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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES 15th January 2017. Vol.47. No.1

© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved

ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com

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MENTORING PRACTICES OF THE COOPERATING TEACHERS AT THE

RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

1Marc D. Garvida,

2Rizaldy E. Garcia,

3Edna P. Cabrera

1Department Head, Mathematics, College of Education, Rizal Technological University

2Principal, Laboratory High School, Rizal Technological University

3Student Teachers’ Supervisor and Head, Physical Science Department, College of Education- Laboratory

High School

Abstract

This study was conducted as preliminary venture of continuously improving the

quality of education received by the students of the college of education specifically on

their mentoring practice of their cooperating teachers during their on-the-job-training in

the RTU-Laboratory High School. This study made use of the descriptive research

methodology and employed a validated survey-questionnaire adopted from the Rizal

Technological University Teaching Standards. Data gathering was held during the

school year 2015-2016, 1st semester. The RTU Teaching Standards model is composed of

four dimensions such as subject content, classroom management, pedagogy and feedback

mechanism in teaching, which the respondents have to indicate the frequency of practice

and extent of practice of their cooperating teachers’ effective mentoring practices using a

five point scale.

One-hundred ninety-two pre-service teachers and thirty cooperating teachers

participated in this study. Findings revealed that based on the perceptions of the pre-

service teachers, their cooperating teachers frequently give them a small extent of

effective mentoring practices contrary to what the cooperating teachers themselves

perceived wherein they frequently give their best, in a large extent. This difference in

their perception was statistically confirmed to be significant. Problems encountered and

suggestions among the respondents were also taken to determine the specific innovations

that can be best recommend to improve the quality of the mentoring program for the

education students of the RTU-Laboratory High School.

Keywords: mentoring, practices, pedagogy, extent, frequency

Introduction

Teachers are made not born. The

making of a teacher is one of the primary duties

of any educational institution like the College of

Education-Laboratory High School of Rizal

Technological University. The Laboratory High

School as the name itself is a laboratory school

for the practice teachers in the College of

Education. It is the student-teachers’ training

laboratory prior to their deployment outside the

University.

The laboratory school of any Teacher

Education Institution or TEI stands as the most

visible structure in support of its Practicum or

the Student Teaching Program. It primarily

exists to expose the education students through

their field study subjects and provide the basic

teaching experiences to its pre-service education

students when they reach the fourth year level in

a teacher education program.

Student teaching is a phase where

senior students are induced to actual teaching

duties. At this point, theory gained in campus-

based classroom instruction is translated into

practice, as they develop the desired teaching

competencies and values in their field of

specialization. As Ole Sand said, theory without

the check of practice is empty and practice

without theory to guide is blind. Student

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teaching serves as a transition from pre-service

to in-service experiences.

Meaningful student teaching program

lies primarily on the hand of a cooperating

teacher. Cooperating teachers or CT’s provide

support for the development of effective teaching

behaviors. They model effective teaching

behavior while allowing the pre-service teachers

or PT’s to develop their own teaching styles.

They also encourage developing a sense of

professionalism and taking accountability of the

learning activities in the duration of the student

teaching program.

The CT’s discuss with the PT’s

appropriate methodology, classroom

management, feedback mechanisms in teaching

as well as the subject matter which comprises the

whole mentoring program. The implementation

on the mentoring practices as it is used in this

study is defined as the quality of the cooperating

teachers’ performance as determined by their

extent of practice and frequency of practice in

effectively implementing the appropriate

methodology or pedagogy, classroom

management, feedback mechanisms in teaching

and expertise in the subject matter otherwise

known as subject content.

It is therefore imperative that the

cooperating teachers, who are the regular faculty

members in the Laboratory High School, are

assumed to be the ideal example of what and

how a teacher should be. That is, these teachers

should demonstrate empirical and pedagogical

quality as indicated and determined by the way

they mentor pre-service teachers in charge of

them.

Theoretical Framework

This study was anchored from

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory which posits

that learning is a cognitive process that takes

place in a social context which is the Laboratory

High School and that learning occurs purely

through observation and direct instruction, the

mentoring of the cooperating teachers to the

practice teachers who are called models. In

society, learners are surrounded by many

influential models such as parents within the

family, friends within their peer group and

teachers at school. These models provide

examples of behavior to observe and imitate.

Learners pay attention to some of this people

(models) and encode their behavior. At a late

time, they may imitate the behavior they have

observed. They may do this regardless of

whether the behavior is appropriate or not.

According to Bandura in McLeod

(2016), there are a number of processes that

make it more likely that a learner will reproduce

the behavior that is society deems appropriate.

Thus, learners do not automatically observe the

behavior of a model and imitate it. There is some

thought prior to imitation and this consideration

is called meditational processes. This occurs

between the observing the behavior who are the

cooperating teachers (stimulus) and imitating it

or not by the practice teachers (response).

