Teacher Mentoring Program in Nepal: An Inquiry into the Novice English Teachers’ Perception and Experiences

Abstract

Mentoring is a teacher's professional rapport in which experienced professionals (mentors) support novice teachers (mentees) in the beginning phases of their profession to develop and progress their teaching career by sharing their teaching skills, experiences, and knowledge. This article examines the basic level English language teachers’ perception and experiences of the mentoring program launched by the government of Nepal. The descriptive phenomenological research design has been used to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of teachers about mentoring. Five English teachers teaching at the basic level were purposively selected as the participants for the study from five community schools of Ilam, Nepal. I have used an interview as a tool for collecting information from the participants. The findings of the study show teachers’ positive mentoring experiences as they are satisfied with the mentoring program and practices. The study also shows that the common mentoring practices the English teachers employed are class observation and feedback, use of a learning portal, peer support, profession-related workshops, training, conferences, and seminars. The study may contribute to boosting professional competency in their teaching career through having effective mentoring experiences and practices with some insightful ideas.