Abstract
The main focus on teacher preparation and beginner teacher mentorship in South Africa has been on pre-service teacher training, new teacher retention as well as an emphasis on the new political administration. The traditional perspectives of teacher preparation focus on inspiring novice teachers to stay at their newly acquired jobs through mentorship, wherein the teacher-mentor provides on-site support to the beginning teachers. Beginner teachers are not exposed to management and leadership mentorship, responsibilities and training before the assumption of new education positions. As a result, South Africa has a high rate of teacher turnover and low job satisfaction levels amongst teachers. Beginner teachers in South Africa face many workplace frustrations and challenges in teacher answerability and obligation. In such roles, the mentor focuses on the novice teacher’s general pedagogical knowledge or teaching skills with little or no emphasis on the subject-specific knowledge and skills. As a result, many beginner teachers in South Africa indicate concerns of shortages in pedagogical skills and knowledge required to effectively instruct learners. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to describe and explore the role of school leadership in mentoring beginner teachers to transition into the teaching profession. This study utilised a qualitative research methodology and interviews to collect needed information from two school principals and six beginner teachers. The interview information and literature review raised five key themes on the role of school leadership in mentoring beginner teachers transition into the teaching profession, including technical and emotional support, education and guidance. In adopting the five-factor mentoring model, the personal attributes in this study suggest notions of expert status and support as vital elements to efficient beginner teacher mentorship. The study results also establish that factors like pedagogical knowledge, system requirements, feedback and modelling are interrelated vital aspects of school leadership in the mentorship and transition of beginner teachers into the teaching profession. This study indicates that depending on the school-mentoring settings and environments, effective mentorship in South Africa requires a demonstration of commitment to the mentor role and flexibility in role adjustment. Keywords: Beginner teachers, school management and leadership, mentorship, South Africa, responsibilities, training, education, low job satisfaction, high rate of teacher turnover.