EFFECTS OF THE MENTORING PROCESS ON THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS AT ELEMENTARY LEVEL IN PUNJAB

The study was conducted to analyze the effects of the mentoring process on the professional development of teachers at elementary level in Punjab. The objectives of the study were: (i) to study the mentoring system of District Teacher Educators at Primary level in the Punjab province, (ii) to identify the problems involved in District Teacher Educators system of Punjab, (iii) to analyze the effects of mentoring process on the professional development of Primary School Teachers, and (iv) to determine the effectiveness of mentoring process under District Teacher Educators at Primary level in Punjab. All the Primary School Teachers (PSTs), all the District Teachers Educators (DTEs), all the Cluster Training and Support Centers (CTSCs) heads and all the District Training and Support Centers (DTSCs) heads of Punjab province formed the population of the study. The sample comprised of 381 Primary School Teachers (PSTs), 302 District Teacher Educators (DTEs), 186 District Training and Support Centers (CTSCs) heads & 12 District Training and Support Centers (DTSCs) heads from the 12 districts of Punjab province. Quantitative data were collected through a set of specifically designed questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed by calculating percentages, mean score, chi-square and t-test. Qualitative data collected through interviews and observation were thoroughly checked and transcribed into textual data. NVIVO version 10 was used to analyze the qualitative data. Pilot testing was done in Rawalpindi, Sahiwal and Bahawalpur districts and validity of the research instruments was checked by the experts of same area of the study. The major findings established that: (i) mentoring process helped the mentees to cover the backlogs of unseen days in an educational year, (ii) the DTE respondents agreed that mentoring helped in separating learning activities into components while pacing the activities appropriately, and (iii) the DTE respondents agreed that mentoring helped in developing support material for classroom instructions. Major conclusions of the study were: (i) The respondents comprising Primary School Teachers, District Teacher Educators, Cluster Training and Support Centers heads & District Training and Support Centers heads agreed that mentoring process helped in managing the teaching activities according to Taleemi Calendar, using Taleemi Calendar rigorously which covers the backlogs of unseen days and achieves the pre-set targets and (ii) Majority of Primary School Teachers and District Teacher Educators agreed that mentoring process helped in separating the content into parts and in carrying out all the teaching activities in the classroom. Major recommendations of the study were: (i) The Directorate of Staff Development may evolve an inter-linkage system of monitoring model and inter-institutional arrangement be made with overseas institutions for developing teacher enrichment programmes viz-a-viz faculty development and (ii) Keeping in the view societal, cultural, religious barriers and gender sensitization, female District Teacher Educators may be appointed to provide mentoring to the female Primary School Teachers to make this programme more effective.