Conceptual Framework

The first phase of any evaluation model

process is the self-assessment (Boston Public

School, 2008), this is the very reason to identify

the from the CT’s themselves about their own

mentoring practices and the same data has also

being gathered from the PT’s in order to liken.

The areas under the mentoring practices are

focused on content, classroom management,

pedagogy and feedback mechanism. Content

refers to the CT’s knowledge of the subject

matter. Philosophical arguments as well as

common sense support the conviction that

teachers’ own subject matter knowledge

influences their efforts to help students learn

subject matter. When teachers possess inaccurate

information or conceive of knowledge in narrow

ways, they may pass on these ideas to their

students.





3

INP

UT The environment (

CT's and PT's mentoring experiences):

• Content

• Classroom Mangement

• Pedagogy

• Feedback Mechanism

PR

OC

ESS Identifying the

extent of practice and frequency of practice among CT's mentoring practices

Informal interview to both the CTs and PTs

OU

TPU

T Desired Learning Behavior among PTs and Mentoring Practices among CTs

Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the study.

Figure1

Conceptual Framework

Classroom management is a term used

by teachers to describe the process of ensuring

that classroom lessons run smoothly despite

disruptive behavior by students. Pedagogy refers

to teachers’ knowledge of the art and science of

teaching. Effective teachers use an array of

teaching strategies because there is no single,

universal approach that suits all situations.

Different strategies used in different

combinations with different groupings of

students will improve learning outcomes.

Feedback mechanism is often described as the

most powerful influences on achievement

(Hattie, 2008), which refers to all kinds to all

comments made after the fact, including advise,

praise and evaluation.

The process includes identifying the

extent of practice and frequency of practice on

the mentoring practices of the cooperating

teachers. Informal interview was conducted to

assert the responses among the respondents of

the study. Data or information gathered from this

study would be a subject of a more extensive

research on the improvement of the mentoring

program of the laboratory high school as well as

in attaining quality practice teaching experiences

for the education students of the Laboratory High

School.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study was to

determine how student teachers perceived that

they are being mentored by their cooperating

teachers to assist them in meeting the Rizal

Technological University Teaching Standards,

specifically standards related to the teaching

competencies. The data obtained in this study

will be helpful to improve further training

experiences to the pre-service teachers and of the

mentoring program of the College of Education-

Laboratory High School.

To achieve the purpose described

above, the following research questions were

addressed:

1. How do the cooperating teachers implement

the following characteristics of effective

mentoring as assessed by the practice

teachers?

1.1 Subject Content?

1.2 Classroom management?

1.3 Pedagogy?

1.4 Feedback Mechanism?





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2. To what extent and how often do the

cooperating teachers meet the University

standards in the said competency dimensions as

perceived by the practice teachers themselves?

3. What is the difference in the perceptions of the

student teachers and cooperating teachers on

meeting the University Standards by teaching

competency dimensions?

3.1 Extent of Practice

3.2 Frequency of practice

4. What are the cooperating teachers and pre-

service teachers’ suggestions/recommendations

to improve the mentoring system of the LHS?

Materials and Methods

This study made use of the descriptive

method of research. This method is the most

appropriate one to describe the existing condition

or status of the current mentoring practices of the

College of Education-Laboratory High School

teachers as perceived by the pre-service teachers.

The survey instrument was adapted from a model

for teacher effectiveness by Dabas (2013) which

has been modified in order to be suitable in the

Philippine setting. The extent of practice and

frequency of practice has been indicated using

the following arbitrary scale.

Arbitrary Scale Extent of Practice Frequency of Practice

4.20-5.00 to an extremely large extent always

3.40-4.19 to a large extent frequent

2.60-3.39 to a moderate extent occasional

1.80-2.59 to a small extent seldom

1.00-1.79 to an extremely small extent never

A test on reliability has been made as

part of the validation process. A reliability

coefficient average of 89 percent has been

obtained which means that the instrument has a

high reliability in general. The validated

instrument has been administered to both

cooperating teachers and student teachers.

The respondents of the study are the

whole population of pre-service teachers of the

college of education. The pre-service teachers

are the regular fourth year students who are

enrolled in the professional education 13 which

is the in-campus teaching. Other respondents

were the cooperating teachers who are the

regular faculty members of the laboratory high

school, who were assigned as the mentor of the

pre-service teachers. The pre-service teachers

have a total of 192 distributed among the six

different specializations such as computer

education, English, Filipino, mathematics, social

studies and physical science.

Data were gathered during the end of

the first semester of the school year 2015-2016.

The data gathered were tallied and subjected into

a data analysis such as the weighted mean, t-tests

and relative frequency.

Results and Discussion

Table1 displays the cooperating

teachers’ mentoring practices as determined by

their extent of practice and frequency of practice

in terms of the subject content.

Exhibited in table 1 are the assessment

of the pre-service teachers on the mentoring

practices of their cooperating teachers in terms of

the content or knowledge of the subject matter.

