ASSESSMENT OF COOPERATING TEACHERS’ MENTORSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES TO STUDENT-TEACHERS ON EFFECTIVE TEACHING PRACTICE EXERCISE IN OYO STATE

Abstract

Assessment of cooperating teachers’ mentorship responsibilities to student-teachers towards

effective teaching practice exercise is a survey study geared towards determining the extent to

which cooperating teachers carry out their mentorship responsibilities during teaching practice

exercise. Five research questions and three hypotheses guided the study, and it sampled 182

secondary school teachers in Oyo State using purposive and quota non-probability sampling

techniques. A researcher self-constructed questionnaire (QUESCOTRETP) which grouped the

responsibilities into preparatory, pedagogical, managerial and evaluative responsibilities was

used for data collection. Data collected were analysed using simple percentage, measures of

central tendency and Mann Witney U test. The findings revealed that teachers carryout the

mentorship responsibilities to the highest extent, and the extent to which they carry out the

responsibilities does not differ in terms of teachers’ gender, years of experiences and school

location. In view of the findings, the study recommended among other things that

universities/colleges of education should promote the exercise of the mentorship responsibilities

through organization of seminars and workshops for practicing schools’ teachers prior to the

commencement of teaching practice. Managements of practising schools should encourage their

teachers through ensuring that trainee teachers are assigned to teachers appropriately, and

provision of material resources to enhance the discharge of the mentorship responsibilities.