Read the following case study:

MAYBE A MASTER,
BUT NOT A MENTOR.

Mrs Crown is an experienced teacher at Randview High School for Girls and has 20 years’ experience teaching History. She is considered a master teacher in her field and is Head of Department (HOD) at Randview.

On the first day of the second term, during the morning meeting in the staffroom, the principal announces that the school will host a number of student teachers for seven weeks. Mrs Crown gives a deep sigh when her name is mentioned as one of the teachers who will mentor a student. She teaches three Grade 11 classes and two Grade 12 classes and there is no way she will allow a student teacher to teach her matric learners! That means her student teacher will take over her Grade 11 classes for the seven weeks leading up to the mid-year exams. Her teaching methods ensure that her learners are well prepared for the exams, so she is apprehensive, as there is so much work to be covered.

Mercia is a fourth year student teacher and is excited that she was placed at Randview High School for Girls. The school has a reputation for excellence and she has heard that it has a strong History department. She is looking forward to observing good practice and acquiring experience in preparing her for the real world of teaching.

On meeting Mercia, Mrs Crown is impressed with her enthusiasm and confident demeanour. During one of her free periods, Mrs Crown sits down with Mercia, gives her a copy of her timetable as well as a copy of the Grade 11 textbook. She shows Mercia a copy of the annual teaching plan for History and briefs her on where to start teaching the following day. She also gives Mercia a few kind pointers on where to find the printing room and the office. Mercia hands Mrs Crown the documentation from the university that briefs mentor teachers on what is expected from student teachers. Mrs Crown sets it aside with the intent to read it later and then rushes off to make urgent copies for her next class. She has a good feeling about Mercia. She seems to be genuinely interested in becoming a good teacher and Mrs Crown’s apprehension about having to mentor a student teacher dissipates a little.

The next morning Mrs Crown opens up her class early to allow her student teacher to get ready. She has a Grade 11 class in the first period and she has told Mercia to prepare a lesson on ‘Roosevelt’s New Deal as counter-action during the depression to help the American people and economy’. She is impressed with the way Mercia settles the learners and takes out a notepad to make comments while observing the lesson.

Then things start to go wrong…

Mercia tells the learners to open their textbooks at Roosevelt’s New Deal and she starts reading. Here and there, she makes an effort to write important key phrases on the board but Mrs Crown realises that they are not pertinent to significant aspects of the New Deal. When one of the learners asks a question, Mercia gives a limited explanation that does not add much to what is already available in the textbook. At the end of the lesson, Mrs Crown cannot help but think: “Saved by the bell”. She is upset that Mercia seems to have made little effort to prepare well for the lesson. She is going to be very clear on that in her feedback. There is no time to re-teach work!

Mrs Crown notices that Mercia is very nervous when she asks her to sit down for a talk. “Mercia, I am disappointed to see that you relied only on the content in the textbook when preparing for your lesson. You also did not highlight crucial aspects of the New Deal when making notes on the board”.

Mercia’s voice quivers when she answers. She had arrived the day before in high spirits and, not only has she disappointed her mentor teacher, but she has let herself down. She has failed at her very first lesson. “Mrs Crown, as much as History is one of my major subjects at university, Roosevelt’s New Deal did not form part of the content we covered. I do not have access to Internet at home. I went through the content in the textbook very carefully, but I must admit that I do not have a good grasp of the theme. If I had had one more day to prepare I think I could have done much better.”

Mrs Crown sits back in her chair. She realises that the ‘master teacher’ herself has failed as a mentor teacher on the very first day.

In your journal, jot down your answers to the following questions:

• Where did Mrs Crown go wrong on her first day of mentoring Mercia? Be as specific as possible.
• Make a few suggestions on how Mrs Crown should have handled her student teacher on the first day. Again, be as specific as possible.
• Clearly, Mrs Crown has a lot on her plate and cannot spent hours after school explaining the ‘New Deal’ to Mercia. How could she cleverly handle the fact that Mercia lacks content knowledge without compromising her teaching experience at Randview High School for Girls? Think along the lines of collaborative teaching.