Chronicles of postgraduate certificate in education students on mentoring process: A lesson from teaching practicum

Abstract

This paper intends to share empirical experiences of Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students on mentoring process during teaching practicum. Mentoring is a process whereby professionally qualified and experienced teachers help unqualified or preservice teachers to acquire knowledge, skills and experience by supporting, guiding and advising them on proper ways of handling teaching and learning matters. A group of 10 students participated in the study, data was collected through narrative inquiry and thematic data analysis method was used to analyse data. The study revealed that some PGCE students do not receive appropriate mentoring from subject teachers or mentors because teachers do not want to be observed, some offer flimsy mentoring and support, and some teachers need to improve the level of their expertise. Therefore, this study concludes that the mentoring process of PGCE students should be strengthened since it is one of the reasons preservice teachers go for teaching practicum.

Key concepts: mentoring; postgraduate certificate in education; preservice teachers; teaching practicum