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DEVELOPING MORE EFFECTIVE SCHOOL-HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

PARTNERSHIPS IN INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES (COBAMS),

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

Workshop Report

Second Mentorship Workshop

April 23-24, 2012

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Developing more Effective Higher Education – School Partnerships in Initial Teacher

Education Project (also referred to as the Mentorship Project) is a joint Project that

was initiated in 2010 by the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland), Eduardo

Mondlane University (Mozambique), Chancellor College, University of Malawi

(Malawi) and Makerere University (Uganda). The Project aims at strengthening the

support provided by schools to student teachers through partnerships between schools

and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The overall objective of the Project is to

strengthen the quality of teacher education.

The workshops to be held in each partner country are aimed at introducing

participants to more effective school/University partnerships for the initial training of

teachers, encouraging a reflective learning approach to teaching and mentoring

(reflective log), Sharing and developing the principles of effective teaching and

learning and strategies for effective classroom observation and feedback. The specific

objectives of the 2 day Workshop were to:

The specific workshop objectives were to:

1. Examine approaches to mentoring and implications to the quality of education 2. Prepare tutors and mentor teachers for the forthcoming school practice season

The participants and facilitators were drawn from the pilot schools, Shimoni PTC,

Kibuli PTC, Kyambogo University, Makerere University, NGO sector and the

Ministry of Education and Sports. Using participatory approaches that included role

play, brain storming sessions, group activities and presentations, the two day

workshop was exciting and elicited the expectations of the organizers. Participants

were taken through sessions that covered the following areas: Mentoring: Meaning

and importance in teacher education; Expectations of various stakeholders; Examples

of how schools support mentoring during school practice; Mentoring: Practical skills;

Video-recorded lessons; and Responsibilities of various stakeholders and the way forward.

The participants appreciated the workshop and the majority were of the view that it

had added to the skills they had. They also reported that the workshop had energized

them in their mentoring roles. They however made suggestions for improvements

including formalizing mentorship training and award some form of recognition,

involving more stakeholders, and rolling out the programme to schools through the

Ministry of Education and Sports; Collection of more data on the status of mentoring in Ugandan schools. Timelines were suggested for the various activities.

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Day 1: Tuesday 22nd

April, 2012

Session 1: Welcome and Opening Remarks:

Dr. Joseph Oonyu welcomed participants to the workshop and asked participants to introduce

themselves. He then briefed them regarding the progress of the mentorship project in Uganda.

He reiterated that since the last workshop in October 2011, the Project has analyzed all the

baseline data and worked out a plan for the supervision of the various activities within the

Project schools. He reminded the participants that that the major objective of the project is to

establish the support required in order to make mentorship part of teacher training

programmes. Dr. Oonyu stated that the overall goal of the workshop was to consolidate the

gains of the October 2011 workshop in improving our understanding of the role and place of

mentorship in ITE.

The specific workshop objectives were to:

1. Examine approaches to mentoring and implications to the quality of education

2. Prepare tutors and mentor teachers for the forthcoming school practice season

Dr. Joseph Oonyu then informed participants that the Commissioner Teacher Education was

unable to attend due to an urgent meeting that had been called at short notice at the Ministry.

He then took the opportunity to officially declare the workshop open on behalf of the

Commissioner.

Session 2: Mentoring: Its Meaning and Importance in Initial Teacher Education

(Prof. Charles Opolot Okurut)

Prof. Opolot-Okurut took participants through his presentation in which he highlighted the

evolution of the term mentoring and its various definitions currently. One of the definitions

was that given by Hobson, Ashby, Malderez and Tomlinson (2009), namely:

Mentoring is … the one-to-one support of a novice or less experienced practitioner

(mentee) by a more experienced practitioner (mentor), designed primarily to assist the

development of the mentee‟s expertise and to facilitate their induction into the culture

of the profession (in this case, teaching) and into the specific local context (here, the

school or college) (Hobson, Ashby, Malderez & Tomlinson, 2009, p. 207).

