Integrating Mentoring for Capacity Building among Newly Employed Secondary School Teachers in Rivers State

Abstract

Beginning teachers face numerous challenges such as reality shock, unanticipated loneliness, problem of classroom management, inadequate knowledge of the use of instructional materials and preparation of lesson notes. Mentoring has been identified as a key strategy for increasing the capacity of beginning teachers to gain relevant skills, overcome stress associated by these challenges, socialize better at school and advance more effectively in their profession. This study examined mentoring for capacity building among newly employed senior secondary school teachers in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State Nigeria. The design of the study was correlational and was guided by three objectives, three research questions and three null hypotheses. A sample of 201 newly employed teachers was used for the study. It was a census population as all the newly employed teachers within three years were involved. Two instruments titled “Teacher Mentoring Questionnaire” (TMQ) and “Teacher Capacity Building Questionnaire” (TCBQ) was used for the study.  TMQ was used to elicit information on mentoring, while (TCBQ) elicited information on capacity building indices: self-efficacy, organizational socialization and job involvement from respondents. The   (TMQ) instrument has a reliability of 0.78 while the TCBQ have reliabilities of 0.90, 0.89 and 0.81 respectively for three capacity indices. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was adopted to correlate mentoring with self-efficacy, organizational socialization and job involvement. The results revealed that mentoring relationship related highly and positively with self-efficacy and organizational socialization but moderately with job involvement among the teachers. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made. The ministries of education should put in place formal mentoring programme for all newly employed teachers in order to enhance their capacity and school principals should encourage newly employed teachers to be open to mentoring.

Keywords: mentoring, integrating, capacity building, organizational socialization