International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
Governments. She observes that there has not been any systematic attention to regular up-dating of the teachers’
knowledge and teaching skills in the light of changes in the curriculum and the wider society. The mentoring
efforts of NTI which could be gleaned from its commitment to equipping serving teachers with practical skills
and enhancing their mastery of subject matter as well as developing positive self-concept towards teaching
profession though laudable, yet lacks the close relationship , partnership and support which distinguish
mentoring from mere school supervision.
Many teachers’ reluctance or refusal to register with Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN)
constitutes great problem in mentoring of teachers. Established in 1993, the TRCN has one of its functions as
registration of teachers in Nigeria, organizing continuous training and development to enhance the instruction
skills of teachers in all areas necessary in its Continuous Professional Development Programmes. The problem
of poor records of where teachers are posted after graduation would have been solved if every teacher in Nigeria
is registered with TRCN. Many teachers in tertiary institutions in Nigeria are not yet registered with TRCN.
Helping teacher educators locate those they would like to mentor or outright allocation of teachers to mentors
would have been very easy if all are registered with TRCN which stands in good position to start a formal
mentoring exercise for teachers.
Attention also has to be drawn to problem of relying on the two models of Continuing Professional
Development being used in Nigeria. They are the workshop model and the school based –teacher professional
support model (Mohamed,2006 cited in Fareo,2013).The former is the practice whereby workshop is organized
for teachers of some subjects who are made to go to a particular centre during holidays to listen to facilitators
.The latter is the practice whereby practicing teachers work collaboratively with the head teachers to provide
supervision and support from older teachers in form of staff meeting corrections and demonstration classes. This
is an internal and local arrangement which depends on the administrative style of the head teacher. Teacher
educators are hardly involved in this model.
It may also be good to mention the lopsided nature of the workshop model. It appears to be discriminatory to the
advantage of mathematics and science subjects and English language. The writers observed that subject areas
other than those mentioned above do not receive equal attention.
BENEFITS OF MENTORING
Every one , the mentor, the mentee and organization or institution benefits from mentoring. Penner(2001)
presented full discourse on the benefits of mentoring in higher institution. We shall therefore adapt his ideas
since they are apt to the discussion in this paper
For the Mentor
Enrichment through seeing someone else grow and succeed.
Human development theory holds that among persons reaching mid-life there is a need to develop the
next generation (Levinson). Investing in the success of one or more persons earlier in their life and
career development provides opportunity to fill that need.
Creativity generated by issues and ideas generated by someone younger and newer.
When someone comes to a role or organization with questions and new ideas, creativity is stimulated.
Pairing a senior and junior faculty member could provide stimulus for the senior faculty member’s
ongoing creativity.
Friendship.
While the basic value of mentoring may be either an organizational or personal benefit to the mentor,
the possibility exists that the relationship may develop into a friendship that lasts a lifetime. Biehl
advocates that mentoring relationships be considered a lifelong relationships.
For the Mentee
Speedier adaptation to a new role and/or organization and reduced likelihood of frustration and
failure.
One of the values a more experienced mentor brings is access to information and suggestions for
success. To have someone be proactive in behalf of one’s orientation and success should speed up the
adaptation process and reduce the chances of making organizational gaffes.
Increased exposure to ideas and connections. By definition one of the contributions of a mentor is to
offer the mentee helpful information, suggestions, and even introduction to others who can be helpful to
the person.
Friendship. While initially one cannot expect friendship, it may well be an outcome and long-term
benefit. {48}
For the Organization
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