectives, familiarise them-
Dr NyarayiChinyama selves with a range of good curricular materials,
Fort Hare institute of Social and Economic Research,
University of Fort Hare, PB X1314,
models and approaches (Pacpaco et al. 2019).
Alice 5700, South Africa. However, in order to address these experiences
E-mail: nchinyama@ufh.ac.za. and to ensure that trainee teachers obtain the
2 ROSEMARY MADZORE, SYMPHOROSA REMBE AND NYARAYI CHINYAMA

required skills during teaching practice, mentors functions of a mentoring relationship (p.17) which
become a crucial aspect (Shumba et al. 2012). are career functions and psychosocial functions.
Trainee teachers are allocated mentors who sup- According to Ford, the career function involves
port and work with them during this period. Ho- the mentee advancing professionally, and in-
bison (2009) define mentoring as the: cludes sponsorship. The mentors give the train-
One-to-one support of a novice or less ex- ee teacher some responsibilities, where the train-
perienced practitioner (mentee) by a more ex- ee teacher is promoted for advancement in the
perienced practitioner (mentor), designed pri- school (Alasad and Leadership 2017). There is
marily to assist the development of the mentee’s also exposure and visibility when the trainee
expertise and to facilitate their induction into teacher is introduced to learners and staff mem-
the culture of the profession (in this case, teach- bers, and the latter can assist him or her during
ing) and into the specific local context (p.201). teaching practice. Coaching is also another ca-
During teaching practice, trainee teachers are reer function in which the mentor helps the train-
expected to get assistance from their mentors; ee teacher to navigate the profession and grow
including social and emotional support consid- professionally (Middendorf 2010). The mentor
ering the students’ exposure to the new envi- protects the trainee teacher from potentially dam-
ronment (Mitchell et al. 2017). Shumba et al. (2016: aging contact with others, and from challenging
71) outline the roles of the mentor as psychoso- assignments (Alkhawaldeh 2017). The mentor
cial development and career or educational de- also “guides the mentee through challenging
velopment. This was also observed by Mapho- and profitable work that he/she might not be
sa et al. (2007) who state that there are two types able to accomplished alone” (Ford 2017: 17).
of mentoring functions during teaching prac- Furthermore, Ford (2017) suggests that psy-
tice, namely; career development functions and chosocial functions of the mentor involve en-
psychosocial functions. They outline five ele- couragement and friendship. This can take the
ments in the career development category which form of role modelling of trainee teachers by the
are sponsorship, coaching, protection, challeng- mentor and acceptance and confirmation, as
ing assignments, and exposure and these role well as showing continued support, encourage-
must be performed by the mentor (Shittu 2017). ment and appreciation to the trainee teacher (El-
In career development, the mentor, as an instruc- mahdi et al. 2019). Counselling is another func-
tional coach, is expected to help the trainee teach- tion whereby the mentee understands and ne-
er by providing pedagogical, technical and or- gotiates personal and organisational concerns
ganisational skills. This also includes the skill of (Middendorf 2010). Finally, mentor/mentee rela-
integrating teaching styles into classroom meth- tionship allows the mentor to demonstrate inter-
ods, evaluating instructional practices, and pro- est in the trainee teacher’s life beyond the work-
viding constructive feedback to improve the place (Mukeredzi 2017). The mentor can, there-
methods and techniques of trainee teachers fore, guide the trainee teacher in both career func-
(Merriam and Grenier 2019). The psychosocial tions and psychosocial functions because of
functions are divided into role modeling and greater experience and knowledge in the field,
social support functions (Hudson 2017). By per- and through inter personal relationships that
forming these roles, mentors help the mentees grow from trust and closeness between the train-
to develop a sense of professional self, accep- ee teacher and the mentor during the teaching
tance and confirmation; they become role mod- and learning process (Klassen and Kim 2017;
els for the mentees (Maphosa et al. 2007). Thus Alkhawaldeh 2017; Nkambule and Mukeredzi
the role of the mentor is to help trainee teachers, 2017).
who may have some difficulties, in adjusting to The mentor performs both the psychosocial
the new environment and to develop trust, col- support and career development, and support,
laboration, and maintain constant communica- advice and generally enhance the experience of
tion between mentor and mentee. the new trainee teacher (Ford 2017; Farquhar et
More clarity on the mentor’s role in career al. 2018). All trainee teachers are assigned to a
development and psychosocial support was ex- mentor. Mentors provide a welcoming environ-
pressed by Ford (2017) who suggested two broad ment at orientation, also act as positive role

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO TRAINEE TEACHERS BY MENTORS 3

models where by the trainee teacher observes ee teachers are assessed by mentors for diag-
the mentor and copies some of the good charac- nostic purposes related to strengths and weak-
teristics and behaviours or traits thereby improv- nesses. Trainee teachers also apply teaching
ing orientation and transition from being a stu- methods they have learnt in college, evaluate their
dent at college to a trainee teacher or experi- teaching and reflect on their instructional prac-
enced teacher at a particular school. The orien- tices. One third of the final teaching practice mark
tation process connects trainee teachers to comes from the mentor’s assessment. Concerns
sources of help in a timely manner (Makkawi and even arguments have been raised by some
2017; Samkange 2015). stakeholders in the media that there is a barrier
In this study, the researcher focused on the between teachers’ colleges and schools, and a
3.3.3 model which is one of the current models in lack of coherence in learning on these two sites
secondary teachers’ colleges in Zimbabwe (Maku- (Alvesson and Skoldberg 2017).
ra and Zireva 2011). This model allows the train- Musingafi and Mafumbate (2014) further
ees to learn for the whole year at college, then state that these problems are compounded by
they go for teaching practice for a year, and re- the fact that “practice in schools does not influ-
turn to college for the final year in which they ence theory in colleges and theory in colleges is
will sit for their final examinations (three terms not fully embraced in schools” (p.51). For in-
in, three terms out, and three terms in), before stance, sometimes the trainee teachers fail to
final examination (Ngara et al. 2013; Samkange apply the theories they have learnt practically
2015). This study focused on the teaching prac- because what they are expected of in schools
tice component where the mentor is the most will be totally different (Bukari and Kuyini 2015;
prominent figure in the development of the men- Musingafi and Mafumbate 2014; Tshuma and
tee’s expertise (Blasé and Blasé 2006). Each teach- Ndebele 2015). Furthermore, Musingafi and
er training college in Zimbabwe has its own indi- Mafumbate (2014) note that negative teaching
cators for teaching practice supervision, although practice experience has been reported by train-
generally, they all are guided by such aspects as ee teachers where supervision by lecturers in
personality, dress, conduct, attitude, mannerisms, colleges is based on theories of teaching and
documentation, lesson planning, lesson presen- learning from various authors, whereas in
tation, classroom management and the quality and schools, mentors base their supervision on prac-
amount of work given to learners. Mentors’ as- tical experience. Thus, the mismatch between
sessment of mentees is based on the same guide- the two leaves trainee teachers in a dilemma as
lines. Mentors use the same documents to as- to whether they should conform to the mentor /
sess the mentees and send these assessment headmaster model or to college tutor model
documents to their respective colleges. On teach- (Musingafi and Mafumbate 2014).
ing practice, mentoring is implemented different- Other concerns raised by stakeholders are
ly in various secondary schools in Zimbabwe, lack of appropriate skills in the preparation of
and there are cases where the mentees teach records and lesson delivery. Some records and
several classes. During teaching practice, train- supervision forms from the teaching practice
ee teachers are put under the supervision of an office showed that many trainee teachers get
experienced teacher who guides and mentors
their teaching. Maphosa and Ndamba (2012: 76) frustrated when entering the classrooms to take
state that “the major role of the mentor is to up teaching tasks in unfamiliar environment
supervise the trainee teacher during teaching (Bukari and Kuyini 2015). Martin et al. (2016)
practice.” The experienced teacher becomes the observes that mentees need help in areas such
mentee’s supervisor throughout the teaching as planning, timetabling, teaching strategies,
practice phase (Musingafi and Mafumbate 2014). questioning skills and assessment. Given the
Initially, the mentee observes the mentor before above concerns and observations there has not
he or she engages in the practice of conducting been comprehensive research in the area of men-
lessons. This is done to instil confidence in the torship of trainee teachers during teaching prac-
trainee teacher. Nyaumwe and Mavhunga (2005) tice. The paper addresses the missing link in
in Maphosa and Ndamba (2012) note that train- research in the context of mentors’ practices in

