Perception of Abetifi College of Education pre-service teachers on mentoring for developing effective primary science teaching

Abstract

This study was aimed at finding out the importance of mentoring practices on Pre service teachers for developing effective primary science teaching. The main purpose for this study therefore, was to identify and describe the perception of the final year pre-service teachers of Abetifi College of Education (ABETICOE) on their mentoring in primary science education and the extent to which they received the range of mentoring practices that would assist them in developing their primary science teaching based on five factors (i.e., Personal Attribute, System Requirement, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Modeling and Feedback). The design used to conduct this study was a descriptive survey. The main data collection instrument for the study was questionnaire for pre–service teachers (mentees) adapted from the Mentoring for Effective Primary Science Teaching (MEPST) instrument. Data was collected from 20 basic schools in the Kwahu East, Kwahu South and Birim North of the Eastern Region of Ghana. One hundred (100) mentees were sampled for this study comprising 65 males and 35 females. Descriptive statistics (i.e. percentages, mean scores, and standard deviations) were derived using SPSS for each variable. It was found out among other things that majority of mentees perceived that their mentors did not provide mentoring practices associated with the System Requirements items and that the mentees were mentored using the five-factor model . It was recommended that adequate mentoring in primary science teaching should be included in mentors’ practices. The study argues that mentors may require further education to learn how to mentor specifically in primary science teaching and proposed a specific mentoring intervention as a way forward for developing the mentors’ mentoring skills in the teaching of primary science.