Mentoring and induction for the professional development of beginning teachers in Lesotho

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the role of the induction and mentoring process in the professional development of beginning teachers in Lesotho schools. The study was therefore conducted to understand how the induction process, including mentoring, to bolster the professional development of beginning teachers in Lesotho schools. The main research question was: to what extent is mentoring and induction programmes for the professional development of beginning teachers in Lesotho schools implemented? The subsequent research questions were: 1) How do beginning teachers perceive induction in the teaching profession in Lesotho schools? 2) How essential is mentoring in the induction process in the teaching profession in Lesotho schools? 3) How does the absence of induction and mentoring processes in Lesotho schools affect beginning teachers' professional development? 4) What are the challenges that beginning teachers face during the first year of teaching? 5) How can an induction and mentoring programme be developed to assist and support beginning teachers with professional development? To understand the process of induction, including mentoring in schools in Lesotho, the study adopted a qualitative approach and followed an interpretivist paradigm, more specifically a constructivist approach to gain a deep understanding of the process of induction of beginning teachers in Lesotho. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews. An interview schedule was developed comprising of questions that were administered to the participants. A pilot study was conducted to test the research instrument before undertaking fieldwork. This made it possible to identify any shortcomings of the instrument. The population of the study was all beginning teachers, principals and heads of departments in schools in the Maseru and Berea districts of Lesotho. The study employed purposive sampling, which was a non-probability sampling method to recruit participants from two districts in Lesotho. The sample consisted of ten beginning teachers, five principals and five heads of departments; thus 20 participants overall. Data were analysed using inductive thematic content analysis to develop key concepts which arose from the data. The findings yielded eight themes which revealed that there were no proper introductions for beginning teachers which included: welcoming, assigning an HOD as a mentor and general school environment orientation. Beginning teachers were provided with policy and regulations by the Ministery of Education and Training (MoET), however the MoET was silent on how these teachers are inducted and mentored in Lesotho schools and there were no organised or systematic processes of induction in Lesotho schools. The findings of the study revealed that

HODs as mentors interacted with beginning teachers in terms of classroom issues like planning for the lesson, lesson presentation and shadowing a mentor. The data further showed that there is no smooth relationship between the MoET and schools as there were randomised placement of the beginning teachers, no follow-ups, and unavailability of evaluation reports. On the other hand, beginning teachers received emotional, social and financial support from their mentors. Lastly, this study revealed that beginning teachers' concerns were centred around class allocation, workloads, and induction quality. This study offered the development of a programme, the Lesotho Induction and Mentoring Programme for induction and mentoring of beginning teachers, which has two phases. The study concluded that the absence of induction and mentoring programmes affects the professional development of beginning teachers. The main recommendations emanating from the study were that the MoET in Lesotho can implement and beginning teachers can follow the proposed induction programme. It was recommended that the MoET conduct similar qualitative studies in Lesotho in order to document holistic data from schools.