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

4 ROSEMARY MADZORE, SYMPHOROSA REMBE AND NYARAYI CHINYAMA

facilitating career development and providing ships that may impact the mentor’s functions
psychosocial support to trainee teachers dur- and the career outcomes of the relationship. These
ing teaching practice. differences involve the way the relationship is
initiated, the structure of the relationship, and
Literature Review the processes involved in the relationship.
The above authors analysed the issue of re-
According to Patterson and Davis (2017: 485) lationships in mentoring and found that in infor-
“mentoring is typically characterised by the re- mal mentoring relationship, the relationship devel-
lationships developed between a less experi- ops on the basis of mutual identification and the
enced and an experienced professional.” Men- fulfilment of career needs (Israel et al.2014; Scull
toring is also described as a relationship between et al. 2020). Trainee teachers select role model
the mentor and the trainee teacher. This view is mentors and their relationship with the mentor
reinforced by Alkhawaldeh (2017) who defined end up being a parent - child relationship. Men-
mentoring as one-on-one relationship in which toring relationships usually develop on the ba-
an expert or a senior person who is the mentor sis of perceived competence. The mentor will
voluntarily gives time to teach, support, and en- select high performing trainee teachers who in
courage the trainee teacher. Many authors have turn, select mentors with desired expertise
suggested various roles of mentors in teaching (Johnson 2015). Thus, they both select partners
practice such as fostering pre-service teacher’s they enjoy working with (Deleña and Resurrec-
personal and professional development, and pro- cion 2018; Arora and Rangnekar 2015). In formal
viding support, direction and feedback regarding mentoring relationship, the programme coodina-
career plans (Hudson 2017; Krishna et al. 2019). tor is the one who is responsible for assigning
However, Maphosa and Ndamba (2012) and the members to their mentors. Therefore one can
Shumba et al. (2016), writing from a Zimbabwean say he or she is responsible for establishing or
context, stated that the role of mentors entails developing that formal mentoring relationship.
counseling, coaching, guiding, disciplining and Sugimoto (2012) suggests that, role model-
advising trainee teachers on pedagogical issues. ing, and inter-personal support do not play a
Mentors help trainee teachers by providing ca- role in the development of formal relationships.It
reer development functions which facilitate the is imperative to say that psychosocial functions
trainee teacher’s advancement in the organisa- of role modeling,friendship,and counseling may
tion (Cheng et al. 2010). They also provide psy- be less in formal than in informal mentoring rela-
chosocial functions which contribute to the tionships since formal mentoring relationships
trainee teacher’s personal growth and profes- are also less likely to be found on mutual per-
sional development.The four psychosocial func- ceptions of competence (Arora and Rangnekar
tions of mentors are: 2015). This judgement is made by the programme
Š helping trainee teachers to develop a sense coodinator rather than the trainee teacher.
profesional self (acceptance and confirma- Spooner-lane (2017) adopts a much stronger
tion) (Tidmore 2018). position when he gives a comparison of mentor
Š providing problem solving and sounding functions with an agent that provokes a reac-
boarding (friendship) opportunities (Gunn tion or speeds up a reaction that should have
et al. 2017).
Š providing identification and role modeling taken place in the future. Thus, the present study
(role modeling) (Jyoti and Sharma 2015). sought to identify the career and psychosocial
Mentors are expected to perform all these roles performed by the mentor during teaching
functions. The relationship of the mentor and practice, and how these mentors perform them
the trainee teacher is classfied under two major with a view to improving the mentor’s practice
categories which are formal and informal men- during teaching practice.
toring relationships (Mukeredzi and Mandrona In the teaching and learning situation ca-
2013). A conclusion drawn by both (Ragins et al. reer functions are defined as “a process in which
2000) is that there are distinct differences be- the mentor teaches the protégé how to learn the
tween formal and informal mentoring relation- basics within the organization” (Kram 1985a, cited

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO TRAINEE TEACHERS BY MENTORS 5

in Vanderbilt 2010: 11). For instance, in this con- teaching practice. This is with a view to improv-
text, the mentor teaches the trainee teacher how ing the way mentors perform their duties.
to teach secondary school learners, cited in Fowl-
er and O’Gorma (2005), and Severina et al. 2016 METHODOLOGY
suggest that mentors provide career support
(sponsorship, exposure and visibility, coach- The study was located in interpretive para-
ing, protection, and challenging assignments) digm. The interpretive paradigm was the most
and psychosocial support (role modelling, appropriate because of its subjectivity in explor-
acceptance and confirmation, counselling, and ing views, experiences, perceptions and mean-
friendship) to their protégés. Furthermore, ings of participants in relation to the practices
mentorship moves through four phases which of mentors, in career development and psycho-
are: social support to trainee teachers during teach-
Š Initiation phase: Initiation is where by the ing practice (Steyn and Tonder 2017; Thanh and
mentor and the trainee teacher admire, Thanh 2015). Moreover, interpretivists portray
respect and trust one another (Bukari and a world in which reality is socially constructed,
Kuyini 2015). complex and ever changing (Steyn and Tonder
Š Cultivation phase: cultivation involves 2017). Consequently, a qualitative approach was
development of the trainee teacher’s com- adopted in this study, where the researchers stud-
petence and confidence from the career ied the events and individuals in their natural
development and psychosocial support state (Alvesson and Sköldberg 2017). Findings
by the mentor (Jyoti and Sharma 2015). by Thanh and Thanh (2015: 25)show that inter-
Š Separation phase: At separation stage, the pretivists usually tend to use qualitative designs
trainee teacher is experienced and can now such as case studies and ethnography which
become independent and empowered to provide rich reports or information to fully un-
do most of the given work without men- derstand contexts. The study adopted a case
tor assistance. This stage agrees with the study design.
theoretical framework on Adult learning
theory by Knowles (1980), Hudson’s five Participants and Settings
factor model of mentoring (2010), and
Grays’s developmental model of mentor- This study selected mentors as key infor-
ing (1994). This is because trainee teach- mants for in-depth interviews, according to cat-
ers need to be assisted to a certain extent egorisation of secondary schools by the Minis-
before they become independent and try of Primary and Secondary Education Annual
empowered (Fowler and O’Gorman 2005). Statistical Report (2013: 8-9). It also sampled those
Š Reshaping phase: The last phase shows who were experienced and had served for over 5
that the mentor and trainee teacher’s rela- years as mentors and had a good reputation of
tionship is reshaped to meet more colle- mentoring. Secondary schools are categorised for
gial need, for example; receiving internal purposes of paying per capita grants as, S1
and external assessors, involvement in schools in low density suburbs, S2 schools in
co-curricular activities, and also solving high density suburbs, and S3 schools in rural
some of the psychosocial problems alone areas. Six mentors were selected, 2 from each cat-
(Kramer and Otr 2018). egory. Focus group interviews were held with 15
The above phases which were also noted in trainee teachers selected from the three school
the background of this study are important in categories that is, 5 from each category. Others
guiding the mentor in the whole mentorship pro- who were selected were 5 college lecturers, 2
cess during teaching practice. The present study from teaching practice office who worked with
sought to find out the extent to which the Zimba- trainee teachers during teaching practice and 3
bwean secondary school mentors perform their senior lecturers in charge, who were experienced
mentor roles and the impact of their performance selected from three departments namely; physi-
on the provision of careerdevelopment and psy- cal education, science and mathematics. The
chosocial support to trainee teachers during sample also included 1 university lecturer who

