Developed out of the Provincial Teacher Education and Development Committee (PTEDC), the Mentor Teacher course has been developed to capacitate classroom teachers as expert mentor teachers during student Teaching Practice in schools.

The Mentor Teacher course is collaborative project with the Cape Teaching and Learning Institute (CTLI) and the four public universities in the Western Cape and supports teachers in the mentoring and training of student teachers during the Teaching Practice component of their Initial Teacher Education.

The Mentor Teacher course is a blended learning programme presented online via Google Classroom and which runs over ten weeks.

It comprises of six units (see overview below) that includes information about student practice teaching, mentoring and coaching and the development and use of evaluative criteria for student teachers. Included are short activities that assist teachers to work through the course material and take a reflective stance in relation to themselves as mentor teachers in schools. The course presentation is supported by three Teams contact sessions that are held online.

The course is relevant for both primary and high school teachers as it presents a conceptualisation of mentoring that can be applied to supporting student teachers completing their teaching practice in different phases and grades.
Ideally groups of teachers from the same school should consider completing the course together as the course encourages schools and teachers work together to develop a school programme that can be used to support student teachers in each unique school context during their teaching practice.

Course Outline:

Online Session 1

Course preparation/Pre-reading - 8 May 2025

Online with MS Teams

17:00 - 18:30

 

1.1 Completion of Initial Understanding Task: 8 May - 5 June 2025

1.2 Unit 1: Understanding Teaching Practice

 

2.  Contact Session

Online Session 2:  5 June 2025 (17:00 - 18:00)

Online with MS Teams

2.1 Unit 2: Mentoring and Coaching : 6 June - 31 July 2025 

Online Session 3: 31 July 2025 (17:00  - 18:00)

Online with MS Teams

 

3.1 Unit 3: Developing evaluative criteria for student teachers (Part 1): 1 - 21 August 2025 Self- directed learning 

3.2 Unit 4: Developing evaluative criteria for student teachers (Part 2) 1 - 21 August 2025

Online Session 4

Online with MS Teams: 21 August  (17:00 - 18:00)

 

4.1 Unit 4: Developing evaluative criteria for student teachers (Part 2) (cont.) 21 August - 11 September 2025

Online Session 5

Online with MS Teams : 11 September 2025 (17:00 - 18:00)

 

5.1 Unit 5: Mentoring and Coaching in practice : 11 September - 7 October 2025

 

Unit 6: Concluding the course (Face-to-face at the CTLI)

Contact session 6: 7 & 8 October 2025 (08:30 -15:30)

Completion of Developed Understanding Task

 

7. Completion and closing of Teacher Mentor Course : 7 - 13 October 2025

All Google Classroom activities submitted

Online part of course: TBA

Face-to-face at CTLI: TBA

*NB! Should you miss more than ONE ONLINE SESSION- you will be requested to reapply for the next course.