He then differentiated between formal and informal mentorship and outlined the major stages

of mentoring. These stages include: building the relationship - get to know each other and

begin to establish trust; exchanging information and setting goals; working towards goals and

deepening engagement - work towards achieving your goals through conversations, written

materials provided by your mentor, tying various learning and development activities, and

perhaps connecting with other resource people your mentor introduces you to; and ending the

formal mentoring relationship and planning for the future.

He gave an elaborate rationale for mentoring in Initial Teacher Education and highlighted

challenges that beginning or teacher trainees face in school. Finally, he provided an outline of

the key steps for effective mentoring including: (1) Assessing needs – which could be termed

„gap analysis‟ to populate an inventory of needs. (2) Setting goals and clarifying expectations

– to project the roadmap and the important landmarks. (3) Focusing on cultivating a

relationship – creating a positive rapport and planning amicable working environment. (4)

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Seeking opportunities to maintain contact – designing and implementing an efficient

communication system and atmosphere. (5) Developing a mentoring network – working

beyond the immediate contacts and creating other new community of scholars. He concluded

by stating that the benefits of mentoring in ITE re immense for the teacher trainee, the

trainers, mentors and the quality of learning.

During the plenary, the participants discussed various concerns including the following:

Issues the mentor should put into consideration

o Mentor should understand the mentee

o Mentor should conference with the mentee in a good and suitable environment

o Mentors should ensure a good rapport is established between him or her and

the mentee.

o Mentor should stick and assess areas agreed upon with the mentee.

Is it possible for the mentor to have more than one mentee?

o Yes, a mentee can have one or two mentors depending on the need

Is it possible to have a tool like a questionnaire while with the mentee?

o Yes, however there is need for more tools to obtain both hard and soft data

from the mentee

o Other tools such as FIAC can be utilised in addition to other tools used by the

mentor.

Is there a possibility of having two mentors with one mentee?

o Yes, one mentee can have two mentors each addressing a different need.

o Need for team work especially where the mentee is resistant

What happens if the mentee does not show any signs of change?

o Recommend the mentee to another mentor (completely change to a new

mentor)

To what extent do school based mentor engage the mentees to develop the following?

o Teaching strategies

o Behaviour management

o Assess students

o Working with others, communities, cognition, parents.

What challenges do mentors face?

What benefits do school mentors benefits draw from being mentors?

What makes an effective school mentor?

Dr. Opolot noted that it was important for mentors to network, co-operate, and share the

methods of working as peers. Also mentors must consider that mentoring should benefit

students, the mentee, school administration, teachers and the quality of learning.

Session 3: Mentoring of Student teachers: Expectations of Various Stakeholders Dr. Betty A. Ezati, Dean School of Education)

Dr. Betty Ezati outlined the various stakeholders involved in mentoring of teachers especially

those on school practice. She noted that there is conflict of expectations between the teacher

institutions and the schools where these students are sent to do their school practice. She

therefore noted the following:

a) Teacher education institutions expectations focus on:

Learning experiences

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Hands on experience

Helping school practice students to learn

Training the trainees on whole school approach, finally the teacher educational

institutions expect the trainees to get values and attributes such as:

Good behaviour, beliefs, values, norms and attitudes

Opportunity to learn

b) Expectations of the practicing schools:

Well behaved trainees

Co operative

High level of professionalism

Participative( highly involved in all school activities

Effective delivery of content

Morally upright

Good command of discipline and principles, inspiring or role models.

c) Student teachers (trainee) expectations

Passing examinations ( exam oriented both for PTCs and universities)

Accommodation and allowances during school practice

Transport to and from the school

Teaching materials

Financial support for other needs

Dr. Ezati then outlined the possible implications of trainee‟s expectations which include the

following:

More focus on passing the School Practice examination rather than professional

growth

Practicing schools may not provide all the needs of practicing teachers and

therefore the trainees may feel the support is inadequate.

Students may feel misplaced and insecure due to the conflicting needs. In

addition, schools may wish to shut off the practicing teachers.