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

6 ROSEMARY MADZORE, SYMPHOROSA REMBE AND NYARAYI CHINYAMA

was a link person between the college and the My mentor helped me a lot especially with
Department of Teacher Education. Therefore, the documentation. He used to supervise my teach-
total sample of the study was 27 participants. ing practice about twice a week so that after
supervising my file, he sits down with me making
Instrumentation some adjustments on the areas which needed to
be given special attention and to be revisited,
The researchers chose different data collec- especially on daily lesson plans and lesson plan
tion methods for the purpose of triangulation. evaluation. On another issue, he just empow-
Barbour (2014) defines triangulation as the use ered me to feel that I knew what I was doing,
of different methods and sources to check the especially on lesson delivery. He motivated me.
integrity of, or extend inferences drawn from, Participant trainee teacher from focus group
the data. Face to face one on one interviews FGTS1T, stated:
were held with mentors, lecturers from teaching My mentor, acted as a role model in terms of
practice office, senior lecturers in charge of guiding trainee teachers in terms of how they
Mathematics, Science and Physical Education should behave at the school and manage the
and Department of Teacher Education Link Per- classroom. We copy some of the things done by
son. Focus group discussions were held with the mentor. I got experience from my mentor. He
teacher trainees who did their teaching practice guided me on how to manage the class and
in the three sampled schools. Different docu- how to behave.
ments were analysed, namely; reports by teacher Trainee teachers from focus group FGTS2E
trainees, mentors and lecturers in charge of teach- shared the same view by saying,
ing practice, letters written by schools, teacher As for me, the mentors are very important
trainees and college lecturers in charge of teach- because they instil confidence in us and also
ing practice and supervisors, minutes of meet- supervise, counsel us and also, we could con-
ings which took place in schools and college and fide in them some of our burdens, like financial
assessment instruments used to assess teacher constraints and lack of resources, and they
trainees. would assist us by providing guidance and
advice.
RESULTS Participant from focus group FGTS3J said,
My mentor used to help me a lot during my
The responses of participants to the re- teaching practice, especially on the issue of chal-
search question on career development and psy- lenging assignments; to write the assignment,
chosocial roles of mentors during teaching prac- especially those from Theory of Education. She
tice, showed that there were various career and taught me how to respect others, the headmaster
psychosocial roles being performed by mentors and the deputy master and the rest of the staff.
during teaching practice. The responses indi- She supervised me each and every week, demon-
cated that the career roles performed by men- strating on how to scheme, how to interpret the
tors were as follows: assisting trainee teachers syllabus, and how to interact with the learners.
in classroom management; providing pedagog- Participant from focus group FGTS2G high-
ical skills to trainee teachers; providing techni- lighted that,
cal and organisational skills and coaching which My mentor helped me on planning, scheming
focused on learning and teaching activities like and lesson development. He also taught me how
planning, timetabling, teaching, classroom con- to socialise with anyone in the school and the
trol, giving instructions, problem solving, and code of conduct in terms of how to report the is-
giving feedback. The participants also revealed sues to the mentor and the Head of Department.
that the psychosocial roles were being properly On the same issue, trainee teacher partici-
performed and they looked at mentors as role pant from FGTS2R responded by saying,
models. The following is a response from partic- My mentor welcomes me to a school which
ipant trainee teacher from focus group FGTS1F was a new environment to me since I was com-
who acknowledged that; ing from a rural back ground. She taught me to

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO TRAINEE TEACHERS BY MENTORS 7

be responsible, and to stick to the main objec- loco parentis’. When they come to this school,
tives of preparing my documents and to teach professionalism is part of my duty as a mentor to
learners. tell these trainee teachers how to dress profes-
From the above responses by the trainee sionally, how to behave, since they are crucial
teachers, it was clear that mentors were perform- in the development of their country at large.
ing the career roles more than the psychosocial On the other hand, it came out from the par-
roles. Probably, the mentors thought that their ticipants’ responses that some mentors had no
main duties were mainly focused in the classroom. idea of the career development and psychosocial
A trainee teacher from focus group FGTS3C support provided by the mentors to trainee teach-
agreed to the above views by saying, ers during teaching practice. The mentors and
Mentors help teachers to be competent in trainee teachers appealed for enlightenment and
their career. My mentor could accompany me explanation on mentors’ career role and psycho-
to the lessons such that I could watch him teach- social roles. It also came out that most partici-
ing to promote professionalism. Then, I could pants thought that the mentor was supposed to
also do the same in teaching by just copying do his or her duties during working hours only.
what the mentor had been doing. On psychoso- Among them was the trainee teacher partic-
cial development, he used to have some regu- ipant in focus group FGT1Tb whose response
lar counselling sessions on stress issues. was “I do not quite understand what you mean
Some mentors also showed understanding by career roles and psychosocial roles of the
of their roles and how they were to be performed. mentor, may you please explain.” Participant in
They gave responses which concurred with the focus group FGT3Tn said that, “We are not quite
trainee teachers from the three focus groups, sure about the career and psychosocial roles
showing how they perform both the career roles performed by the mentor. “Mentor participant
and the psychosocial roles during teaching prac- MS1aechoed the same sentiments when she re-
tice. Their responses are captured below. sponded, “I am not sure of what I was supposed
Mentor MS1A indicated that, to do as a mentor. Can you explain to me?”
As a mentor, I will teach my trainee teacher It emerged from the responses that the major
to scheme, how to break down the content, for- challenges encountered were; lack of respect on
mulating objectives and preparing their docu- the part of trainee teachers and the children they
ments like record books and pupils’ register. I were teaching, poor communication strategies,
give them guidance and counselling, and give gossip among trainee teachers and mentors, poor
some sort of motivation. choice of teaching methodology, lack of proper
Mentor MS1B also said that, supervision, lack of resources, absenteeism from
The career roles which I perform as a men- duty, lack of guidance and mentorship skills, work
tor are to lead the trainee teachers by taking overload, lack of time, cheating, sexual abuse,
them to the lessons and showing them how a drunkenness, malpractices by trainee teachers,
good lesson is structured. We also look closely social problems, financial constraints, unavailabil-
at their schemes of work, interpretation of na- ity of electrical power. The researchers found that
tional syllabus, and career development as a challenges were also confirmed from the docu-
whole. ments analysed as also shown in the participants’
Mentor MS2A added that statements below. The participants’ responses on
Mentors are role models to their mentees. challenges are captured below.
Mentees learn through observation. Thus, men- Participant in focus group FGTS1Tk said that,
tors should be friendly and approachable by The problem I faced was lack of respect on
creating a conducive environment. They provide the part of mentors and learners. They never re-
counselling if the mentee faces any problem or spected us as trainee teachers. They considered
any challenge, be it social or also psychosocial, trainee teacher as useless and I was also over-
providing some guidance and counselling. loaded with work, assigned to be a class teach-
Mentor MS3A further explained that, er. I had some documentation to do, and I was
Role modelling is important in attaining prac- expected to perform duties of being a class teach-
tical and leadership skills. I play a more like ‘in er. So to me, it was overloading.

