Date
11-13-2024
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction (EdD)
Chair
Sharon Michael-Chadwell
Keywords
educative mentoring, novice teacher, support, development, preparation, self-efficacy, motivation, collaboration
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Johnston, Kaitlyn, "Investigating the Experiences of Educative Mentors of Novice Educators in K-12 Schools: A Qualitative, Phenomenological Study" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6154.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6154
Abstract
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences supporting novice educators from the perceptions of educative mentors at K-12 public schools across the United States. The theory guiding this study was Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, as it sought to explore successful mentoring practices from the perspective of the educative mentor. This study employed a qualitative, hermeneutical phenomenological research design that investigated 13 K-12 public school educative mentors’ perceptions of supporting new teachers through criterion sampling and later snowball sampling recruitment methods. Participants consented to participate in semi-structured interviews as well as submit documents and physical artifacts for data analysis and further interview questioning in order to understand mentoring in practice more deeply from the perspective of the educative mentor. The data collected through this study was analyzed utilizing Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis approach and supported the emergence of six dominant themes: (a) mentor development, (b) motivation for mentoring, (c) challenges of the role, (d) collaboration, (e) success, and (f) recommended methods for mentoring. The results of this study are relevant as they shared the lived experiences of educative mentors of novice teachers and findings that are reflective of the variances in teacher preparation programs as well as mentor development opportunities in schools.