There is usually a source of conflict between the trainee, trainers and school

expectations and understanding these can greatly influence the success of the

school practice activity, and by implication the mentorship endeavour.

After the presentation, the participants discussed the presentation and made the following

suggestions on how we as mentors could support trainees to overcome these contradictions:

There must be more talking between higher education institutions and schools

where the student teachers are posted to.

There is need for more collaborative efforts between all stake holders to achieve

the set goals of mentoring

There is need for assessment (internal within schools) to check on the trainees and

their needs.

There is need for flexibility on the part of the student teachers i.e. they should

make an effort to learn the cultures and expectations of the schools where they are

placed.

There is need for the trainees to have personal tutors to help them with learning.

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Session 4: Practical skills of Mentoring Student Teachers during ITE

(Dr. Justine Otaala, Kyambogo University)

Dr. Otaala outlined the various principles of mentoring and then gave an overview of the

different stages of mentoring. These stages include developing a rapport, establishing goals,

planning to achieve the goals and noting successes and challenges, and finally closing the

session.

He stated that the first stage in mentoring is to build a rapport as both the mentor and mentee

will develop a sense of self worth and confidence. Building a rapport also provides an

environment conducive for effective discussion and reinforcement of mentor-mentee

relationship. This is then followed by setting of goals by the mentor and mentee. The third

stage is planning together for any work or activities to be done. This therefore requires

applying informal but structured discussions with the mentee, rating the mentee‟s views,

hopes, aspirations, likes and dislikes. They also need to take note of successes, and the

challenges encountered. As a mentor, do not attack, but rather address the identified

challenges and it is always necessary to give constructive feedback to the mentee. The

closing session involves taking stock of the success, taking on the new goals and agreeing on

the joint actions to improve the mentee‟s performance.

The participants performed a role play on the various stages of mentoring and in the plenary

shared their experiences. They highlighted the challenges that they face in their schools and

suggested the way forward.

Session 5: Mentoring of Student Teachers: Experiences of a Teacher from Mengo SSS

(Mr. William Ssettuba, Mengo SSS)

Mr. Ssettuba gave an exciting presentation of his experience as a mentor of student teachers

at Mengo Senior Secondary School. He stated that young teachers and teacher trainees have a

lot to learn from long serving teachers in order to minimise on the mistakes of the old

teachers. Mengo SSS focuses on the following areas during mentorship:

1) Lesson Management

Content and sources

Time management

Challenges of behaviour of learners over lesson

2) School Management: Students and teachers must be on duty and learn how to handle

learners and other matters including:

Their health

Discipline (petty issues like thefts, fights, disrespect of authority school rules)

Parents and their concerns

School cleanliness – litter (Classroom, Compound)

Smartness of learners (hair, dress, shoes, uniform)

3) Management of records

Time management records (arrival time)

Schemes of work

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Record of work covered

Record of marks awarded

Files for past papers

Record of minutes of

Minutes of staff meeting

Staff briefing

Files of achievements

Academic documents including certificates

Record of student‟s counselled and referred to senior teachers.

He then concluded the presentation by sharing out the Form that they use to assess lessons of

student teachers at Mengo SSS. He reiterated that student teachers need mentoring in order to

ensure that they become professional and improve the quality of learning. He stated that

various schools are at different levels in their support of mentoring and the Project should be

up-scaled to other schools.

Session 6: Sharing on the Mentoring Process: Examples of Video-recorded lessons (Dr. Justine Otaala and Dr. Joseph Oonyu)

Dr. Justine Otaala gave a presentation on tools available to assess a lesson. These include:

Anecdotal records, mapping and Flanders Interaction Chart and Analysis records as outlined

below:

a) Anecdotal record.

o Pre observational conference

o Lesson development

o Evaluation

o Feed back

o Other tools used to obtain both hard and soft data.

b) Use of mapping/ sketch map of the classroom

o Scope: name of the teacher, name of observer, strength of the lesson, teachers

movement in class, teachers interaction with the learners

c) Use of Flanders Interaction Chart.

o Used mainly for verbal interaction

o Used to structure direction and use of characteristics that are two way., the

data entered in the FIAC comprises of numbers such as:

o 1,2,3 which reflect that the lesson is learner cantered

o 4,8 which reflect neutrality (of the lesson)

What do the numbers indicate?