Data shows that although cooperating teachers

always show subject matter expertise to a

moderate extent, they occasionally or frequently,

cope with the subject content demands of the

new curriculum, outline the subjects’ curricular

documents, discusses the aims of teaching, assist

the PT’s on the different resources in teaching

the subject matter and use proper language from

the syllabus to only a small extent.





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Table 1

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice by Subject Content of the Cooperating Teachers as

assessed by the practice teachers

CONTENT

Extent of Practice Frequency of Practice

WM VI WM VI

1. show subject content expertise 3.36 To a moderate

extent

4.2 Always

2. cope with the subject content demands of new

curricula

1.93 To a small extent 3.45 Frequent

3. Outline the subject's curr. documents 2.22 To a small extent 2.75 Occasional

4. discuss the aims of teaching 2.11 To a small extent 4.00 Frequent

5. model the teaching of difficult topics 2.13 To a small extent 4.27 Always

6. assist you with different resources in teaching the

subject matter

2.09 To a small extent 2.80 Occasional

7. use proper language from the syllabus 2.34 To a small extent 4.10 Frequent

Over-all 2.31 To a small extent 3.65 Frequent

This means that cooperating teachers

per se demonstrated expertise in the subject but

frequently, the practice on the art of reflection,

interpretation and criticism in the discipline

which is also part of the knowledge of the

subject matter is being practice only in a small

extent. This further implies that the levels of

learning are only reach on the lower taxonomy.

What teachers need to know about the

subject matter they teach extends beyond the

specific topics of their curriculum. Shuman in

Ball and McDiarmid (2016) argues that “

teachers must not only be capable of defining

students the accepted truths about its domain,

they must also be able to explain why a

particular proposition is deemed warranted, why

it is worth knowing and how it relates to other

propositions” (p.9). This kind of understanding

encompasses understanding the intellectual

fabric and essence of the subject matter itself. i.e.

while English teachers need to know about a

particular authors and their works, about literary

genres and styles, they also need to know about

the interpretation and criticism (Grossman, in

press).

In implies therefore that based on PTs

perspective, CTs need to further demonstrate

mastery by allowing the PTs understand the what

is essential in the teaching of a subject matter,

and not only focusing on the skills and end there.

Table 2 reveals that, in terms of

classroom management, the cooperating teachers

always give to a small extent, clear expectation

and guide the pre-service teachers in the

preparation in teaching the subject. To a small

extent, cooperating teachers occasionally model

specific lessons, assist in the teaching strategies

and in giving assignments, frequently assist in

the time-tabling and in classroom management.

This implies that, on the part of the pre-service

teachers, the cooperating teachers in general do

not always provide, in a large extent, the

necessary classroom management practices the

pre-service teachers need to be mastered or

learned.

Table 2

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice by Classroom Management of the Cooperating

Teachers as perceived by the pre-service teachers

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT


WM VI WM VI

1. model specific lessons in the classroom

1.98

To a small

extent

4.00 Occasional

2. give clear expectations on teaching

2.00

To a small

extent

4.56 Always





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3. assist you with teaching strategies in the

subject matter 2.05

To a small

extent

2.79 Occasional

4. assist you with time-tabling in teaching the

subject matter 2.17

To a small

extent

3.98 Frequent

5. guide you in preparation in teaching the

subject 2.19

To a small

extent

4.3 Always

6. assist you with classroom management

strategies in teaching the subject 2.14

To a small

extent

3.94 Frequent

7. assist you in giving assignments

2.39

To a small

extent

3.3 Occasional

Over-all

2.13

To a small

extent

3.84 Frequent

According to Marzano (2003), of all

other variables or dimensions of teacher quality,

classroom management has the largest effect on

the student achievement. This makes intuitive

sense-students cannot learn in a chaotic, poorly

managed classroom. Researches have shown that

teachers who had high-quality relationships with

their students have fewer discipline problems

and rule violations than those who did not.

Therefore, it must be noted that the

cooperating teachers should always have a more

extensive training for PT’s on the effective

classroom management and this can be made by

three specific teacher behaviors (Marzano and

Marzano, 2003) namely: by learning to acquire

skills and attitudes such as exhibiting appropriate

levels of dominance as determined by

establishing a clear behavior expectation and

learning goals for the students to achieve and

exhibiting assertive behavior; exhibiting

appropriate levels of cooperation as determined

by providing flexible learning goals, taking

personal interest to students and using equitable

and positive classroom behaviors; and being

aware of high-needs students.

