Grooming and mentoring of students at the Zimbabwe Open University: A stitch in time saves nine. A case study of Mashonaland East Regional Campus

Grooming and mentoring are important in the training and development of student teachers. This research sought to examine the dress code and the general presentation of students enrolled for the Diploma in Education (Primary) Programme at the Mashonaland East Regional Campus of the Zimbabwe Open University bearing in mind that the programme is offered through ODL which has limited physical student-tutor interaction. Also most of the enrolled students have never been exposed to formal working environments which require formal dressing. This qualitative study adopted a case study research design because the research dealt with people’s beliefs and opinions. Purposive sampling was used to select 30 research participants comprising of 20 students and 10 lecturers. Unstructured interviews and observations were used to generate data for the study. Recurrent themes were identified and interpreted from the generated data. From the findings both students and tutors stressed the importance of dress code and also the inadequacy of the course module(s) in addressing the issue. The study further revealed that though the module does not address the issue, lecturers emphasised the importance of dress code during tutorial sessions. The researchers recommend induction of students on enrolment so that student teachers become aware of the expectations and requirements of the teaching profession. The study also recommends that the ZOU Teacher Development Department should produce a handbook on the general presentation and dress code of students