1. The teacher accepts and clarifies the feelings of the learners

2. The teacher encourages and praises the learners

3. The teacher uses learners ideas and contributions

9. Learner initiative

10. Indicates that the teacher asks questions

11. Learner response.

12. Lecturing by the teacher

13. Teacher gives directions or commands

14. Teacher justifies his authority

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C= confusion

S = meaningful silence

d) Use of an Analysis Records

Dr. Justine Otaala then gave a sample Anecdotal record for the groups to respond to.

Sample Anecdotal record

9:40 am: Teacher enters the classroom (S2 East)

Silence in the classroom

9:42: Students stand up

9:43: Teacher greets the class “Good morning Class”

Children respond “Good morning Sir”

Sit down

Mary, go to the HM office and bring chalk both white and colored

Teacher: who was your best footballer of the week last week?

One student responds: Messi of Barcelons

Another one says, Ronaldo of Real Madrid

9:54: Mary comes in with a handful of pieces of chalk and a duster

9:55: Teacher writes the date, subject and the day‟s topic on the chalk board

9:59: Teacher asks one student to read the topic on the chalkboard aloud

10:00: Student reads: Plant reproduction, flowering plants

Teacher says: “Well done” Mary

10:03 Teacher asks “What did we learn about in the last Biology lesson?

A cross section of the class put up their hands saying – Sir… sir… sir…

Who is saying Sir… sir… sir…, I will not pick you

10:07: (Silence) Students keep quiet

10:09: Students then put up their hands once more

Teacher says “Yes Jenifer”

Jenifer responds “Plants”

Teacher says – “No someone else”

Okay John, “Structure of the flowering plants

Very very good. Clap for him

10:10 Teacher says “today we‟re going to learn about the parts of a flowering plant”

Teacher asks – name the parts of the flowering plant

Students put up their hands and the teacher picks up individual students to give their

responses (stem, leaves, branches, roots, flowers)

10:15: Teacher asks what are leaves?

There is silence in the class

10:18 Teacher asks again I say what are leave?

10:20 One student puts up her hand

Yes Jane, said the teacher.

Jane leaves are organs of a plant

10:21 Teacher, “No, how can you say leaves are organs, what kind of person are you. Do

you

know what an organ is?

10:24: Teacher again asks let me repeat this questions once again and if no body is going to

answer I will bring it in the examination because that will force you to answer these

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simple questions that we even learnt yesterday. So what are leaves? I want your hand

up.

10:27: Silence in the classroom

10:30: Okay flowers are the reproductive parts of a flowering plant.

10:33: One student puts up her hand:

Josephine what do you want to say?

Sir, I read from the internet that the reproductive parts of a plant are also called

reproductive organs.

10:35: Josephine, don‟t be stupid to believe what you read from the internet. There‟s a lot of

wrong information in the internet which will rally confuse you. So from today I don‟t

want to hear anything about your internet from you anymore.

10:40: Teacher repeats plants do not have organs ok?

10:45: Students pick up your biology books and copy these notes. Leave some space in your

notebooks because there is a diagram that I did not bring that I want you to draw at

the beginning of today‟s notes.

Teacher writes note on the chalkboard

10:48: Another teacher knocks at the door

Teacher walks to attend to this teacher

10:50: Class we shall continue from where we‟ve stopped today, prepare for another lesson

your teacher is waiting.

Activity

In groups of 5s, teachers were asked to identify one person who will pretend to be this

biology teacher and then to:

1. Identify the strengths and challenges this teacher encountered in the lesson.

2. Develop and act a role play about how you would help this teacher

The participants also watched a science lesson and discussed their observations of the lesson.

