Inclusive Mentorship Support Provided by Primary School Teachers to Early Childhood and Primary Education Student-Teachers during Teaching Practice

Abstract

The challenges in the implementation of inclusive education in developing nations reflect teachers’ 
insufficient skills in teaching children with special education in regular schools. Professional 
exposure and practical experience of teachers have been noted to be significant in inclusive 
education. To hone these skills, mentorship in inclusive education has become essential for 
developing inclusive teaching competence, particularly among student-teachers who are novice 
practitioners. There is dearth of studies that are devoted to understanding specific mentoring 
support for inclusive education given to student-teachers. Consequently, this qualitative research 
design was employed, involving 20 student-teachers to explore inclusive mentorship support 
provided by primary school teachers during the teaching practice exercise. Using thematic content 
analysis, themes that emerged include variability in the provisions of mentorship during teaching 
practice, structural concerns in the provisions of mentorship during teaching practice, true 
inclusive mentorship programmes, development of professional confidence and attitudinal change, 
practical pedagogical guidance, support for learners with special education needs (SENs) and use 
of inclusive teaching strategies. The findings indicate that mentorship provision varied 
significantly across student-teachers, underscoring the need for more structured, intentional, and 
policy-driven mentorship frameworks within teaching practice programmes. Implications were 
highlighted.