Date of Award

Spring 3-22-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PHD - Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Education

First Advisor

John Ciesluk

Second Advisor

Brenda Matthis

Third Advisor

Wendy Murphy

Abstract

Abstract

The goals of most secondary school mentoring programs are to advance the skills and competencies of beginning teachers while simultaneously reducing attrition and improving student learning. In Massachusetts, there is a lack of widespread efficacy in existing public high school mentoring programs. The purpose of this study was to examine how to reconceptualize such programs to increase efficacy. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design. An online survey compiled quantitative and qualitative data from 38 mentor teachers across Massachusetts. Six of the 38 online survey respondents were interviewed to garner additional, in-depth, qualitative data. Both the quantitative and qualitative instruments addressed three guiding research questions: (a) What do experienced public high school mentor teachers understand about the practice of mentoring? (b)What do experienced public high school mentor teachers report are effective educational mentoring practices? (c) What do experienced public high school mentor teachers identify as factors and conditions that contribute to and inhibit educational mentoring? Adhering to phenomenological research, significant statements were disaggregated from the online survey and interview transcripts and coded for meaning. Codes were categorized and analyzed for themes which resulted in five findings. The findings revealed that, according to mentor teacher perceptions, current mentoring programs need significant revision and augmentation. Recommendations include mentoring programs based on explicitly stated goals, a focus on beginning teacher self-care, increased time for mentors and mentees to collaborate, and the formation of a mentoring program committee to oversee the complete cycle of school mentoring programs.

Key words: mentor, mentee, beginning teacher, mentoring program, mentorship

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Language

English

Number of Pages

248

Embargo Period

4-30-2022

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The author owns the copyright to this work.