They generally agreed that the lesson was learner centred, interesting and inquiry based. They

however expressed the view that as much as many teachers would like to use these

approaches in their teaching, our curriculum is examination oriented and the success of a

teacher is gauged by timely completion of the syllabus and the number of students who have

passed in the national examinations.

Day 2: Wednesday 24th

April

Session 6: Sharing on the Mentoring and the Responsibilities of Various Stakeholders

(Dr. Joseph Oonyu)

Dr. Joseph Oonyu summarised the highlights of the proceedings of the previous day. He

reiterated that mentorship requires a person with some qualities, and that it demands some

responsibility from the different stakeholders. He further went on to say that facilitation of a

mentor was an issue that the workshop had highlighted. In view of these observations, Dr.

Oonyu posed a number of questions which were discussed in groups. These questions were:

1. What are the qualities of a good or an effective mentor?

2. What are the responsibilities of trainees, trainers, teachers, school administrators and

teacher education institutions?

3. How do we motivate mentors better in our schools?

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Below is a summary of highlights of group presentations:

Qualities of a good mentor:

Knowledgeable

Good listener

Tolerant/ patient

Flexible

Skilled

Empathetic

Role model

Approachable.

Responsibilities of

a) Mentor:

Guide

Supervise

Monitor

Evaluate/ assessment

Train

Counsel

Orientate

b) School administration

Motivate

Recommend

Provision of a conducive environment

c) Teacher training institutions:

Establish a mentorship department

Assessment research

Put policies to help boost mentorship programme

Establish a budgetary allocation

Incorporate mentorship in the curriculum

Collaborate with schools and other institutions such as M.O.E s.

Promotion of community involvement.

Responsibilities of a trainee:

Willing to learn

Hard working and devoted

Willing to change

Should be a role model

Make instructional materials

Prepare schemes of work

Attend all sessions.

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How to facilitate and reward the mentor:

Provide tools and guidelines to be followed

Provide a favourable and condusive environment (office)

Reduce on the work load (more time for the mentorship)

Provide w/shops, talks and seminars and other rewards

o Award certificates to the mentors

o Monetary allowance where possible

o Provide facilitation in case of w/shops.

o Recognition and appreciation.

Session 7: Way Forward Dr. Joseph Oonyu

During the plenary, Dr. Joseph Oonyu elicited suggestions from participants on the Way

Forward for mainstreaming and strengthening mentorship in the Initial Teacher Education

programmes. Below were the suggestions of the participants:

1. Initiate a policy on mentorship from the Ministry of Education and Sports

2. Involve all key stakeholders in Mentorship and endeavour to make them come on

board.

3. Stream line mentorship issues in the existing teacher training institutions

4. Provide guidelines (tools) for the mentoring process i.e. more materials are needed

to guide the mentor. Establish what exists on the ground and what needs to be

added.

5. Build a critical mass of mentors and follow them up so as to give any support

needed

6. Introduce a short modular course on mentorship (Certificate or Diploma) perhaps

offered during holidays so that more teachers attend it

7. Solicit for more support for the project (need for follow up what has been

achieved )

8. Identify areas of mentoring, do informal mentorship, strengthen communication

and report back to schools.

9. Spread out to involve more schools and teacher training institutions through for

example the. CCT (Centre Coordinating Tutor) system

10. Strengthen communication and discussion forum among participants e.g. through

e-mails, Facebook, twitter.

11. Provide a report (One page0 for head teachers of the proceedings of the workshop

12. Involve more head teachers so as to solicit their support for mentoring

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Time lines for future activities were agreed upon as follows:

No. ACTIVITY PERIOD

1 Presentation to H/teachers & staff Mid May 2012

2 W/Shop for H/teachers, DH/teachers End of May 2012

3 Follow up w/shop on mentoring End of May 2012

4 Data collection during s/practice June 2012

5. Short course on Mentoring August, 2012

Session 8: Closing ceremony

After all the days presentations were done, Dr. Joseph Oonyu thanked the facilitators and

participants for their time and commitment that saw a successful workshop. He wished them

well and pledged to communicate better. In particular, he pledged to use various forms of

communication to reach the teachers. After evaluation of the workshop, Dr. Oonyu officially

declared it closed at 1:30 pm.

