Exploring the Gap between Theory, Practice, and Expectation in School Mentoring

Mentoring is a crucial aspect of teachers’ professional development, yet there is considerable debate among educators about its efficacy and some notable resistance against it. Thus, it is beneficial to examine teachers’ perceptions regarding mentoring in order to gain insight into potential discrepancies between mentoring theoretical background, practical experiences, and expectations. An originally made questionnaire was employed as the instrument for gathering data, thereby establishing a quantitative research design. The findings revealed that teachers hold disparate views on mentoring at three distinct levels: the theoretical level, the practice level and the expectation level. More specifically, the teachers’ perceptions assessed these three levels, with the practice level ranking the lowest, followed by the theoretical level, and the expectation level ranking the highest. These findings demonstrate that teachers generally agree and align with the theoretical aspirations of mentoring, yet they also indicate that this promise can fall short in practice. Furthermore, teachers propose an expectation-based approach to mentoring that could enhance both the theoretical and practical aspects.