Mentoring programme and the transition of beginning teachers: view of the insiders

Abstract

ABSTRACT Transition is hardly a simple phase in any individual’s life, particularly from education to labour market. For professions such as teaching, the transition from being a student to a teacher is even ‘bumpier’ compared with other jobs unless it is cushioned by supports. The reason is beginning teachers are faced with numerous obstacles during this transition, including practice shock, identity conflicts, low self-efficacy, to name a few. Mentoring program henceforth is believed to assist novices in this critical professional turning point. The qualitative case study in this article was conducted to investigate how a mentoring program, seen as a reflective learning process in which the newly-qualified teachers are learners, facilitate the transition of two beginning teachers working in a higher education institution. The results yielded are changes in the teachers’ teaching beliefs, self-efficacy, teaching performance and professional development; and the socialisation process into the profession of the two participants, which is perceived to smooth their transition process.