This paper reports on a study which explored the mentoring experiences of professionally unqualified practicing teachers
enrolled in a part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The
study sought to understand the mentoring experiences these students received from their teacher mentors, who were also
their colleagues. Data was collected through interviews towards the end of their programme. Drawing on the concept of
teacher knowledge, findings indicate that some students experienced subject-specific mentoring, others received only feed-
back on generic pedagogic issues, and some received minimal mentoring. They reported content-specific and pedagogical
mentoring as the most useful, indicating that this significantly assisted them in improving their teaching, even though they had
been teaching for some time. It also emerged that some students received very limited mentoring, where mentors simply
complied to fulfil university assessment requirements. The study suggests a need for more focused, comprehensive and on-
going mentor training for mentor teachers. The success of this would require collaboration between all stakeholders involved
in departments of education and universities. This paper further suggests that university-school partnerships required
strengthening, along with appropriate strategies put in place, towards ensuring mentoring effectiveness.

doi: 10.15700/saje.v35n2a1057