Mentoring teaching skills to newcomer academics

Abstract

To sustain and develop teaching skills relevant to a contextualised Open Distance Learning environment, a college at the University of South Africa embarked on a formal mentoring programme, with the aim of mentoring newcomer academics in appropriate teaching skills. The mentors were experienced academics, who will be retiring from the system over the next decade. The aim of the research was to investigate which Open Distance Learning-related teaching skills are ideally conveyed through formal mentoring. A mixed-methods research approach was followed, employing document study and individual e-interviewing. It was found that due to a student corps with diverse characteristics and needs, the emphasis remained on preparing mentees for tuition via the print media, while incorporating technology to arrange for constructive learning through interactive communication. Major teaching skills to be mentored related to presenting quality study material in the proper register for reader understanding, providing constructive feedback on evaluated assignments and employing myUnisa (a web-based learning system) to facilitate learning. The study contributes to the refining of the discourse on mentoring for constructive Open Distance Learning teaching.