Mentorship Programs for Teacher Development in Soweto Schools
Dr Thulani E Mhlongo, PhD

Abstract
This research report presents the findings important to continually create and maintain contexts for effective management framework in place to develop and manage teacher development through mentorship activities. It is rather a serious concern that, neither in the Soweto Circuit of the Gauteng Provincial Department of Education or any other province of South Africa are the best practices for teacher learning and development. Furthermore, the study reveals that ineffective and old traditional teacher supervisory models and methods are being employed in the selected schools within the Soweto Circuit of the Gauteng Provincial Department of Education especially because there is or benchmarks for developing and managing teacher development through mentorship programs. The primary aim of this research project is to develop an appropriate management policy framework based on the development and management of teacher development activities through mentorship programs, especially because this is one of the major challenges facing schools and educational organizations’ today, and in general and more specifically for the Gauteng Provincial Education Department,for continuous school based teacher development especially the novice teachers in the selected adaptive schools of Soweto.The most appropriate method used was the case study through qualitative method; therefore this means that this research is of an exploratory nature. Focus group interviews were utilized as a research method. Department of Education officials; school principals, Head of Departments and teachers as representatives participated in the focus group interviews and they have all been involved and have experience in the teaching field and some of them have experience in the old traditional teacher supervisory and related teacher development methods. All the focus group interviews were based on the original research question namely: “How should teacher development through mentorship programs be developed and managed to ensure the success of such programs and related activities?”

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