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Table 1
Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the Five Factors
Mentoring Factors
Cronbach
Alpha
Eigen
Value
% of
Variance
Mean Scale
Score
P
Value
Personal Attributes
.93
4.39
73
4.59
< .001
System Requirements
.81
2.19
73
4.20
< .001
Pedagogical
Knowledge
.95
7.53
68
4.39
< .001
Modeling
.91
5.12
64
4.60
< .001
Feedback
.91
4.27
71
4.30
< .001
Note. p
<.001 result is highly significant (Kuzma & Bohnenblust, 2001).
Descriptive statistics were calculated on the five factors using SPSS 16. Student teachers
perceived modeling (
M
= 4.60) as the most used mentoring factor by mentors. Personal attributes and
pedagogical knowledge were also perceived by student teachers to be employed by the mentors. Student
teachers pointed out that their mentors’ focus on feedback (
M
= 4.30) and system requirements (
M
= 4.20)
were not as apparent as the previously mentioned factors (see Table 1). The following provides further
insights into specific data on the attributes and practices associated with each factor.
Personal attributes
Student teachers reported their mentors’ personal attributes on the MPST instrument. The mean
item score range was 4.43 to 4.72;
SD
range: 0.66 to 0.81 (see Table 2 for percentage rank order). Student
teachers indicated that 95% of their mentors were supportive of them in student teaching and almost as
many student teachers (93%) felt comfortable talking with their mentor. Regarding the mentors’ infusion
of positive attitudes, attentive listening and building of confidence in their student teachers, the perception
by student teachers was that this occurred 92% of the time. Although the lowest percentage of student
teacher perceptions in this factor related to the mentor teachers assisting the student teachers in reflecting,
this item was still identified as a practice used by mentors by 90% of the student teachers.
Table 2
Personal Attributes
Mentoring practice
%*
Mean
SD
Supportive
95.5
4.72
0.66
Comfortable in talking
93.1
4.62
0.78
Listened attentively
92.2
4.54
0.75
Instilled confidence
92.2
4.59
0.78
Instilled positive attitudes
92.2
4.58
0.77
Assisted in reflecting
90.8
4.43
0.81
Note.
%*, Percentage of mentees who either
agreed
or
strongly agreed
their mentor provided
that specific mentoring practice.