Formal Mentorship and Instructional Practices: A Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Study of US Teachers

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-13-2020

Publication Title

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education

Volume

10

Issue

1

First page number:

118

Last page number:

132

Abstract

Purpose: Within schools across the USA, mentees supported by mentors experience a number of potential benefits, including high job satisfaction, less attrition and more opportunities for professional/emotional guidance. However, these benefits are less understood in the context of formal mentorship specifically, as well as to what extent these supports apply to instructional practices. This study aims to address the minimally researched area of how being mentored might impact the instructional practices of teachers at all stages of their career. Design/methodology/approach: Based on data recently published for the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in 2018, this study examines the relationship of teachers with formally assigned mentors, the number of total years of teaching experience and instructional practices. US teachers who responded to the target survey questions (n = 1,934) were submitted to several one-way analyses of variance to determine (1) the potential relationships between the presence of a formal mentor and instructional practices and (2) how different groups of teachers with varying numbers of total years of teaching experience impacted these relationships. Findings: The results found that the presence of a formal mentor predicted higher classroom management practices, clarity of instruction practices and cognitive activation activities for the combined sample... (see full abstract in article).

Keywords

Formal mentorship; Assigned mentors; Teachers; Years of teaching experience; Instructional practices; Classroom management; United States (USA)

Disciplines

Teacher Education and Professional Development

Language

English

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