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

8 ROSEMARY MADZORE, SYMPHOROSA REMBE AND NYARAYI CHINYAMA

Participant from focus group FGTS3Ch stated, We are not paid for being mentors. We are told
My mentor was an old teacher who was that you’re going to be a mentor and you’re
trained years back when these learner-centred not consulted. So, I feel I am being overbur-
methodologies were not yet applicable. So, dened. We need support in terms of financial
when I went with the issue of media like charts support. So, if we are not being given incen-
and laptops for printing, my mentor could not tives the mentors become demotivated.
accept that, so we fought a battle to explain to Mentor MS3B noted that,
the mentor the importance of using some charts. The school is facing a challenge on the is-
However, the mentor kept on resisting saying sue of giving us incentives. It is difficult to work
that it was time consuming to the learners. In without being paid money as incentive. Per-
actual fact, he encouraged the use of lecture sonally I cannot do work, as it is required by
method which he said was a faster method of the college or by the school, without money
teaching. because it’s a burden. It’s an overload. So, men-
Mentors identified some challenges they tors should be paid for mentorship.
faced during mentorship which they believed The researchers discovered that the chal-
were disturbing them in facilitating career devel- lenges encountered during mentorship were also
opment and providing psychosocial support to confirmed by the information from documents
trainee teachers during teaching practice. Some analysed. For instance, supervision report dat-
documents analysed by the researchers were in ed 18-01-16 reported that,
agreement with all what the participants stated The student had serious problems as re-
below. Mentor participant MS1B explained that, gards to documentation, such as stating of ob-
The major problem is the issue of resources. jectives, evaluation, and record of marks, so-
They try hard to monitor progress but if there cial record book and other record books.
are no resources, it will be difficult to monitor Results from the current study revealed that
progress. There is also the new curriculum. We poor performance by trainee teachers reflects
are facing shortages of textbooks. When the also the mentors’ performance. It shows that the
college comes to pay visit to the school, they might trainee teachers were ill prepared due to lack of
find me absent because I may not always be at the proper supervision by mentors. Some mentors
school. Sometimes I attend other meetings. were not supervising trainee teachers. Instead,
The above was supported by documentary they were off loading their burden on trainee
evidence from a letter written by a trainee teach- teachers who were not yet able to teach. This
er to the teaching practice office. Participant caused some trainee teachers to absent them-
teacher trainee DALMd wrote a letter saying, selves from school, fail or withdraw from the
I am willing to change the school for teach- teaching practice. The responses of the men-
ing practice due to a number of reasons that tors are indicated below.
are as follows; the schools not providing re- Mentor MS1A said,
sources such as stationery, manila sheets, bond Trainee teachers also encounter some chal-
paper and printing facilities. lenges with staff members at the school in terms
Mentor MS2A also noted that; of communication. They might not have good
There are some challenges, for example the communication skills, so I tried by all means to
issue of resources. For example, the mentee give them direction or the correct way to talk
would require me or would want me to help in to their HODs and to the headmasters when
a certain way but because of the shortage of they come across challenges. They should talk
resources, I cannot assist the mentee. Yes, I have to the mentor first, then to the headmaster.
time but it is a bit limited. Sometimes I have Mentor MS1B noted that,
other duties to perform. The problem is that, if lady trainee teachers
Mentor MS2B observed that, get approached by the senior male teachers,
We do face a lot of challenges considering they might feel shy and afraid to refuse. If they
that we are just the mentors in business. There’s say no to that, it might affect their course be-
no remuneration. I have more than forty five les- cause of being victimised. I try very hard to coun-
sons per week. Mentorship is another addition. sel on such matters even though there might be

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO TRAINEE TEACHERS BY MENTORS 9

