Assessing the Practices of School-based English Mentoring: The Case of Four Government Secondary Schools in West Gojjam Zone

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore EFL teachers’ practice on school-based English mentoring on four selected government secondary schools in West Gojjam Zone. To put this in to effect, descriptive survey design was used. To collect data 16 experienced EFL teachers who are assigned to lead the mentoring role and 36 less-experienced ‘mentee’ teachers were selected purposefully from the four educational settings. In addition, school principals, supervisors and English language department heads were also used as a source of data. Convenience and purposive sampling strategies were used to select the sample schools and the teacher participants respectively. Whereas, comprehensive sampling strategy was used to select principals, supervisors and English department heads. After the data analysis, the results indicated that the formal practice of mentoring by EFL teachers was very low. The literature in the field suggests that less-experienced teachers’ learning to teach can be facilitated through the constructive support and advice of experienced teachers within a collaborative learning environment. However, this research highlights there is a loose interaction among the stakeholders of the mentoring practice – mentors, mentees and school administrators. And finally based on the findings of the study, some possible suggestions were recommended to responsible bodies.