Table 3

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice in terms of Pedagogy of the Cooperating Teachers as

perceived by the pre-service teachers

PEDAGOGY Extent of

Practice

Frequency of Practice

WM VI WM VI

1.assist you to reflect on

your teaching practices 2.16 To a small extent

3.86 Frequent

2. increase your confidence

to teach the subject matter 2.10 To a small extent

3.73 Frequent

3. inspire you to teach the

subject matter 2.12 To a small extent

3.47 Frequent

4. show enthusiasm for

teaching 2.21 To a small extent

4.01 Frequent

5. discuss policies &

procedures for teaching 2.16 To a small extent

4.59 Always

6. discuss the specific details

of the subject you are


3.23 Occasional

7. show examples of

programming the subject

matter 2.26 To a small extent

3.69 Frequent

8. discuss assessing and 2.19 To a small extent 4.75 Always





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evaluation of the subject

matter

9. have difficulty in

obtaining equipment for the

subject matter 2.40 To a small extent

3.30 Occasional

10. develop problem-solving

strategies in you 2.30 To a small extent

3.12 Occasional

11. provide assistance to

solve or reduce problems in

your teaching 2.18 To a small extent

3.45 Frequent


Table 3 displays the assessment of PTs with

respect to their CTs’ mentoring in terms of the

effective pedagogical experiences. Data shows

that, in general, the CTs frequently mentor the

PTs, on a small extent, in terms of effective

pedagogical practices such as reflection,

inspiration and boosting confidence in teaching,

in providing examples and assistance to solve

and reduce problems, the pre-service teachers

frequently feel that it is only in a small extent,

thereby may delay lessons even if the PT

demonstrate an expertise on the subject. This

may also result to various discipline problems

which may subject the PT in such situation

wherein he/she may not yet ready to manage.

Pedagogy comes with mastery of the

content and classroom management because

appropriate pedagogy recognizes learners’

learning styles which may or may not affect the

learning process. i.e. two teachers may be both

expert on the subject matter however, in terms of

effective pedagogy, the first teacher may be

more effective with the imparting of certain

knowledge rather than the other, and for this

reason a pedagogy is a factor since the first

teacher is aware of how best a certain knowledge

is to be imparted.

Table 4

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice in terms of Feedback Mechanism in Teaching of the

Cooperating Teachers as perceived by the pre-service teachers

FEEDBACK MECHANISM IN

TEACHING


WM VI WM VI

1. observe you in your teaching sessions 1.91 To a small extent 3.83 Frequent

2. provide oral feedback in teaching the

lessons 2.03 To a small extent

3.97 Frequent

3. provide written feedback in teaching the

lessons 1.95 To a small extent

2.43 Seldom

4. discuss the knowledge & skills needed

in teaching the subject matter 2.08 To a small extent

4.00 Frequent

5. discuss questioning skills for effective


2.96 Occasional

6. feel comfortable in talking with you

about the subject matter 2.05 To a small extent

4.59 Always

7. address any of your anxieties about your


3.20 Occasional

8. instill positive attitudes towards your


4.10 Frequent





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9. make you feel more confident as a pre-

service teacher 1.92 To a small extent

3.87 Frequent

10. provide opportunities for reflection on

our teaching 2.03 To a small extent

3.47 Frequent


Table 4 tells us that cooperating teachers

frequently give effective feedback mechanisms

but is only in a small extent which is not

enough to train them to do the same in the future.

Feedback is a valuable tool in providing pre-

service teachers with information so they can

improve certain skills and abilities.

Based on the informal interview from

the pre-service teachers, cooperating teachers

have straight class schedules both in the

Laboratory High School and in the College, and

feedback quality is sacrificed since there is no

available pre-service teachers’ lounge or venue

where appropriate post conferences can be

conducted. The volume of the pre-service

teachers is also one of the reason which the

cooperating teacher is budgeting his or her time

to accommodate all other pre-service teachers.

Further, the informal interview revealed

that in the consultation among the PTs and their

program supervisors (head of their respective

department), which were held every evening was

not religiously realized since most of the PTs do

not attend anymore the said consultation (as they

have a morning class and they still have to

prepare for it).

Table 5

Summary of Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice of the Cooperating Teachers as perceived

by the pre-service teachers

Dimensions of the Mentoring Practices Frequency of

Practice

Extent of Practice

Content 3.65 Frequent 2.31 To a small extent

Classroom Management 3.84 Frequent 2.13 To a small extent

Pedagogy 3.75 Frequent 2.20 To a small extent

Feedback Mechanism in Teaching 3.64 Frequent 2.02 To a small extent

Over-all 3.72 Frequent 2.17 To a small extent

Table 5 summarizes the pre-service assessment

of their cooperating teachers mentoring

performance. In general, frequently, their

cooperating teachers provided them the

necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes in the

areas of content, classroom management,

pedagogy and feedback in a small extent. This

means that mentoring experiences among the

pre-service teachers were insufficient to prepare

them to deal with more challenging classroom

situations.

The data further implies that the off-

campus teaching experiences, although may

supplement this limitations but may be a cause

for the pre-service to feel exhausted,

dissatisfying and the likes. Based on the laws of

learning by Thorndike, since a learner is not yet

fully ready (as in the off-campus), he/she may

feel annoyed and dissatisfied in learning which

may be detrimental to his/her learning

momentum.