some difficulties. Those are psychosocial prob- Lecturer LICS pointed out that,
lems that our trainee teachers normally bring Some mentors had to assess trainee teach-
to us. ers but they were not assisting them in any way.
In support of the above, DAC, a lecturer in They are not worried about what is happening
charge, wrote a letter to the teaching practice in the classroom. They just leave the class in
officer reporting unprofessional conduct of an- the hands of trainee teachers. The trainee teach-
other trainee teacher saying, er has to fend for apparatus they want to use
…the trainee teacher has rejected advice/ alone. Mentors are not worried because they
corrections/counsel offered by the head of de- don’t even get into the classroom to assess what
partment. The teacher has been persistently and is happening, such that when we go out there,
habitually reported late for lessons…. The train- we will find out that they will be scheming
ee teacher doctored marks i.e. recorded marks wrongly showing that nobody was checking
for work she had not given and marked….. Fol- their work.
lowing the meeting on 16/07/18……..made A letter written by a trainee teacher DALPr,
learners write several exercises during the night to the teaching practice office, dated 05/03 2018
backdating it to 26/06/18. said,
The research findings have also shown that I am asking for permission to visit the col-
some of the negative behaviour which was be- lege for discussion on my Teaching Practice
ing portrayed by both the mentor and the train- load.
ee teachers was a result of the poor mentorship The study found that in some cases, trainee
systems. However, documents analysed, such teachers went to the college because they were
as memos, letters and reports, revealed that some not discharging their duties well. Some were
trainee teachers requested to be deferred due to found wanting, like some trainee teachers had
illness or injuries, maternity leave, purported situations whereby they had problems from
negligence of duty and some failed because they home and even the mentor was very supportive
absented themselves on the day of external as- to the student but the extent of the support was
sessment. Furthermore, the findings also re- actually disadvantaging the student because
vealed that some trainee teachers were with- they ended up failing dismally. Lecturer LICS
drawn from host schools as a result of miscon- said;
duct related to bad language and physical vio- Everybody was saying she was around. She
lence. This is shown by a letter dated 22 March could not see the lecturers because the file was
2018 to college from school. This could be a empty. So, why should the mentor keep a stu-
result of poor mentor practices. Mentors are dent like that? And worse still, the head of the
supposed to be very alert, monitoring the train- school would have known that. Unfortunately,
ee teacher’s activities during teaching practice. looking at the file, it showed that the mentor
It also emerged from the study, through doc- was not looking at the file, the headmaster was
umentary analysis, that trainee teacher DALEn not looking at the file, and the HOD was also
in a letter dated, 02/03/18 asked for permission not helping the student. But why did she fail? It
to transfer to another school due poor accom- was about social problems.
modation, unhealthy food and poor living con- The lecturers in charge from the colleges’
ditions. A letter dated 18/05/2018 written by train- mathematics, science and physical education
ee teacher DARLey refuted the allegations that departments agreed with the trainee teachers
he was incompetent. Instead, he gave what he from the focus groups and the mentors that there
thought were valid reasons for his shortcom- were challenges which needed immediate atten-
ings. These were financial constraints, lack of tion in facilitating career development and pro-
co-curricular activities, and implementation of viding psychosocial support to trainee teachers
the new curriculum. Furthermore, the trainee during teaching practice.
teacher suggested that the school should ad- Lecturer LICM said,
just to technological changes and give remu- Some of the challenges that you know, the
neration. Below are the views of lecturers in scheme formats requested by our college may
charge. differ with that one which you see in school.

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

10 ROSEMARY MADZORE, SYMPHOROSA REMBE AND NYARAYI CHINYAMA

School heads and administrators insist that our teacher as culprits. It emerged from the study
students do their planning according to their that the whole mentorship programme was to
school and not according to the college format. blame since there were some loopholes in the
Lecturer LICS asserted that, way the programme was being implemented.
Sometimes it is difficult if the mentors them-
selves are not professional in nature. It is diffi- DISCUSSION
cult for the college to really tell that this mentor
is the rightful person to do the mentoring job. So The study examined whether participants
mentor selection has become a haunting issue understood the concepts of career development
in schools. and psychosocial support. The findings of the
Lecturers who is the Teaching Practice Of- study revealed that most of the participants were
ficer (TPO1) said, able to distinguish between career development
As I said, lecturers from colleges visit train- and psychosocial support roles of mentors, al-
ee teachers maybe once or twice a term. So, as though some participants were not clear on the
a result, that is the only time maybe we interact meaning of the two concepts (Limeri et al.
with the mentors, and we have very short dis- 2020).The findings were similar to those of Hud-
cussion with the mentors. Time is not enough, son (2017) and Matsko et al. 2020).This was
and we also do not have the leeway to go into shown by participants’ request for explanation
the schools specifically to look at the mentors. of the concepts of career development and psy-
We just talk to them when we go for teaching chosocial support. The majority of them were
practice. So, I think that time is not enough able to identify career development as the assis-
time for supervision during teaching practice. tance given to the trainee teacher by the mentor
Lecturer who is the TPO2 observed that, during teaching practice in order to accomplish
We used to invite mentors for workshops, but his/her role of teaching the learners. Similarly,
due to economic challenges, we no longer do Shumba et al. (2016) identified psychosocial sup-
that. We will find ourselves really farfetched if port as the help given by the mentor during and
we are to talk of having workshop of that sort. after working hours which is of a social, emo-
So, those are the main challenges before we at- tional and psychological nature.
tempt to go there. Thus, it is difficult and we are The results of the findings also agree with
no longer in touch with our mentors due to fi- those of Patterson and Davis (2017) that most of
nancial constraints or economic situations that the participants understood that the roles be-
have arisen. hind the concepts of career development and
The data presented above revealed that al- psychosocial support are complementary, since
though the DTE, teachers’ college lecturers su- the mentors could perform both roles during
pervise trainee teachers during teaching practice, mentorship concurrently. Sometimes, it was dif-
there are still a lot of problems which need to be ficult for the mentor to separate the two roles
addressed for the mentors to improve their prac- during the career development and psychoso-
tices in facilitating career development and pro- cial support. The findings of the study showed
viding psychosocial support to trainee teachers that there are two major types of mentoring name-
during teaching practice. The participants in this ly; career development functions and psycho-
study indicated that at times the trainee teachers social functions (Maphosa et al. 2007). More
were overloaded with work by the mentors, and clarity on mentors’ roles on career development
some of them were still young enough to be bul- and psychosocial support was given by Kram
lied by the learners they taught. Another chal- (1988), cited in Ford (2017), who suggested “two
lenge was that they were also looked down upon broad functions of mentoring relationship”,
by some teachers and they faced sexual harass- which are career functions and psychosocial
ment from some teachers and mentors at the functions. The findings of the study concurs
schools they were attached. It emerged from the with Kram cited in Ford (2017)who concluded
findings that some trainee teachers blamed the that career functions involve the mentee being
mentors for the challenges they encountered and, assisted professionally. The functions include
at the same time, the mentors saw the trainee sponsorship, whereby the trainee teacher is

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO TRAINEE TEACHERS BY MENTORS 11

