Mentoring is extremely important for beginning teachers. Through the practical training process, beginning teachers gain first real experiences in teaching, which helps them recognise in which areas they might need additional support and guidance, as well as where they need to expand their knowledge. Since it helps them identify the areas they feel fully competent in, this further strengthens their self-confidence and helps them grow professionally as teachers. This thesis discusses the role of teacher mentors in developing didactic competencies of students, the future primary education teachers. It examines the importance of the mentor's role in pedagogical practice and their contribution to the professional growth of students. The survey included ten primary school beginning teachers who have been teaching independently for a maximum of three years. An in-depth interview was used and they replied to questions regarding the mentoring process during their pedagogical practice. Their thoughts and experiences helped us establish how much importance they attach to teacher mentors in pedagogical practice, their idea of a good mentor, how teachers mentors fulfilled their role during the pedagogical practice, in which areas the beginning teachers needed the most or the least support from the mentor, as well as what positive and negative experiences they gained during their teaching practice. Since our survey sample comprises beginning teachers who have been teaching independently for no more than three years, which has given them a broader and clearer conception of the teaching profession, the survey is enriched with in-depth understanding of beginning teachers’ challenges and the solutions for them, as well as with an assessment of influence of individual factors of professional development which help them with their ongoing professional growth. The survey sample description is enhanced with data on the reasons for choosing the teaching profession, on the satisfaction with the profession itself, as well as on how the beginning teachers experience work-related stress. In addition to the results reported by the teachers participating in the survey, the survey helps us understand the complexity of the teacher’s work, which encompasses the emotional, socialisational, organisational, learning, professional, collaborative and professional environment. The survey shows that, in terms of didactics, a teacher mentor for professional design is of great importance. For the most part, the teachers assessed that their mentors had fulfilled their roles completely. Among the listed categories, the lowest grade was given to the role of enabling teachers to learn about their tasks. We also present the didactic-methodological and other competencies, where the teacher mentor can be an important co-designer or development supporter. As regards competencies related to professional development and didactic-methodological competencies related to teaching methods and teaching forms of work, the beginning teachers needed slightly less support from the mentor during their pedagogical practice. With other competencies, individual areas stand out, where teachers generally highlighted an increased need for help. These areas of work include cooperation with parents and other persons responsible for students, encouraging students to assume responsibility for their own work, giving problem-based lessons, knowledge and use of different methods of testing and assessment, checking and assessing the quality of student knowledge based on standards, working with weaker students and students with special needs, as well as planning and preparation of a learning unit and teaching programme based on the curriculum.
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