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It is hereby necessary that the

cooperating teachers must effectively improve,

to a larger extent, their mentoring practices in

order to make students feel ready to be deployed

in a more challenging world of teaching and

learning. Part of the said improvement should

also come from the administration who can be

best implementer of change in the current

mentoring practices. This includes adopting a

public school outside the periphery of the

University that could accommodate other pre-

service teachers that cannot be accommodated

from the Laboratory High School and also by

earlier deployment so that longer duration can be

met.

It is very important to consider the input

coming from the PTs such as the absence of the

lounge for PTs which is a proper venue for feed

backing and other meetings.

Table 6 displays the cooperating

teachers’ perspective on their mentoring practice

in terms of the content. Contrary to the

perspective of the pre-service teachers,

cooperating teachers frequently demonstrated, in

general, the expertise on the content in an

extremely large extent. This implies that enough

preparations were made to the assigned pre-

service teachers in terms of expertise in the

subject matter which includes always modeling

the teaching of difficult topics and assisting them

with different resources in teaching , outlining

the subjects’ curricular documents and

discussing the aims of teaching, to an extremely

large extent.

Table 6

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice in terms of Content of the Cooperating Teachers as

perceived by the CT’s themselves

SUBJECT CONTENT Extent of Practice Frequency of

Practice

WM VI WM VI

1. show subject content expertise 4.53 To an extremely large

extent

4.21 Always

2. cope with the subject content demands of

new curricula

4.01 To a large extent 3.24 Frequent

3. Outline the subject's curr. documents 3.81 To a large extent 3.54 Frequent

4. discuss the aims of teaching 4.23 To an extremely large

extent

4.67 Always

5. model the teaching of difficult topics 4.79 To an extremely large

extent

4.71 Always

6. assist the PT’s with different resources in

teaching the subject matter

4.35 To an extremely large

extent

4.52 Always

7. use proper language from the syllabus 3.67 To a large extent 3.48 Frequent

TOTAL 4.20 To an extremely large

extent

4.05 Frequent

Based on the informal interview, teachers have

been handling the subject for quite a number of

years and that they have already mastered the

lessons. According to one of the cooperating

teachers, they even have a separate discussion

with the practice teaching about the empirical

details of the lesson so as to ensure that the PTs

who are about to execute a lesson will also have

a mastery of the subject matter. They are doing

this frequently, according to them, because some

other PTs have no mastery of the subject.

It can be gleaned from table 7 that the

cooperating teachers believe that they always

provide, in a large extent the necessary

preparations for the pre-service teachers in terms

of classroom management. This includes

modeling specific lessons, giving clear

expectations and guides, as well as assisting in





10

preparation in teaching, time –tabling and in

giving assignments.

This finding is also in contrast with the

perception of their respective pre-service

teachers who believe that the mentoring in terms

of classroom management was frequently made

but in a small extent.

Table 7

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice in terms of Content of the Cooperating Teachers as


CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Extent of Practice Frequency of

Practice

WM VI WM VI

1. model specific lessons in the classroom 3.59 To a large extent 4.73 Always

2. give clear expectations on teaching 4.11 To a large extent 4.87 Always

3. assist them with teaching strategies in the

subject matter


4. assist them with time-tabling in teaching the

subject matter


extent

3.87 Frequent

5. guide them in preparation in teaching the

subject


extent

5.00 Always

6. assist them with classroom management

strategies in teaching the subject


extent

5.00 Always

7. assist them in giving assignments 3.46 To a large extent 3.81 Frequent

TOTAL 4.14 To a large extent 4.45 Always

These differing perceptions between CTs and

PTs on classroom management practices can be

attributed from the high ratio of CT to PT. Due

to the volume of PTs handled by each CT; CTs

exhausted all their consultation time to jus to

mentor all of their respective PTs, on the other

hand, each PT may not be given a generous time

since there are other PTs needed to be mentored

as well.

It can be recommended that the

cooperating teachers, having this very

challenging duty apart from their instructional

duties, should be given a deloaded regular

teaching loads, say 12 or lesser from the original

18, so that they will have more time to

effectively discussed with their PTs the

intricacies of not only in terms of teaching but

also in terms of other teaching aspects such as

the classroom management.

Table 8

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice in terms of Pedagogy of the Cooperating Teachers as


PEDAGOGY Extent of Practice Frequency of Practice

WM VI WM VI

1.assist PT’s to reflect on their teaching

practices

4.56 To an extremely

large extent

4.22 Always

2. increase their confidence to teach the

subject matter

4.80 To an extremely

large extent

4.27 Always

3. inspire them to teach the subject

matter


4. show enthusiasm for teaching 3.49 To a large extent 3.77 Frequent

5. discuss policies & procedures for

teaching


6. discuss the specific details of the 5.00 To an extremely 4.21 Always





11

subject they are teaching large extent

7. show examples of programming the

subject matter


8. discuss assessing and evaluation of

the subject matter


9. have difficulty in obtaining

equipment for the subject matter

3.23 To a moderate

extent

3.33 Occasional

10. develop problem-solving strategies

in them

2.74 To a moderate

extent

3.13 Occasional

11. provide assistance to solve or

reduce problems in their teaching


Over-all 3.88 To a large extent 3.70 Frequent

Table 8 informs us that, in terms of pedagogy,

the cooperating teachers have frequently

mentored their respective pre-service teachers in

a large extent contrary to the pre-service

teachers’ perspective.

