Abstract
Abstract : The aim of this study is to report on student teachers and their mentor teachers’ views on the processes of mentoring. Schoenfeld’s (2016) TRU Maths Framework provides an over-arching lens for examining teachers mentoring practices in guiding student teachers to develop and enhance their mathematics PCK. Data was collected using interviews for the three mentor teachers and two focus group interviews for the twelve student teachers at a university-affiliated teaching school in Johannesburg. My experience as a mentor teacher at the teaching school motivated me to conduct this study because I observed that student teachers generally have trouble in teaching mathematics in the foundation phase. Based on TRU Maths Framework, I analysed the data obtained from the individual interviews with the mentor teachers and the focus group interviews from the student teachers. The data was analysed using the Constant Comparative Method (Glasser & Strauss, 1967). The main finding was that the newness of the teaching school, the practicum and mentor teachers experiences led to a procedural form of mentoring with minimal developments of student teacher’s development of a robust understanding of mathematics teaching. Student teachers reported that they do not all get the opportunity to form meaningful mentor-mentee relationships with their mentor teachers at the school because of the large number students in each practicum group. In addition, student teachers and their mentor teachers recognised the importance of mathematics content knowledge as a pre-requisite for effective mathematics teaching. I concluded that the mentor-mentee relationship is important for improving the mentoring practices of mentor teachers. Good mentoring practices can assist student teachers in developing and improving their mathematics PCK and their overall professional development (Hudson, 2013).
M.Ed. (Childhood Education)