Mentoring primary school mathematics teachers in the classrooms

This qualitative study, where I was involved as a researcher and mentor, with two primary school mathematics teachers, who were in the beginning of their first year, describes the mentoring process in a particular setting. I conducted the study with the research participants in their classrooms during seven-week fieldwork. The data comes from semi-structured interviews (pre and post fieldwork), descriptive and reflective field notes, audiotape transcripts and teachers\u27 journals. I played different roles such as: a support teacher, demonstrator/teacher and a critical friend. The findings of the study show that in a context like Pakistan, where teachers often enter the teaching profession without any professional training, need support not only in pedagogy and classroom management, but also in subject matter content as well. In the context of the mentor-mentee relationship, support from an experienced teacher seemed to enable them to address the challenges that they face. The study further sheds light on a mentor-mentee relationship and the roles that a school based mentor plays in supporting beginning teachers. Mentoring, in the untrained beginning teachers\u27 context seems to be more enactive and supportive relationship rather than an advisory one, but the question still remains whether or not schools can afford to have mentors for professional development of the beginning teachers