Introducing Teacher Mentoring in Kosovo Schools – Potential and Challenges for Sustainability

Abstract

This study examined the lessons learned from the introduction of a teacher mentoring culture within a teacher professional development program in selected pilot schools in Kosovo. Four mentor teachers and four mentee focus groups were involved in the open interviews, and their portfolios were examined. The important themes in terms of developing a schoolmentoring culture in a system that had lacked mentoring practices and is embarking on an ambitious curricular reform were identified. The study revealed that individual, collegial and institutional dimensions are critical in attempting to introduce the mentoring culture. The study concluded that mentoring is a mixed concept and is viewed as hierarchical but is,nevertheless, an important professional development tool for teachers who are facing the pressure of the reform. This formalized way, known as “Balkanization” culture, marks a critical step towards developing a collaborative school culture as the desired end point.