This qualitative study sought to provide a list of outcomes that mentors have as a result of being involved in a service-learning course over the course of one academic semester. The service learning course, Leadership in the Community, requires the enrollees to serve as a mentor to a local middle school student. Specifically, this study examined the mentoring outcomes of student development, self-esteem, and personal reflection. Data included semistructured interviews, researcher observations, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), mentor journals, and personal reflection papers. Twenty-one participants were included in this study. An analysis of the data sources illustrated how each participant experiences mentoring and its outcomes and was informed using literature on mentoring, self-esteem, student development, and service-learning including: Maslow (1976), Chickering and Reisser (1993), Boyer (1990), Kram (1985), and Rosenberg (1965). In summary, this study's purpose was to identify mentoring outcomes and how participation in a service- learning course can contribute to changes in student development, self-esteem levels, and personal reflection. This study found that participants enrolled in the course for specific reasons, which included (a) forming relationships, (b) providing hope and promoting personal development, and (c) modeling goal setting. In regards to self-esteem development, the Leadership in the Community course provided the participants with a positive support system, a forum for sharing personal accomplishments, and an outlet to serve the local community by serving as a mentor. The participants displayed the ability to personally reflect about themselves and their mentoring experience in classroom interactions, mentor journals, interviews, and personal reflection papers. Themes and patterns noted in the participants' personal reflection were reflections about (a) personal growth, (b) identity formation, (c) past experiences, and (d) experiences with their classmates. This study suggests that service-learning courses that require mentoring as an enrollment requirement provides participants with an opportunity to develop as a student and as a person by contributing to the local community, increasing self-esteem, and reflecting upon one's past experiences. This study also makes a contribution to the literature by examining the mentoring relationship from the mentor's perspective. This departure from the existing literature on the mentoring relationship provides a new perspective for future research. / text

Text in Afrikaans / Educational Studies / M.Ed.

The author presents original research findings on the subject of the impact of a youth mentoring program, Fresh Start, on a group of at-risk adolescents in the United States. The article opens with an introduction and overview of the subject of youth mentoring, and proceeds to a review of the literature that describes types of mentoring and the varied outcomes mentoring programs have been documented to have on target populations. The literature also explains the concept of at-risk adolescents, and explains how and why mentoring programs are believed to be effective interventions for working with this population. The author then presents the methodology, research design, and procedures that were used for the study, and identifies the organization that served as the subject of the study. The researcher explained that data were collected from three distinct participant groups: students, teachers, and parents. The researcher documents the data collection and analysis techniques, and reports the results. Based on the study conducted, the researcher concluded that the Fresh Start mentoring intervention influenced statistically significant positive outcomes for participants with respect to the at-risk students’ behaviour and academic performance. Taking this conclusion into consideration, the researcher reflected upon the components of a mentoring program that are most likely to predict academic and social success for students who have been deemed at-risk, and offered recommendations for future research and program development. / Sociology / D. Phil.(Sociology )

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Technology: Public Management, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Research production is increasingly becoming a focal point in higher education transformation. Merging of higher educational institutions has produced various challenges ranging from changing the focus from purely teaching functions to both research and teaching. While novice researchers (i.e. those that are training to become researchers) are expected to develop capacity by engaging in research through various means, the aim of capacity development is to enable young researchers (i.e. those who are developing a profile as researchers) to publish in high impact publications which attracts funding in the form of subsidy from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET). The manners in which tertiary educational institutions promote research output through capacity development initiatives are important from the perspective of attracting funding. The researcher undertook this study to explore mentorship as a means to increase research output at a merged tertiary institution. A case study using a mixed method approach was adopted. The literature reviewed indicated that mentorship was popular in many fields but there is a paucity of data evident on mentorship as a means to increase research output for researchers. The researcher obtained views and perceptions from academic staff members from sample faculties with regards to an implementation of a formal research mentorship program (REMP). Semi-structured interviews with the deans of four sample faculties and analyses of institutional documentation was also undertaken to ascertain institutional and faculty support and development for research. The findings of this study are useful not only to the case study institution, but to all HE institutions, especially merged institutions and the public management sector.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Teachers in South Africa currently operate within an education system largely failing to equip our youth to attain personal and economic freedom, while, as individuals, the teachers have to manage their own lives within the broader environment characterised by continuous educational and social change, economic difficulties and dysfunctional schools. With coaching emerging as a catalyst for change and development, the literature reveals that, locally and internationally, coaching programmes aimed at assisting teachers focus on professional development. Less focus is placed on the development of teachers in their personal capacity as an enabler towards professional development. The focus of this study is to coach teachers in their personal capacity and to gain an understanding of how the teachers make meaning of their experiences. This research answers the question of how teachers experience a coaching interaction. The research design was that of a case study to obtain descriptive data about the experiences of the teachers. With the focus on understanding how the teachers interpret and make meaning of their experiences, the methodology of the study is qualitative, informed by the phenomenological tradition of social research. The research process entailed coaching of a small sample of six teachers from one primary school and the collection of data through field notes, the teachers’ reflective notes and qualitative interviews. The data was analysed and coded to identify themes from multiple perspectives of the data and across the data. The initial analysis of the data revealed themes specific to the individual teachers, while indepth analysis across the data revealed general coaching outcomes related themes. With reference to the coded themes, the study found that the coaching process provided the environment (safe space) and opportunity (time to think) to facilitate awareness of the teachers’ current reality (thinking and behaviour), awareness of their own resources (new thinking, internal learning, choice) and awareness of possibilities of different realities (change). Change through awareness and new thinking emerged as the main theme. Not all the data was positive, providing useful recommendation for the improvement of future coaching interventions of a similar nature. While the research design and context of the study limited the generalisation of the findings, the study achieved its aim of obtaining rich descriptive data about the experiences of the teachers of a coaching interaction. Within the confines of the context of the study, the findings pointed to the potential of coaching to facilitate initial change and development for teachers in their personal capacity. The value that the teachers put on their coaching experiences confirmed the gap for coaching teachers in their personal capacity. Evidence of the teachers applying their learning from the coaching interaction in their family and professional lives indicated the possibilities of outcomes beyond this study.