This is in consonance with the study of

Tice (2004) about a teacher diary, majority of the

teachers think about their pedagogy in teaching

that went well but the students didn’t seem to

understand the lesson.

This difference among perceptions must

meet and understand the gap. Factors can be

attributed from this difference in perspective.

Clearly, age is one factor. It is but a clear

difference by what the CTs (whose average age

ranging from 40-50 years old) think of what

effective pedagogy is best compared to what the

PTs (whose average age is ranging from 18-20).

Another factor is that the PTs nowadays are baby

boomers who are wedded to a stand-and-deliver

teaching process as Carroll (2008) said, “We

have a new group of young Generation Y

teachers or so called millennial. They are in their

20’s and while they often share the values of the

[baby] boomers’ they tend to be very idealistic

and very oriented to teamwork, collaboration,

constant communication, multi-tasking and

technology. These young teachers find

themselves in classrooms and schools that don’t

match their expectations. Couple that with

boomer’ teachers who are being push into

perhaps uncomfortable technology environments

and you have some dissatisfaction at both ends

of the spectrum”.

Table 9

Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice in terms of Feedback Mechanism in Teaching of the

Cooperating Teachers as perceived by the CT’s themselves

FEEDBACK MECHANISM IN

TEACHING


WM VI WM VI

1. observe them in their teaching

sessions


2. provide oral feedback in teaching

the lessons


extent

4.00 frequent

3. provide written feedback in

teaching the lessons


extent

4.08 Frequent

4. discuss the knowledge & skills

needed in teaching the subject matter


extent

4.16 frequent

5. discuss questioning skills for

effective teaching


6. feel comfortable in talking with

them about the subject matter

3.85 To a large extent 3.90 frequent

7. address any of their anxieties about 3.49 To a large extent 3.83 Frequent





12

their teaching

8. instill positive attitudes towards

their teaching

3.97 To a large extent 3.51 frequent

9. make them feel more confident as

a pre-service teacher


extent

3.98 Frequent

10. provide opportunities for

reflection on our teaching


extent

3.94 frequent

Over-all 4.31 To an extremely large

extent

3.92 frequent

Table 9 displays the CT’s mentoring practice in

terms of the feedback mechanisms in teaching.

Contrary to the perceptions of the PTs, CTs

frequently mentor them with in an extremely

large extent. Just like the other dimensions e.g.

content, pedagogy and classroom management,

the feedback mechanisms in teaching can be

attributed from the gap discussed in table 9.

Communication gap explains the gap

between the CTs and PTs in terms of feedback

mechanism in teaching. According to Davis

(2013), millennial are the most sought-after –and

most misunderstood. With this, the same might

apply between the CTs and PTs during the

feedback process. In David’s recommendation,

she said that effective communication must be

observed using the following five tips: recognize

their intelligence and efforts made in the

classroom; include a bit of playfulness or jokes

in their content; create flexible content; give

them the opportunity to engage in various

contexts; and establish and uphold the value of

their product.

In the context of this study, the CTs

must acknowledge the PTs efforts and

contributions in teaching, do not be very serious

in the mentoring process instead, use some jokes,

implement flexibility by allowing them also to

make implement their own styles and desired

teaching strategies, give them opportunity to

correct their own mistakes and acknowledge that

it is a part of growing up.

Table 10

Summary of Extent of Practice and Frequency of Practice of the Cooperating Teachers as perceived

by the CT’s themselves

Dimensions of the Mentoring

Practices

Frequency of

Practice

Extent of Practice

Subject Content 4.05 frequent 4.20 To an extremely large extent

Classroom Management 4.45 always 4.14 To a large extent

Pedagogy 3.70 frequent 3.88 To a large extent

Feedback Mechanism in Teaching 3.92 frequent 4.31 To an extremely large extent

Over-all 4.03 frequent 4.13 To a large extent

Table 10 summarizes the cooperating

teachers’ assessment of their own mentoring

performance. In general, frequently, the

cooperating teachers have mentored their

respective pre-service teachers and provided

them the necessary knowledge, skills and

attitudes in the areas of content, classroom

management, pedagogy and feedback in a large

to an extremely large extent. This means that

based on the cooperating teachers themselves,

quality mentoring experiences among the pre-

service teachers have been made. As discussed





13

from the previous tables, gaps on the perceptions

which are clearly evident must be addressed in

order to avoid misconceptions. In the context of

practice teaching, the cooperating teachers must

be the one to make a major adjustment as they

are still the one sought in this training.

Understanding their nature as millennial is very

important aspect to avoid differing expectations

and conflicts that may arise in the future.

