Collaborative Mentoring Support Model for Improving Effectiveness of New Teachers in Upper Basic Level Schools in South East, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the collaborative mentoring support model for improving the effectiveness of new teachers in the upper basic schools in South East, Nigeria. It utilized a descriptive survey research design. A sample of 638 newly employed teachers who are currently serving under the government’s N-power programme were drawn from a population of 6315 newly employed teachers in three out of five states of the South East, Nigeria. The sample which represented the 10% of the population was drawn using multi-stage sampling. The instrument for data collection was 10-item researcher-developed questionnaire titled; Collaborative Mentoring Support and Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire (CMSTEQ). The questionnaire was validated by three experts, two in Educational Administration and one in Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was determined using test-retest procedure and it yielded a reliability index of 0.76. Mean was used to answer the research questions and standard deviation was used to determine the closeness of their responses, while t-test statistic was used to test the two null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results among others showed that planned conversation and coaching of mentees by mentors enhanced the effectiveness of new teachers to a high extent. It was suggested therefore that newly recruited teachers should make themselves available to the more experienced colleagues for mentoring. Principals and other school administrators in various schools should encourage and educate both the new and more experienced teachers on the need for regular mentoring, especially in the area of planned conversation and coaching.