The Future of Education

Mentorship plays a crucial role in advancing teacher professional development by fostering collaboration, enhancing instructional practices, and bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. This study investigates the significance of mentorship, the barriers to its success, and the enablers that facilitate effective mentorship practices. Employing a qualitative design within an interpretative paradigm, data were collected via questionnaires from 40 student teachers and 12 mentors involved in a structured professional development programme. Recent studies highlight mentorship’s profound impact on improving teaching quality and leadership capabilities (Ben-Amram & Davidovitch, 2024). Additionally, continuous professional development (CPD) has been shown to reinforce sustained growth in teaching practices (Ambon et al., 2024), while long-term benefits of professional development have been observed even in challenging contexts such as South Africa (DeMarie, 2018). Key findings from this study reveal that while mentorship has transformative potential, certain barriers such as time constraints, mismatched mentor-mentee pairings, and inadequate training for mentors hinder its effectiveness. On the other hand, enablers include mutual respect, effective communication, and robust institutional support systems. Based on these insights, the study provides actionable guidelines to improve mentorship, emphasizing the importance of structured mentor training, ongoing professional learning opportunities, and the establishment of clear expectations and support systems. This research contributes to the broader understanding of mentorship in education, offering practical recommendations for policymakers, educational leaders, and practitioners to foster sustainable and impactful professional development for teachers. The findings underscore the benefits of mentorship in teacher professional development.