promoted for advancement in the school (Alas- social support roles (Vinales 2015). For example,
ad and Leadership 2017).There is also exposure Hudson’s (2017) five factor model of mentoring
and visibility. The trainee teacher is introduced stipulates that the system requirement assists
to key people and advocates for the mentee both the mentor and trainee teacher to have nec-
(Sandilos et al. 2018). The results of the study essary information required in the career devel-
agree with Alkhawaldeh (2017) who said that opment and psychosocial support to trainee
coaching is also another career function where- teachers during teaching practice (Kwatubana
by the mentor will be helping the trainee teacher and Ebrahim 2020). Again, mentors can provide
to navigate the profession and grow profession- pedagogical knowledge about assessment and
ally and protects the trainee teacher from poten- effective teaching practices that link curriculum,
tially damaging contact with others and chal- pedagogy, and assessment (Ferdig et al. 2020).
lenging assignments. Similarly, Ford (2017:17) The theory by Gray (1994) stresses that the ex-
concluded that the mentor also guides the men- perienced mentor is expected to guide the train-
tee through challenging and profitable work that ee teacher properly through the guiding men-
might not have been accomplished alone (Ford toring style, shifting from imparting information
2017: 17). to trainee teacher so that he or she gains experi-
The findings of the study are also consis- ence of the teaching and learning process (Brock-
tent with reviewed literature by Vinales (2015) ett and Hiemstra 2018).
on the roles of the mentor who stated that the The findings of the study, however, differed
mentor has the responsibility to expose the train- slightly with what happens in the United King-
ee teacher to various situations at the school, to dom (UK) and Germany where the role of mentor
get familiarised to the schoool environment and is more diverse and can be located within differ-
to adapt to the prevailing situation to achieve ent conceptual paradigms which are reflected in
his or her goals as a trainee teacher inorder to three models of mentoring, namely; apprentice-
creat a good relationship (Ford 2017). The study ship model, competency model and reflective
results are in line with the reviewed literature in model (Hudson 2017). In these two countries,
that the role of the mentor is to protect the men- the apprenticeship model entails that the trainee
tee, to foster career development, and provide teacher observes the mentor and learns from him
psychosocial support (Sandilos et al. 2018). As or her, whereas in the competency model, the
shown in the theoretical framework by Grays’ mentor gives the mentee feedback about perfor-
(1994) Developmental Model and Hudson’s mance and progress. In the reflective model, the
(2017) Five Factor Model, the mentor and the mentor assists the trainee teacher to become a
trainee teacher must have a collaborative reflective practitioner (Kwan and Lopez-real
relationship.This will assist in the development 2017). In the case of Zimbabwe, the apprentice-
of career and psychosocial skills during teach- ship model is more prevalent in the sense that
ing practice. most trainee teachers learn by observation.
The findings of this study concur with a The researchers found that mentors did not
study carried by Shumba et al. (2016) which care about giving their mentees feedback, and
concluded that “mentees need more coopera- they rarely assist their mentees to be reflective.
tion from mentors who denied them assistance In addition, reviewed literature indicates that
and either postponed or never gave feedback at England and Germany have their focus more on
all” (p.76). It also came out from this study that the mentor’s role in terms of advisor, trainer,
some mentors were not doing their work appro- partner, friend, and assessor, and how they in-
priately. They absented themselves from fluence the pedagogical development of the
schools, giving the whole teaching load to the trainee teacher during teaching practice ( Patter-
trainee teacher. It was also confirmed that their son and Davis 2015). The findings of the study
negative attitude was a result of lack of neces- revealed that mentors dwell more on career de-
sary mentorship skills (Wexler 2020). However, velopment roles instead of balancing career de-
the information given by the three theoretical velopment and psychosocial roles. It is essen-
frameworks spell out how the mentors should tial for mentors to balance the provision of both
perform their career development and psycho- career development and psychosocial support

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

12 ROSEMARY MADZORE, SYMPHOROSA REMBE AND NYARAYI CHINYAMA

to trainee teachers during teaching practice for pervision meetings due to lack of proper commu-
effective mentorship. nication between mentors and college lecturers
If mentors are not properly trained on career (Kálmán et al. 2020). Such meetings are very cru-
development and psychosocial support roles, it cial because that is the time when mentors and
would be unrealistic to expect them to be able to college lecturers could address or agree on one
perform their role effectively (Fitchett et al. 2018). format to be used at school by trainee teachers. In
For instance, reviewed literature in support of this study schools insisted that trainee teachers
mentor training states that recent studies have follow the one that is used by them and not the
shown that mentors are often not sure about one they were taught in the college. In one case a
their roles (Shumba 2016). A study by the Uni- student teacher could not use modern technology
versity of South Africa (UNISA)(2016) on school because the mentor who had no training in the
based mentorship showed that only 37percent area would not allow her to do so. All the above
of mentors had received training on mentoring issues posed some challenges on the provision of
against 68 percent who had not attended pro- career development and provision of psychoso-
fessional development programmes for effective cial support to trainee teachers by mentors.
mentorship (Maphalala 2013: 126). Thus, it is
important for the mentors to undergo mentor- CONCLUSION
ship training to enable them to do their duties
The study revealed that the mentors per-
effectively. The study revealed that training of
formed both the career development and psy-
mentors has been constrained by lack of fund- chosocial support roles in assisting the trainee
ing. This has implication in selection of mentors teachers although the provision of psychoso-
as there was no criteria for selection and anyone cial development was minimum. It emerged from
could become a mentor (Shumba et al. 2016). It the findings of the study that mentors performed
was also evident from the information obtained the following duties; sponsorship, coaching,
from the participants that mentors gave priority supervisor, role modelling, social support, in-
to other duties which they felt were more impor- duction of mentees, orientation of trainee teach-
tant to them and would overwork trainee teach- ers, helping trainee teachers to adjust to the new
ers by giving them extra teaching duties. This environment, imparting pedagogical and tech-
indicates that there was lack of commitment on nical skills, collaboration, being a friend to give
enhancing professional development and psy- advice, as well as guidance and counselling.
chosocial support among trainee teachers The study indicated that some mentors re-
(Deleña and Resurreccion 2018). Lack of commit- sponded positively to their duties but others
ment was also shown by the fact that some men- had negative attitude. Facilitating career devel-
tors felt they had to be remunerated for mentor- opment and providing psychosocial support to
ing the trainees who were actually taking over trainee teachers was constrained by the follow-
their teaching load (Shumba et al. 2016). Some ing factors: shortage of teaching and learning re-
trainee teachers were sexually abused and ha- sources; lack of training on the part of the men-
rassed by teachers from the schools they were tor; work overload for trainee teachers; a con-
placed for teaching practice. While this is serious gested school timetable; the low priority given to
crime if it proved to be true, it is also the time trainee teachers; lack of funding for staff devel-
when victims required a lot of psychosocial sup- opment and training programmes; poor relation-
port. Having mentors who were not well equipped ship among the supervisors, mentors and trainee
with the required skills and also lack of motiva- teachers; poor communication between the
tion disadvantaged the trainee teachers and made school and the college; absence of mentorship
them vulnerable. These might have attributed to reviews lack of support by the school and colleg-
the trainee teachers either failing the programme, es, as well as lack of government funding.
wanting to change schools or dropping out.
There were other issues regarding mentors RECOMMENDATIONS
which were evident for the information obtained
from the participants. Supervisors from the col- It is necessary for the Ministry of Higher
lege were not able to meet mentors during su- and Tertiary Education Science and Tertiary

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO TRAINEE TEACHERS BY MENTORS 13

Development (MOHTESTD), Ministry of prima- light of demands of pedagogical innovation. Teaching

