The Praxis of Mentoring from a Social Learning Perspective: The Case of Practising Trainee Teachers at a Teacher Training College in Midlands Province of Zimbabwe

Teaching Practice (TP) is a major component of any teacher training programme. During this period, the trainee teachers are attached to a mentor at a practising school. The mentoring process facilitates contextual and operational transfer of skills and knowledge between the trainee teacher and the mentor. Applying the Social Learning Theory plays a very important role at this stage. This is often not the case in many mentor-mentee relationships. This study, therefore, aimed at assessing the application of the Social Learning Theory as a form of learning during teaching practice. The study was a descriptive survey which used quantitative and qualitative data gathering techniques to establish how the mentor-mentee relationship modelled social learning theory. Twenty randomly sampled trainee teachers in Gweru district responded to questionnaires to elicit their views on what they learnt during their attachment to a mentor. Five mentors and five trainee teachers were interviewed to explore their views on mentor-mentee transfer of knowledge and skills. The results showed that the existing mentor-mentee scenarios were not ideal. Most of the trainee teachers were given more teaching loads than mentors and were regarded as teaching load relievers by mentor teachers. The study concluded that trainee teachers were not benefiting much from the mentor-mentee relationships. The study recommended that teacher training colleges should staff-develop mentors, incentivise mentors and ensure that trainee teachers were attached to good mentors. This study will help researchers to understand how mentoring relationships facilitate professional growth. Keywords: Social learning theory, mentor, trainee teacher, mentoring, Teacher education