Exploring The Collegial Relationship Between Mentors And Their Mentees

Abstract

Devolution of power to get things done with other people depends on the collegial relationships that are fostered in the organisation as its source of energy. Even the success of a mentoring programme to develop the human resource development needs of an organization, such as schools, hinges on the collegial relationship between the mentors and their mentees. Dialogue is an essential component of this reflective mentoring learning process. Dialogue empowers mentees, such as student teachers, to build their teaching skills with the invaluable input of their mentor teachers in schools. Participation in collegial teams can expand such novice teachers’ levels of expertise by providing a source of intellectual provocation and innovative ideas. The quantitative research method was used for the purpose of this study. The research design compared the perceptions of student teachers about the Postgraduate Cetificate in Education (PGCE) with those of their school mentors regarding the classroom practice and the performance of the students in terms of the latter’s WIL skills. The findings in this study indicate strongly that there is a significant correlation between the teachers’ perceptions of the PGCE and those of their student teachers. This study confirms that effective communication in mentoring strengthens the collegial relationship which, in turn, contributes to an enhanced performance and the professional development of the mentees. Additional research needs to be conducted to determine the type of emotional support training that mentors receive and the impact that training has had on the mentor and the mentoring relationship.