Table 11

Difference between CT’s and PT’s assessment on the Cooperating Teachers’ Mentoring Practices in

terms of Extent of Practice

Dimensions of

the Mentoring

Practices

Extent of Practice as

perceived by PT’s

Extent of Practice as

perceived by CT’s

p-value Interpretatio

n

Content

2.31

To a

small

extent

4.20 To an

extremely

large extent

0.000 Significant

Classroom

Management

2.13

To a

small

extent

4.14 To a large

extent

0.035 Significant

Pedagogy

2.20

To a

small

extent

3.88 To a large

extent

0.019 Significant

Feedback

Mechanism in

Teaching 2.02

To a

small

extent

4.31 To an

extremely

large extent

0.012 Significant

Over-all 2.17 To a

small

extent

4.13 To a large

extent

0.021 Significant

Table 11 is presented in order to

statistically confirm significant differences

between the mean performance of the CTs and

PTs in terms of the extent of implementation of

the mentoring practices in the College of

Education Laboratory High School. The

respective p values have been displayed using

the t-test for independent samples using the

SPSS version 18 and clearly smaller than the

assigned alpha level of 0.05 which generally

means that there is a significant difference

between the assessments of CTs and PTs in

terms of the extent of implementation of the

mentoring practices in the Laboratory High

School.

Table 12

Difference between CT’s and PT’s assessment on the Cooperating Teachers’ Mentoring Practices in

terms of Frequency of Practice

Dimensions of the

Mentoring Practices

Frequency of Practice

as perceived by PT’s

Frequency of

Practice as

perceived by CT’s

p-value Interpretati

on

Content 3.65 Frequent 4.05 frequent 0.065 Not

Significant

Classroom Management 3.84 Frequent 4.45 always 0.041 Significant

Pedagogy 3.75 Frequent 3.70 frequent 0.149 Not

Significant





14

Feedback Mechanism in

Teaching

3.64 Frequent 3.92 frequent 0.133 Not

Significant

Over-all 3.72 Frequent 4.03 frequent 0.247 Not

Significant

Table 12 displays the p-values computed using

the SPSS version 18. In general, the frequency of

practice on the effective mentoring practices in

the Laboratory High School as perceived by the

CTs and PTs were the same. This means that PTs

and CTs agree in terms of the frequency of

implementation of the effective mentoring

practices in the Laboratory High School, except

in terms of classroom management wherein the

computed p-value of 0.041 is lesser than the

assigned significance level of 0.05.

Table 13

Suggestions and Recommendations of the CT’s and PT’s on the Mentoring Practices in the LHS

Suggestions/ Recommendation

(Unedited)

Relative

Frequency

Rank

From the CT’s

Prolong the length of time for the deployment of pre-service teachers 20% 1

The ratio of CT’s to PT’s must be at most 1:2. 17% 2

PT’s still lack the required knowledge of the subject matter 14% 3.5

Values and other professionalism issues are still present with the PT’s being

deployed

8.9% 6.5

PT’s still lack the knowledge in the art of teaching such as lesson planning,

assessment and strategies

14% 3.5

Low commitment among PT’s are rampant as manifested by their tardiness and

poor attendance

8.9% 6.5

Students have other commitments which affects their teaching responsibilities 11.4% 5

Lightens work as a CT but the pacing of the lesson gets slower 5.8% 8

Total 100%

From the PT’s

Very exhaustive on our part 23% 1

Very difficult for us to think of the next strategy everyday 12% 5

Teachers sometimes completely assigned their class to us not only in instruction but

more on paper works and other works

6% 6

Sometimes our lesson plans were not carefully and extensively check 16% 4

Sometimes, they seldom/cannot help us think of the appropriate strategy in teaching 5% 7

There is no venue for us to stay and have a meeting with the CTs and give feedback

after our classroom teaching

19% 2

They are too busy with their commitments such as meetings and the likes in that

they fail to actually observe us in our classroom teaching

17% 3

Very limited time to practice teaching in the LHS 2% 8

No Comment/s 0 9

Total 100%

Table 13 presents the PTs and CTs’ comments

and/or recommendations on mentoring practices

in the laboratory high school as to their

experiences. From the perspective of the

cooperating teachers, rank 1 of their suggestion

or recommendation is to prolong the PTs’ stay in

the laboratory high school, followed by

regulating the number of PTs assigned for each

CTs. Based on an informal interview,

cooperating teachers clamor for the number of





15

assigned PTs on them which ranges from 10 – 20

in each CTs, which in turn may really be a

hindrance for a quality mentoring practices. In

effect because of the high CT to PT ratio, the

time for each PT assigned in lesson execution

will be minimal and therefore it would not be

enough to give them actual teaching experiences.

Another suggestions and/or

recommendations from the CTs is the academic

preparation among the PTs, according to the

CTs, the PTs deployed mostly lack sufficient

knowledge of the subject matter as well as

knowledge on the art of teaching such as lesson

planning and assessment. i.e. exam preparation

procedures. Further, based on an informal

interview among the CTs, they said that they

could have, however, enhanced these limitations

among PTs if only they were thorough exposed

further in a longer duration to classroom

situations.