ry and Secondary Education (MOPSE), colleges and Teacher Education, 73: 183-191.
Barbour R 2014. Introducing Qualitative Research- Stu-
and schools to consider coming up with men- dent’s Guide. New Delhi: Sage Publication India Pvt
torship policy which match the current situation Ltd.
globally for example the new curriculum in Zim- Blasé J, Blasé J 2006. Teachers Bringing Out the Best
babwe and current economic situations which in Teachers: A Guide to Peer Consultation for Ad-
ministrators. Thousand OAKS: Carwin Press.
emphasises on mentor selection and training. Brockett RG, Hiemstra R 2018. Self-direction in Adult
Colleges should consult all stakeholders when Learning: Perspectives on Theory, Research and Prac-
crafting the trainee teachers’ codes of conduct tice. New York: Routledge.
so that they produce codes of conduct that are Bukari M, Kuyini AB 2015. Exploring the role of men-
toring in the quality of teacher training in Ghana.
acceptable to all stakeholders. Involving all stake- International Journal of Learning and Development,
holders will result in them developing a sense of 5(1): 46. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijld.v5i1.6822.
ownership, which would encourage the stake- Cheng MM, Cheng AY, Tang SY 2010. Closing the gap
holders to support the implementation of the between the theory and practice of teaching: Implica-
codes of conduct. Department of Teacher Edu- tions for teacher education programmes in Hong
Kong. Journal of Education for Teaching, 36(1): 91-
cation (DTE), colleges and schools should also 104.https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470903462222 .
support mentors during teaching practice. The Chernikova O, Heitzmann N, Fink MC, Timothy V,
colleges and schools should constantly review Seidel T, Fischer F 2020. Facilitating Diagnostic com-
their codes of conduct so that they are relevant petences in higher education-a meta-analysis in med-
ical and teacher education. Educ Psychol Rev, 32: 157–
to the prevailing situation. There is need for ini- 196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09492-2.
tiation of the mentor training, staff development Deleña MICO, Resurreccion RR 2018. Reactions, chal-
and in-service training programmes for school lenges, and coping resources of college teachers who
mentors since some of them are not trained. The have encountered students with diagnosed psycholog-
ical disorders. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review,
effectiveness of this programme is depended on 17(3): 63-83.
a fully functional and trained mentors so that Dunn RJ, Doolittle SA 2020. Professional develop-
trainee teachers are developed holistically. The ment for teaching personal and social responsibili-
MOPSE and schools should reduce the work- ty: Past, present, and future. Journal of Teaching in
Physical Education, 39(3): 347-356.
loads of mentor teachers so that they can focus Elmahdi I, Al-Haddad SS, Al-Hariri R 2019. The effec-
more on provision of career development and tiveness of continuing professional developmentpro-
psychosocial support. gram in enhancing teachers’competencies to achieve
teachers’standards. International Journal of Recent
Scientific Research, 10(2): 30946-30951.Https://Doi.
REFERENCES Org/DOI:Http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.24327/Ijrsr. 2019.
1002.3159.
Alasad S 2017. Leadership, professional development and Farquhar S, Gal Y 2018. Towards robust evaluations of
teachers’ practice in Bedouin High Schools. Chinese continual learning. arXiv Preprint arXiv: 1805. 09733.
Business Review, 16(11): 571-580.https://doi. org/ Ferdig RE, Baumgartner E, Hartshorne R, Kaplan-Ra-
kowski R, Mouza C (Eds.) 2020. Teaching, Technol-
10.17265/15371506/2017.11.004 ogy, and Teacher Education During the COVID-19
Alkhawaldeh A 2017. School-based teacher training in Pandemic: Stories from the Field. Association for the
Jordan: Towards on-school sustainable professional Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
development.Journal of Teacher Education for Sus- From <https://www.learntechlib.org/p/216903/> (Re-
tainability, 19(2): 51–68. DOI: 10.1515/jtes-2017- trieved on 15 June 2020).
0014 Fitchett PG, McCarthy CJ, Lambert, RG, Boyle L 2018.
Alvesson M, Sköldberg K 2017 Reflexive Methodolo- An examination of US first-year teachers’ risk for oc-
gy: New Vistas for Qualitative Research. New Delhi: cupational stress: Associations with professional prepa-
SAGE . ration and occupational health. Teachers and Teach-
Alvesson M, Skoldberg K 2018. Reflective Methodolo- ing, 24(2): 99-118.
gy: New Vistas for Qualitative Research. 3rd Edition. Ford AJ 2017. Who Mentors the Mentors? Curriculum
New Jersey: Sage Publication India Pvt Ltd. and Development for Mentors of New Teachers in Isra-
Arora R, Rangnekar S 2015. Relationships between emo- el. PhD Thesis, Unpublished. Ontario, Canada: Univer-
tional stability, psychosocial mentoring support and sity of Toronto.
career resilience. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, Fowler JL, O’Gorman JG 2005. Mentoring functions:
11(1): 16. A contemporary view of the perceptions of mentees
Avidov-Ungar O, Forkosh-Baruch A 2018. Profession- and mentors. British Journal of Management, 16(1):
al identity of teacher educators in the digital era in 51–57.