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Photograph of participants of the Mentorship Workshop held at COBAMS April 23-24, 2012

Presentation by Prof. Charles Opolot Okurut at Mentorship Workshop held at COBAMS April 23-24,

2012

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Presentation by Mr. Ssettuba at the Mentorship Workshop held at COBAMS April 23-24, 2012

Particpants litsen attentively as they are taken through a session by Dr. Joseph Oonyu (not in the

picture)

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Mr. William Ssettuba making a presentation of his group at the plenary

Participants actively take part in the discussion

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Back to the presentations by one of the resource persons

Dr. Justine Otaala moderating a session as one of the participants makes a presentation

from group activity

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EVALUATION OF THE APRIL MENTORSHIP WORKSHOP

Teachers‟ evaluation (Figure 1) revealed that overall; the majority evaluated the relevance of

the workshop, its pace and venue, knowledge of the facilitators, interactions and opportunity

to ask questions as excellent. Forty per cent or more rated the clarity of workshop objectives

as Very good. However only 40% rated the length of the workshop as Very Good and none

rated it as excellent. Only 20% rated the clarity of workshop objectives as Excellent although

40% of the teachers rated it as Very Good.

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Regarding the rating of the various workshop sessions, between 50% rated the session on

Meaning and Importance of Mentoring as excellent. The most highly rated sessions were

Meaning and Importance of Mentoring in the Initial Teacher Education, Experiences of

various stakeholders and Practical skills of mentoring. None of the sessions were rated as

poor.

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The evaluation also revealed that the majority of teachers (>60%) reported that the workshop

met its objectives as well as their expectations completely. In other words, their levels of

satisfaction with the workshop objectives and what they expected to get from it were high.

The majority of the teachers reported that they liked the interactive sessions which involved

them in group activities and sharing of experiences; the knowledgeable and yet friendly

facilitators; and the overall organization of the workshop. However, they were quite unhappy

about the workshop duration, the pre-workshop information and the rather short duration of

the workshop (two days).

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WORKSHOP PROGRAMME

Day 1: Monday 23rd

April, 2012

8:00-8:30am Registration

8:30- 9:00am

Welcome Remarks (Joseph)

Self introduction of participants

Overview of the Project including specific workshop objectives

9:00-9:30 am Opening of the Workshop (Commissioner, Teacher Education)

9:30-10:30am Mentoring: Its Meaning and Importance in Initial Teacher Education

(Charles)

10.30 – 11:00 am Tea/coffee Break

11:00 -12 noon Mentoring of Student teachers: Expectations of Various Stakeholders (Betty)

12:00 – 1:00 pm Group Discussions and Sharing (Betty)

1.00 – 2:00pm Lunch

2:00-3:00 pm Practical skills of Mentoring in Teacher Education (Justine)

3:00-4:00 pm Group Discussions and Sharing (Justine)

4:00-4:30pm Tea/coffee Break and Closure of Day 1

Day 2: Tuesday 24th

April 2012

8:00-8:30am Registration

8:30-8:45am Recap of Previous Day

8:45-09:45am Mentoring of Student Teachers: Experiences of a Teacher from Mengo SSS

Mr. Ssettuba, DOS Mengo SSS)

10:00-10:30am Group Discussions and Sharing (Joseph)

10.00 – 10.30am Tea/coffee Break

10:30-11:30 am Sharing on the Mentoring Process: Examples of Video-recorded lessons

(Joseph and Justine)

11:30 -12:00 pm Group Discussions and Sharing (Joseph and Justine)

12:00-12:30 pm Way Forward (Joseph)

Evaluation and Closing Remarks

12:30-1:00 pm Closing ceremony (Deputy Principal, CEES)

1.00 – 2:00pm Lunch and Departure