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Article Title: Supervision and Assessment of Student Teachers: A Journey of Discovery for Mentors in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
by Robert Maphosa and Gamuchirai Tsitsi Ndamba

Abstract:
Supervision and assessment are viewed as key aspects of the work done by mentors engaged in mentoring pre-service student teachers in Zimbabwe. Mentors who understand their roles are in a better position to guide and support student teachers in their professional development. The purpose of this study was thus to examine the views of mentors on their supervision and assessment roles on student teachers on Teaching Practice in the Bulawayo urban primary schools. The descriptive survey design was used on a sample of 94 mentors who were mentoring students from three teachers� colleges. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the data which was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that most mentors were comfortable with the supervision and assessment of student teachers using their intuition and common sense as they had not attended any workshops on mentoring. Mentors expected a high level of conformity by prescribing teaching methods to their mentees. Willingness to mentor was not considered as a critical issue when school heads appointed mentors. The study recommends that teachers� colleges should train mentors on supervisory skills that promote reflection in student teachers. �Mentoring� as a module (course) should be taught to pre-service student teachers

Keywords: mentor, mentee, supervision, assessment, teaching practice, primary school

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