This study examined whether the telementoring program had a positive impact on beginning teacher self-efficacy. Telementoring is an adaptation of mentoring, using telecommunications technology as the means to establish and maintain mentoring relationships between the participants. The program was intended to create an atmosphere of community; to provide expert training in the profession; to retain good teachers; and to offer support for the new teacher in times of self-doubt. A quasi-experimental design and mixed methods measures were used to determine the effect of a telementoring program on beginning teacher self-efficacy. Participants were members of a district induction/mentoring program. An experimental group of 20 first-year teachers that participated in a supplemental telementoring program were compared to 20 first-year teachers who did not. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale was used to collect data on beginning teacher self-efficacy. A pretest was administered prior to the treatment and members completed a post-test at the conclusion of the study. Results were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance. The experimental and control group results from both assessments were measured and compared. No statistically significant differences were found between the experimental group that participated in the telementoring program and those in the control group who did not. Messages posted to a discussion board were analyzed by comparing concerns of beginning teachers in this study to concerns of beginning teachers found in current literature. A compilation of concerns served as a comparison framework. Participants in this study discussed many of the same issues and concerns found in current literature. Although statistically significant results were not found, discussion board postings suggest that telementoring is an effective form of mentoring and provides beginning teachers a forum for collegiality and support, which contributes to self-efficacy.

The recruitment and retention of teachers demand attention with estimates of two million new teachers needed in the next decade. Hiring under qualified teachers necessitates adequate induction programs. Development of a recommendation for a teacher induction program comprises the purpose of the study. The recommended induction and support program addresses the activities perceived as valuable by both mentors and mentees. The researcher describes the mentor programs currently in place in Region XI in northern Texas by surveying the mentors and mentees; of particular relevance is a determination and description of the program model in place. Data sources include the literature review and information obtained from Region XI mentors/mentees. Data shows the model in Region XI is primarily a colleague model. Mentors and mentees are matched for grade level, content area and physical proximity. Three of the most frequently occurring activities are in the category emotional support, three in logistical concerns, two in systems information, one in student management, and one in instructional support. Mentees believe those activities associated with classroom management and organization and developing confidence and self-esteem are most important. Mentors concur. Specific recommendations for structuring a comprehensive beginning teacher induction and support program include reexamining the program currently in use, prioritizing timing of implementation, articulating campus mentoring goals, adhering to logistical areas of concern, providing training for the mentors in a program of psychological support that focuses on the psychological needs of the beginning teacher, providing time within the day, and evaluating current programs at the end of each year using those beginning teachers involved.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2008. / Adviser: Lisa A. Dieker. Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-136).

Limited research has been conducted on the effectiveness of preventive programmes in addressing the needs of adolescents/youth. This study is aimed at examining the effectiveness of a training programme and whether the training conducted by the researcher contributed to equipping the peer educators with skills to undertake capacity building and empowerment programmes. The research sample consisted of fifteen peer educators who had undergone the training programme. The participants were all grade eleven pupils from the Hillview Secondary School in Newlands East. The majority of the participants in this research study reside in Newlands East. This was an evaluative research study. The data collection instruments were sessional evaluation questionnaires, verbal group evaluation and retrospective evaluation questionnaires. Secondary data were also collected from the school personnel to enhance the research findings. The research findings revealed that the peer educator training undertaken by the researcher was effective and useful in developing skills of the peer educators to initiate and implement capacity-building and empowerment programmes within the school environment. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

This study examines the knowledge-base of mentors in two South African schools. Working within an interpretivist paradigm this study gained an in-depth understanding of the knowledge, strategies and the sources of mentoring knowledge the mentor teachers draw on to inform their mentoring practices. Data was collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews from school-based mentors. The study seeks to construct an understanding of the mentors professional knowledge base in relation to Shulman’s (1985) model of teacher knowledge and Jones’s (2006) model of mentoring knowledge. The study provides a rich, holistic perspective of the mentoring knowledge mentor teachers say informs and underpins their mentorship practices. Firstly, the findings of this study suggest that the majority of mentors draw on their professional practice and personal experience as teachers when enacting their mentoring roles. A central message conveyed is that mentors must have a deep knowledge of subject matter, curriculum issues and teaching strategies to mentor effectively. Secondly, the findings suggest that mentor teachers draw from their personal values and interpersonal skills to inform their practices. Since the mentors works with adult learners careful nurturing of another’s personal and professional growth in a collaborative and reciprocal partnership based on trust, respect, equality, encouragement is key to the cultivation of healthy mentoring relationships. These findings also suggest that it is important that the mentors’ practices are effective, consistent and underpinned by a knowledge base that can serve as a point of reference when training mentor teachers. In order to ensure this, it is necessary to provide mentors access to adequate formalized training programmes that will equip them with a sound knowledge base for mentoring. Mentor teachers also need to be provided with conditions and resources within their schools that allow them to work collaboratively with each other to construct and extend their knowledge base as mentors. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.