Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with ethnically Chinese adolescents enrolled into a school-based mentoring programme at a private secondary school in Hong Kong. Interview data were analysed thematically and two themes developed: 'experiencing mentoring' and 'experiencing the mentor'. The mentees, although initially sceptical about mentoring, were surprised by its helpfulness. Through the development of an informal and collaborative relationship in which students experienced their mentor as a trustworthy, mature and objective adult, students found an important source of emotional support and practical help which benefited their academic work. Students' experience was influenced by their mentors' role in the school, length of service and gender match. School-based mentoring programmes in a Hong Kong context have the potential to offer emotional and academic support to students. Cultural factors may have an impact on the experience of mentoring which schools should take into account when setting up such programmes.
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Mentoring has been widely recognized as an important aspect of the professional preparation of beginning teachers. How mentoring is viewed bears important implications for how mentoring is to be practiced and experienced. This study investigated the views of mentoring held by mentors, mentored in-service teachers and university teachers in a mentoring scheme initiated by a university in Hong Kong. Ten pairs of mentors and mentored in-service teachers and three university teachers participated in in-depth individual interviews designed to explore their views of mentoring with respect to five themes: mentor selection and preparation; mentor roles and responsibilities; mentor-mentee relationships; the mentoring programme; and school-university relationships. The findings show that the dynamic interaction between mentors, mentored in-service teachers and university teachers shaped the learning opportunities for the mentored in-service teachers. This paper argues that teaching practice and mentored learning to teach play an important role in in-service teachers' professional preparation. To strengthen in-service teacher learning, key players in the mentoring scheme should attain a shared vision of mentoring for in-service teachers and work together to create an integrated curriculum for the learning of in-service teachers.
[Copyright of Professional Development in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415250903115962]

Little research has been done on the choices of mentors when they are offered a comprehensive range of roles. The mentors in this study were in their first attempt as mentors and did not have an assigned 'role'. They were involved in a mentoring course that sought to facilitate the placement of in-service teachers and school-institute partnerships. Findings suggested that there was a tendency of the mentors to take an authoritarian role on the rights and wrongs of protégés' teaching while managing to maintain trust and warm relationships. A particular interaction pattern between the mentors and protégés emerged. There were signs of a clear preference for performing the role of guiding teaching evaluations and the mentor teachers had a very positive attitude towards providing 'assistance' to the less experienced teachers. Nevertheless, room for the development of flexibility, creativity and initiative on the part of the protégés was limited by a number of contextual factors.
[Copyright of Teacher Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13664530903043970]

There is a developing interest in mentoring in the educational system in Hong Kong, especially in higher education. Mentoring is looked at as a retention and enhancement strategy for undergraduate education. With the setting up of a mentoring system during the freshmen year, it is hoped that student retention can be increased and academic achievement can be promoted. The study aims to find out the current mentoring practices carried out at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Results are based upon quantitative data collected from 456 students and 79 faculty members engaging in the mentoring programme of the University Life Programme at the university in 1998. The author also conducted insight interviews into the student-mentor relationship and the problems encountered by mentors. The study focuses upon students' perspectives of an 'effective' mentor. The implications for resources are discussed as part of a review of the mentoring programme at the university.
[Copyright of Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1361126032000149319]