Mentoring in pre-service teacher education: the case of a developing country, Kenya

Abstract

The subject of teacher mentoring has attracted worldwide attention in recent times. This paper presents an account of a pre-service teacher-mentoring project undertaken in Kenya through a partnership of Kenyatta University, Kenya and Syracuse University, USA. The purpose of the study was to understand the effectiveness of the collaborative mentoring model on pre-service teacher training. The implementation of the project employed an evaluative survey design evaluating the mentoring process. Findings from the study indicated that the collaborative mentoring has the capacity to enhance teacher development at the pre-service level. However, there is no policy at the university or national level to guide the implementation of mentoring in teacher education. The paper recommends the establishment of a policy on teacher mentoring in pre-service teacher education at university and national levels. Such a policy could address aspects such as the roles of each participant in the mentoring process.