On the perspective of the PTs, almost

quarter of them said that practice teaching was a

very exhaustive on their part. Based on the actual

observation, these PTs were under a period of

adjustment which has been further stiffened by

doing their unfinished thesis and few back

subjects. Secondly, PTs commented that they

have no place to stay and do hey work and which

no venue can be a place to discuss necessary

details about their teaching performances, due to

this, post conferences among PTs and CTs were

sacrificed which was actually very important as a

proper venue to address feedback.

Other suggestions or recommendations

from the PTs reflect from their lack of

knowledge on strategies in teaching as they feel

difficult to think regularly on the strategies they

have to implement.

Conclusions

In light of the findings of the study, the

following conclusions were derived:

1. As perceived by the pre-service

teachers, their cooperating teachers

frequently mentor them, in a small

extent, in the areas of content, in

providing effective classroom

management and pedagogy as well as

feedback mechanism in teaching.

2. As perceived by the cooperating

teachers themselves, they frequently

mentored their respective PTs to a large

extent in all areas such as providing

knowledge of the content, providing

effective classroom management and

pedagogy and feedback mechanism in

teaching.

3. Significant difference were noted

among the perception of PTs and CTs

on the mentoring practices in the

Laboratory High School

4. PTs and CTs noted their comments on

their mentoring experiences and

highlighted more on the duration of PTs

stay in the field, PT to CT ratio, need of

a venue or student- teachers’ lounge and

more training for practice teacher

preparation such as lesson planning and

assessment, and time for feedback.

Recommendations

From the conclusions of the study, the

following are recommended:

1. The cooperating teachers should be

aware of the characteristics of the PTs

as this will be a way in order to avoid

differences among perceptions on what

it take to have an effective mentoring

practices

2. Designate a room for the PTs as this

will serve as an official venue for the

CTs and PTs to discuss matter

pertaining to their performance

especially in terms of their feedback

mechanisms in teaching

3. Implement the “adopt a school

program” for PTs in order to maximize

their practice teaching experiences and

to help each CTs to concentrate on the

manageable number of PTs to be

mentored. In this way, quality

mentoring can be achieved.

4. Ensure that a fourth year education

student can only be able to have their

practice teaching if they have already

successfully finished their other





16

academics subjects as this will only add

up to their responsibilities/commitment.

5. Arrange class schedules among CTs so

that they will have time to effectively

meet the PTs assigned to them. Being a

CT is also a huge duty thus, it may be

possible to make this as part of their

regular load.

6. A follow-up study shall be conducted to

evaluate the mentoring program of the

LHS. The findings of this study can be

used as a valuable input and rationale to

improve the teacher education program

of the university.

References

1. Ball, Deborah & McDiarmid, G.W. in

Houston, W.R.(Ed). Handbook of

research in teacher education. New

a. York: Mcmillan retrieved on

July 8, 2016.

2. Boston Public School (2008) Office of

the human capital. Retrieved at

a. www.bostonpublicschools.org/

Page/193 on July 5, 2016.

3. Carroll, Thomas G (2008). The National

Commission on Teaching and

America’s

a. Future. Teaching in the 21st

century: A review of the issues

and changing models in the

teaching profession retrieved

at

www.blackboard.com/resource

s/k12... On July 11, 2016.

4. Dabas, N. (2013) Questionnaire on

teacher effectiveness constructed and

standardized.

a. Retrieved from

www.shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.i

n on July 9, 2016.

5. Grossman, P.L. (in press). Subject

matter knowledge and the teaching of

English. In J.

a. Brophy (Ed), Advances in

research on teaching Vol. 2.

Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

6. Hattie, John (2008). Visible Learning: A

synthesis of over 800 meta analyses

relating to

a. achievement. New York:

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7. Marzano, Robert J. & Marzano, Jana S.

(2003). Educational leadership: The

keys to

a. classroom management. V. 61

Pg. 6-13.

8. McLeod, S. A. (2016). Bandura-social

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a. www.simplypsychology.org/ba

ndura.html on July 7, 2016.

9. Telefonica (2014). The list of millennial

characteristics. Retrieved at

a. www.luckyattitude.co.uk/mille

nial-characteristics/ on July 10,

2016.

10. Tice, Julie, (2004).Reflective teaching:

Exploring our own classroom practice

from the

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retrieved from

http://www.teachingenglish.or

g.uk/article/reflective-

teaching-exploring-our-own-

practice on July 9, 2016.


http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/Page/193

http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/Page/193

http://www.blackboard.com/resources/k12

http://www.blackboard.com/resources/k12

http://www.shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/

http://www.shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/

http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html

http://www.luckyattitude.co.uk/millenial-characteristics/

http://www.luckyattitude.co.uk/millenial-characteristics/

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/reflective-teaching-exploring-our-own-practice




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