Abstract
Scholars have been sounding the alarm of early career teacher turnover crises for decades, and it is time to pay attention and find solutions. South Africa is soon to be facing an educational catastrophe because of a shortage of qualified, competent, experienced teachers. Furthermore, new teachers are entering the classroom feeling unprepared and experience a sense of shock and overwhelm as their studies of the theory of teaching did not prepare them for the realities of the classroom, resulting in a perceived theory practice-gap. One of the main factors that is contributing to the teacher shortage is the fact that novice teachers are feeling overwhelmed, burnt out and are leaving the teaching profession – many within their first year of teaching. Further adding to this burden is the impact that COVID-19 has had on schools. Globally and in South Africa, the experiences of novice teachers entering the classroom in the ‘new normal’ has been quite extraordinary and unprecedented. This qualitative study reports the perceived needs of novice teachers from their mentor teachers in their first year of teaching during a global pandemic. This paper ambitiously states that a competent mentor could offer much needed support to novices that may keep them in the profession and aim to determine what novices need from their mentors to feel supported. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on an online platform and novice teachers divulged their challenges as well as mentoring needs.
Presenters
Christy Jean KotzeLecturer, Curriculum and Instructional Studies, University of South Africa, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
COVID19, Mentorship, Novice teacher, Teacher attrition, Theory practice-gap
