This research study examines the status of mentoring programs for beginning teachers in Manitoba’s public school divisions. Based on reviewed literature, a distinction is made between formal and informal mentoring programs for beginning teachers. The study is a naturalistic inquiry using a semi-structured interview protocol. Twenty four of 38 school divisions in Manitoba participated in the study. Interviewees were asked if the school division had a formal mentoring program in place, the histories, goals and rationales of their formal mentoring programs, and the strengths and challenges of the mentoring programs. If the division did not have a formal mentoring program, they were asked to comment on the way they support beginning teachers and on rationales for not having a formal mentoring program.
Based on the school divisions interviewed, the study found that the province was almost evenly split between divisions with formal mentoring programs and those not having formal programs. However, formal programs were more prevalent in urban areas than in rural and northern areas. Mentoring was recognized as a strong support for beginning teachers providing benefits to the beginning teacher, the mentor and the school division. Programs varied greatly from division to division with little or no communication or collaboration between divisions to develop a common program as is done in some other Canadian provinces. The challenges for school divisions to offer formal mentoring programs included time, money, and geography. The study offers five recommendations to support beginning teachers. / May 2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MANITOBA/oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/32228 |
| Date | 21 April 2017 |
| Creators | Lepp, Barbara |
| Contributors | Falkenberg, Thomas (Curriculum, Teaching and Learning), Morin, Francine (Curriculum, Teaching and Learning) Zaretsky, Joan (Manitoba Teachers' Society, retired) |
| Source Sets | University of Manitoba Canada |
| Detected Language | English |
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