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Published Article / Mentorship as a concept in teacher training is vital in developing full professionals. It becomes even more effective if the mentors are adequately prepared for their mentorship roles. This study sought to determine: (a) the nature of training mentors had received in mentorship; (b) the extent to which they understood their role as mentors; (c) the mentors' views on the assistance they rendered to mentees; (d) the relationship between parent colleges and mentors; and (e) assess implications for teacher training in Zimbabwe. The study followed a descriptive survey design which utilized both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A comprehensive questionnaire was administered on a purposeful and information-rich sample of 120 mentors in two provinces in Zimbabwe. Interviews were also held with some of the mentors to triangulate findings from the questionnaire. The study revealed that many mentors had not been given any formal training in mentorship; they were not really sure of their roles and while they stated that they assisted mentees to the best of their abilities assistance given to mentees differed from mentor to mentor. College supervisors did not consult mentors for mentees' progress checks and mentors had no input in the final assessment of students under their tutelage. College supervisors and mentors' input should be incorporated in the final assessment of students.

This study assessed the importance of the first-line supervisor's knowledge of his subordinates' work. The impact of the supervisor's style of leadership served as a basis for comparatively evaluating the importance of the supervisor's knowledge. The criteria variables used were morale and productivity. Supervisors and subordinates representing routine and nonroutine work groups were tested. The routine group was represented by postal clerks and the nonroutine group by computer programmers. All subjects were chosen as a convenience sample and were U.S. Army personnel stationed in West Germany. Test results of seventy-eight subordinates and their supervisors were used in the analysis. The test to measure the job knowledge of postal workers was the only test which had to be specially prepared for this study. Internal consistency reliabilities indicated the test would be appropriate. Supervisors both ranked and rated their subordinates' productivity. Various other standard tests were used. The primary hypothesis of the study was that the first-line supervisor's knowledge of his subordinates' jobs has a greater impact on productivity and morale than the supervisor's leadership style. It was hypothesized that increases in the supervisor's knowledge would have favorable effects. Path analysis was employed as the method of evaluating the hypothesis. The layout of path diagrams reflect various other hypotheses of the researcher. The first path analysis model examined indicated additional variables should be considered. An expanded model indicated that knowledge is likely positively related to productivity though negatively related to morale. That portion of the hypothesis specifying that knowledge would have a greater impact than leadership style could not be justified by the analysis and interpretation of the diagrams. The participative style of leadership appeared to be more positively, causally related to productivity than the supervisor's knowledge.

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M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of tho Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of Mastel' of Arts. Johannesburg 1991 / The industrial supervisor is the classical example of the person in the middle or the 'marginal person' Placed between management and the workforce, supervisors encounter conflicting expectations and demands. For the black supervisor in South African industry, these problems are exacerbated, typically having been promoted from the ranks and operating at an essentially white management, black workforce interface. Previous researchers have discussed the dysfunctional consequences faced by these people and, further, have alluded to the possible relationship between this and supervisors' dual loyaltles. This research examines the marginality of black supervisors and how this relates to their possible dual commitment. Towards this end, a psychometrically sound measure of psychological marginality was constructed, following which an empirical investigation was undertaken to investigate the relationship between black supervisors' psychological marginality and their dual allegiances. Factor analytical techniques revealed that black supervisor's marginality comprises two variables; namely, management marginality and worker marginality. The relationships between both marginality variables and levels of organisational commitment, union commitment and dual commitment were not significant. This suggests that the management and worker marginality experienced among black supervisors is not related to dual commitment, unilateral commitment and alienation. Implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed and directions for future research provided. The primary shortcoming of the study was small sample sizes as a result of the sensitive nature of the subject. However, this was mediated by the rigorous methodology adopted throughout.

Research suggests that individuals who perceive their work as a calling (a deep passion and meaningfulness associated with a certain domain) experience a variety of positive outcomes such as occupational identification, career decidedness, and job satisfaction. Utilizing the tenets of Social Exchange Theory and the Job Demands Resources Model, I proposed that individuals with greater calling toward their occupation will report higher safety motivation and safety compliance. However, under conditions of high workload this relationship would be attenuated. Further, by the same rationale, individuals with lower calling will report lower safety outcomes, yet I proposed that this relationship is mitigated under conditions of high supervisor support. The study was conducted with a sample of 183 participants collected across three forests within the United States Forest Service. Although the hypotheses in the study were not supported, this study provides theoretical groundwork elucidating the link between calling and the examined outcome - safety. This, in turn, will aid in the development of a number of potential research avenues for safety scholars, with many practical implications. Further, an examination of calling with other collected variables within this industry provides avenues for future research in the calling domain. The investigation of moderators may help to explain the conflicting results found in the calling literature. Finally, this study furthers our understanding of safety, workload, and supervisor support within a "helping field."

The main purpose of this study was to examine the roles that college supervisors perform in the Field Experience programme with particular reference to the Field Experience programme in a Catholic College of Education. Through clarification of the roles it was expected that the effectiveness of college supervisors would be improved resulting in a more efficient and productive Field Experience programme at the institution concerned. The overall aims of the study were: (1) to clarify the roles of college supervisors (2) to improve the quality of the Field Experience programme (3) to give the programme more meaning in the teacher education course at the College concerned and (4) to make it clear to participants in such a programme that there is an important role for college supervisors to play. The study involved the co-operation of 62 student teachers, 45 classroom teachers (country and city) and 10 college lecturers (totalling 117). A questionnaire was designed on the basis of discussions with Field Experience participants, on a survey conducted the previous year, and on an open-ended survey conducted immediately after the mid-year Block Practicum. The final questionnaire was then distributed to 82 student teachers (75.5% return), 76 classroom teachers (58.5% return) and 11 college lecturers (90% return). The study made use of earlier work by Waters (1973) and also by Duck and Cunningham (1985). In the study, student teachers, classroom teachers and college lecturers were surveyed by means of a questionnaire to rate the frequency with which specific supervisory tasks (already identified in a pilot study) were performed. This involved rating each of the supervisory tasks twice; firstly rating , the 'actual' occurrence of the task and secondly by rating the 'ideal' occurrence of the task. Results of the study showed that there are differences of perception surrounding role expectations for college supervisors and that these roles require clarification. What were perceived to be the roles for and the behaviour of college supervisors contrasted with what was actually exhibited. Students and teachers (country and city) perceived college supervisors to be actually performing an Evaluator role; while lecturers perceived a Manager role. The 'ideal' role for college supervisors was perceived by all respondent groups to involve the functions and tasks of Manager. The degree of role conflict present indicates that follow-up measures deserve consideration and clarification and that orientation and learning programmes need to be conducted for all Field Experience participants in order to give the Field Experience programme more significance and to improve its overall effectiveness. A result of the study and one which could be emphasised in order to improve the quality of the programme was the indication of 'desirable' and 'undesirable' characteristics of college supervisors who were involved in the Field Experience programme at the College concerned. These results were similar to the earlier work of Beer et al. (1983) and were indicated by' the use of openended comments being included at the conclusion of the questionnaire. These comments concerned the personal and professional characteristics of college supervisors and together with this author's work could form the basis of further study as a step towards increasing the efficiency of Field Experience programmes.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves : 78-80).