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

14 ROSEMARY MADZORE, SYMPHOROSA REMBE AND NYARAYI CHINYAMA

Glazer J 2018. Learning from those who no longer teach: Maphalala MC 2013. Understanding the role of men-
Viewing teacher attrition through a resistance lens. Teach- tor teachers during teaching practice session. Inter-
ing and Teacher Education, 74(1): 62-71. national Journal of Educational Sciences, 5(2): 123-
Gunn F, Lee SH, Steed M 2017. Student perceptions of 130 DOI: 10.1080/09751122.2013.11890069
benefits and challenges of peer mentoring programs: Maphosa R, Ndamba GT 2012. Supervision and assess-
Divergent perspectives from mentors and mentees. ment of student teachers: A journey of discovery for
Marketing Education Review, 27(1): 15–26. mentors in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Journal of Emerg-
Hudson P 2017. Mentoring as professional development: ing Trends in Educational Research and Policy Stud-
‘Growth for both’ mentor and mentee. Professional ies, 3(1): 76-82.
Development in Education, 39(5): 771-783. Maphosa C, Shumba J, Shumba A 2007. Mentorship for
Israel M Kamman ML, McCray ED, Sindelar P 2014. students on teaching practice in Zimbabwe: Are stu-
Mentoring in action: The interplay among profession- dent teachers getting a raw deal? South African Jour-
al assistance, emotional support, and evaluation. Xcep- nal of Higher Education, 21(2): 296–307.
tional Children, 81(1): 45–63. Martin KL, Buelow SM, Hoffman JT 2016. New teach-
Johnson KE, Golombek PR 2020. Informing and trans- er induction: Support that impacts beginning middle-
forming language teacher education pedagogy. Lan- level educators. Middle School Journal, 47(1): 4-12.
guage Teaching Research, 24(1): 116-127. Matsko KK, Ronfeldt M, Nolan HG, Klugman J, Rein-
Johnson WB 2015. On Being A Mentor: A Guide For inger M, Brockman SL 2020. Cooperating teacher as
Higher Education Faculty. New York: Routledge. model and coach: What leads to student teachers’
Jyoti J, Sharma P 2015. Impact of mentoring func- perceptions of preparedness? Journal of Teacher Ed-
tions on career development: Moderating role of men- ucation, 71(1): 41-62.
toring culture and mentoring structure. Global Busi- Merriam, SB, Grenier RS 2019. Qualitative Research in
ness Review, 16(4): 700-718. Practice: Examples for Discussion and Analysis. San
Kálmán O, Tynjälä P, Skaniakos T 2020. Patterns of Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.
university teachers’ approaches to teaching, profes- Middendorf T 2010. The Impact of Career, Psychoso-
sional development and perceived departmental cial, and Spiritual Functions of Mentoring on Under-
cultures. Teaching in Higher Education, 25(5): 595- graduate Students. PhD Thesis, Unpublished. Nazare-
614. ne, USA: University of Nazarene.
Klassen RM, Kim LE 2017. Assessing Critical Attributes Mitchell DE, Howard B, Meetze-Hall M, Hendrick LS,
of Prospective Teachers: Implications For Selection Sandlin R 2017. The new teacher induction experi-
Into Initial Teacher Education Programmes. From ence: Tension between curricular and programmatic
<http://www.teacherselect.org/media/upload> (Re- demands and theneed for immediate help. Teacher
trieved on 20 December 2017). Education Quarterly, 44(2): 79–104.
Kramer JM, Otr L 2018. Project Team: Transition- Mukeredzi TG, Mandrona AR 2013. The journey to
age youth with intellectual and developmental dis- becoming professionals: Student teachers’ experiences
abilities problem-solve environmental barriers to of teaching practice in a rural South African context.
participation. Educational Journal, 5(3): 263-276. International Journal of Educational Research, 62(1):
Krishna LKR, Renganathan Y, Tay KT, Tan BJX, Chong 141-151.
JY, Ching AH, Taylor DC 2019. Educational roles as Mukeredzi TG 2017. Mentoring in a Cohort Model of
a continuum of mentoring’s role in medicine–a sys- Practicum: Mentors and preservice teachers’ experi-
tematic review and thematic analysis of educational ences in a rural south African School. SAGE Journals,
studies from 2000 to 2018. BMC Medical Educa- 7(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017709863.
tion, 19(1): 439. Musingafi MC, Mafumbate R 2014. Challenges and
Kwan T, Lopez-real F 2005. Mentors’ perceptions of prospeccts of school based mentoring in the profes-
their roles in mentoring student teachers. Asia-Pa- sional development of student teachers in Zimbabwe:
cific Journal of Teacher Education, 2005 - Issue 3. Academics,mentees and mentors perceptions. Asian
Kwatubana S, Ebrahim M 2020. Psychosocial support Journal of Economion an Empiricak Research, 1(2):
provision for learners from child-headed households 32-39.
in five public schools in South Africa. Child and Ad- Ngara R, Ngwara R 2013. Teaching practice supervi-
olescent Social Work Journal, 37(1): 39-48. sion and assessment as aquality assurance tool in teacher
Limeri LB, Musgrove MMC, Henry MA, Schussler EE training: Perceptions of prospective teachers at Masv-
2020. Leveraging psychosocial interventions to mo- ingo teacher training colleges. European Social Sci-
tivate instructor participation in teaching profession- ences Research Journal, 1(1):126-135.
al development. CBE Life Sciences Education, 19(3): Nkambule T, Mukeredzi TG 2017. Pre-service teachers’
1-12. professional learning experiences during rural teach-
Makkawi F 2017. Integrating technology in teachers’ ing practice in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga Province.
profession. International Journal for Infonomics, 10(2): South African Journal of Education,37(3): 1-9.
1325-1327. Nyaumwe J, Mavhunga FZ 2005. Why do mentors and
Makura AH, Zireva D 2011. School heads and mentors lecturers assess Mathematics and Science student teach-
in cahoots, Challenges to teaching practice in Zimba- ers on teaching practice differently? African Journal of
bwean teacher education programmes. Journal of Sexu- Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Ed-
al Aggression: An International, Interdisciplinary Fo- ucation, 9(2): 135-146.
rum for Research, Theory and Practice, 19(1): 3-16. Pacpaco ER, Romo NCV, Paguirigan E 2019. Perfor-
https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600. 2011.573583. mance of pre-service teachers and client satisfaction in

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TO TRAINEE TEACHERS BY MENTORS 15

public schools. International Journal of Current Inno- Spooner-Lane R 2017. Mentoring beginning teachers in
vations in Advanced Research, 2(2): 15-24. primary schools: Research review. Professional Devel-
Patterson S, Davis DJ 2017. Creating a “safe and sup- opment in Education, 43(2): 253-273.
portive environment”: Mentoring and professional de- Steyn GM, Tonder Van S 2017. Exploring learning experi-
velopment for recent black women doctoral graduates. ences of female adults in higher education using a hybrid
International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 10(10): 483- study approach: A case study. Gender and Behaviour, 15(1):
499. 8135–8159.
Ragins BR, Cotton JL, Miller JS 2000. Marginal mentor- Sugimoto CR 2012. Are you my mentor? Identifying men-
ing: The effects of type of mentor, quality of relation- tors and their roles in lis doctoral education. Journal of
ship, and program design on work and career attitudes. Education for Library and Information, 53(1): 2-19.
Academy of Management Journal, 43(6): 1177-1194. Thanh NC, Thanh TT 2015.The interconnection between
Samkange W 2015. Examining the role of the mentor in interpretivist paradigm and qualitative methods in
teacher education in Zimbabwe. Global Journal of Ad- education. American Journal of Educational Sci-
vanced Research, 2(2): 521-533. ence, 1(2): 24-27.
Severina WN, Edabu P, Kimani C 2016. Analysis of influ- Tidmore LR 2018. Effectiveness of a Blended Learning
ence of sponsorship career function of mentorship on Social Skills Intervention on High School Students Iden-
women’s leadership advancement in Kenyan Universi- tified as At-Risk For Emotional and Behavioral Disor-
ties. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(28): 23–27. ders. PhD Thesis, Unpublished. Lakeland, USA: College
Sandilos LE, Goble P, Rimm-Kaufman SE, Pianta RC of Education: South Eastern University.
Tshuma R, Ndebele C 2015. Investigating the extent to
2018. Does professional development reduce the influ- which mentor selection in Zimbabwe’s 2-5-2 teaching prac-
ence of teacher stress on teacher-child interactions in tice enhances continuous improvement of student teach-
pre-kindergarten classrooms? Early Childhood Re- ers. Teaching Skills and Competences 8(2): 407-418.
search Quarterly, 42(1): 280-290. Vanderbilt AA 2010. Perceptions of Career and Psycho-
Scull J, Phillips M, Sharma U, Garnier K 2020. Innova- social Functions Between Mentor and Protégé Teach-
tions in teacher education at the time of COVID19: An ers. PhD Thesis, Unpublished. Tampa, USA: University
Australian perspective. Journal of Education for Teach- of South Florida.
ing, 38(3): 1-10. Vinales J 2015. The mentor as a role model and the impor-
Shittu AI 2017. Promoting youth entrepreneurship: The tance of belongingnes. British Journal of Learning,
role of mentoring. IDS Bulletin, 48(3): 141-153. 24(10): 532-535.
Wexler LJ 2020. ‘I would be a completely different teacher
Shumba A, Shumba J, Maphosa C 2012. Mentorship of if I had been with a different mentor’: Ways in which
student teachers on teaching practice: Perceptions of educative mentoring matters as novices learn to teach.
teacher mentors in Zimbabwean schools. Journal for Professional Development in Education, 46(2): 211-
New Generation Sciences, 10(1): 148-169. 228.
Shumba J, Rembe S, Chacko T, Luggya S 2016. Mentor-
ing: Reflections of student teachers in one South Afri- Paper received for publication in July, 2020
can University. Social Sciences, 48(1-2): 71–78. Paper accepted for publication in September, 2020

J Soc Sci, 66(1-3): 1-15 (2021)