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Mentoring Abilities and Beliefs of Ohio Secondary Agricultural Education Mentor Teachers

Foor, Ryan M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275451147

Abstract Details

2010, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Agricultural and Extension Education.
Nearly half of all new teachers leave teaching within the first five years of entering the profession. The exodus from the teaching profession has placed teacher recruitment and retention as an important challenge for public education in the United States. In order for the workforce of teachers to remain sustainable; the field of education recognizes the need for professional development programs, particularly novice teacher induction, to combat the teacher attrition challenge. A number of studies determined that a positive relationship exists between mentoring and induction programs and teacher retention. Within the context of the relationship between mentoring and teacher retention, the importance of the abilities and beliefs mentor teachers contribute to the process cannot be neglected. Mentoring is a nurturing process that provides an ongoing, caring relationship between mentor and novice teacher, where the attitudes, beliefs, and dispositions of the mentor play a key role in the development of the novice teacher. An understanding of how mentor teachers perceive themselves in their abilities and beliefs is critical in the selection of mentor teachers. Additionally, an examination of the relationship between mentor teachers’ perceived abilities and beliefs may help in the preparation of quality mentor teachers for the future. Therefore, the problem was that a current measure of mentor teachers’ perceptions about their abilities and beliefs as mentors is needed in the field of agricultural education in order to determine areas of need for mentor selection and training and to prepare novice teachers for the mentor – novice teacher relationship. The design of the study was descriptive – correlational. Survey research methods were utilized in the data collection process. Two types of data were collected to meet the research objectives. In order to measure the perceptions of the abilities of mentor teachers and the perceptions of the beliefs of mentor teachers, summated rating scales were utilized to collect data on a mailed questionnaire. Additionally, demographic data were collected to describe the sample of mentor teachers. Factor analysis was utilized to determine if the items pertaining to mentor teachers’ abilities and beliefs could be reduced to a more meaningful and interpretable set of variables. The target population consisted of Ohio secondary agricultural education instructors who served as cooperating teachers for the student teaching field experience in the Agricultural and Extension Education program (teacher education option) at The Ohio State University between the years 2000 and 2007. An 86% usable response rate was achieved through the data collection process. Overall, mentor teachers strongly agree with the statements related to the perceptions of their abilities and beliefs in terms of the mentor – novice teacher relationship. The relationship between the two variables was described as a substantial association. Through factor analysis, the researcher concluded that 24 of the 26 items from the Components of Professional Practice are a good measure of Mentor Abilities for the Ohio mentor teachers surveyed in this study. Similarly, the 13 items summarized through the literature serve as a good measure of Mentor Beliefs for the Ohio agricultural education mentor teachers who participated in this study.
Jamie Cano (Advisor)
Robert Birkenholz, J. (Committee Member)
Joseph Gliem, A. (Committee Member)
128 p.
Agricultural Education; Education; Teacher Education
mentoring; mentors; cooperating teachers; induction; teacher education

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Foor, R. M. (2010). Mentoring Abilities and Beliefs of Ohio Secondary Agricultural Education Mentor Teachers [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275451147

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Foor, Ryan. Mentoring Abilities and Beliefs of Ohio Secondary Agricultural Education Mentor Teachers. 2010. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275451147.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Foor, Ryan. "Mentoring Abilities and Beliefs of Ohio Secondary Agricultural Education Mentor Teachers." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1275451147

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.