Satisfaction of Teachers with Mentoring Programs in Turkey

Abstract

There is a common sense among researchers that teacher quality affects the achievement of students; therefore, teacher quality has been hotly discussed not only in the United States but also in many countries around the world. As a result of these ongoing discussions, mentoring has been accepted as one of the most important ways for teacher self-improvement. In this study, the researcher explored the factors affecting teachers' satisfaction with mentoring programs in Turkey. The researcher employed a qualitative research methodology interviewing teachers and performing document analysis to gather in-depth information. The researcher found informal mentoring to be more common than formal mentoring activities in the Turkish education system. The researcher also found some restraining factors that affect the satisfaction of teachers in mentoring activities in Turkey; these factors include: (1) strained relationships between mentee and mentor, (2) the lack of time, (3) the lack of quality mentor, (4) novice teacher bias toward mentoring, (5) lack of organization in the mentoring program, (6) and mismatching of mentee and mentor. In conclusion, policymakers should understand the importance and necessity of mentoring for the professional development of new teachers and struggle to provide quality-mentoring programs to novice teachers.