Phenomenological exploration of educational mentoring relationships and concerns for 21st century pedagogical praxis in Fitche pre-service primary school college of teacher education,Ethiopia

Background

Although the 21st century classroom requires competent teachers to address diverse needs of children, the standards and indicators of quality are powerless to foster children’s learning potential through school improvement and teacher professional development (Geletu, 2024b). Accordingly, as part of teachers’ professional development program, mentorship demonstrates structural relationship through which individuals and groups engage in conversation and experiential learning to promote ongoing growth and development (Cherkowski and Walker, 2019). It is a mutual commitment to support the holistic development and well-being of mentee and mentor (Woloshyn et al., 2019), rather than transforming professional knowledge and skills. In addition, mentorship and coaching practices go against the formal professional development practices such as plan-do-study-act-evaluate cycle to ensure teacher candidate’s emotional safety net and pedagogical competencies (Geletu, 2023). The interconnectedness between mentoring relationships, the roles of mentors and the focus of feedback to enhance student-teachers’ learning from practicum requires emphasis (Demekash et al., 2023b). Regarding the peculiar feature of educational mentoring relationships, the phenomenological pedagogical thinking and reflection of mentors and mentees are important performances (Brinkmann, 2017). The phenomenological lived experiences and interpretations indicated that a middle ground between the subjectivity of the “I” and the “We” objectivity of thinking in educational contexts (Stolz, 2020). A common consensus between phenomenologists may answer the generic form of inquiry related to educational relationships such as “what lived experience is like” and “what is it like to experience the phenomenon or event?” (Van Manen, 2016).

The widespread shift in curriculum planning emphasis from being content-based to competency-based runs the risk of undermining democratic authenticity that enhances students’ personal self and shared capacities (Ryen, 2020). Pre-service teachers’ curriculum, pedagogical knowledge, and experiences are objective and not prone to undue subjectivism (Stolz, 2020). The student-teachers/mentees holding sophisticated epistemological beliefs are more reflective about own thinking and likely to employ teaching practices that helps children construct their own meanings (Brownlee, 2001). The critical-constructive development of hermeneutic understandings of knowledge is mainstreaming educational contexts via reappraising the relationship between teachers and students (Ryen, 2020). A teacher education reflects the knowledge, skills, and ability relevant to the life of teacher as a teacher through mentoring in practicum (Girma and Abraham, 2019). This foretells the noble nature of teaching profession focuses on knowledge generation, dissemination, and utilization. Regarding, the uniqueness of teaching profession, I correlate it the finding of Cath (2019) distinguished between the “gold standard knowledge of experiences whereby propositions are comprehended in the phenomenal way. Thus, the person has been able to attend to phenomenal properties of their experiences. This is relative to silver standard knowledge of experiences, whereby propositions are comprehended through relevant and similar experiences and bronze standard knowledge of experiences, whereby propositions are comprehended only in some non-phenomenal way” (p. 37).

The lived experiences and interpretive phenomenology, teachers’ curricula, lesson plans, and learning outcomes are long forgotten but the impacts of educational relationships live forever (Brinkmann, 2017; Van Manen, 2016). The essential aspect of this relationship is what happens between the mentors and mentees as if educational relationships comprise interpersonal space across which the teachers and students traverse (Metcalfe and Game, 2006). The professional development and reassertion powers of educational relationships between mentors and mentees create mutual relations because when teacher stands in front of students and communicate with them, they relate, and when students communicate with a teacher, they relate. Logically, what I have in mind is an empirical phenomenology (Van Manen, 2016). The relationship accentuates a difference between those relating as “I-It” relationship. These relationships tend to objectify the participants, the relationships, and the transaction nature of the relationship (Buber, 2002; Palmer, 1998). In addition, the voices of students and teachers in education relationships contribute to the development of connectedness (Sohn et al., 2017). Moreover, Claxton (2021) brought into question the value, source, and purpose of “knowledge” in the light of 21st Century life fulfillment and labor, and little contribution to pedagogical praxis between mentors and mentees. This relational contentedness emphasizes holistic relationship rather than the space between those relationships. This view of relationship shifts the attention from the functionality of the space between people to an inherent contentedness that is integral to relationship (Gibbs, 2006). Educational processes that value relational contentedness seek to nurture the wholeness of students through genuine concerns for teacher-student relationships (Miller and Nakagawa, 2002). While there is a value in theorizing from empirical data about relationship, it is equally important that educational research consider the “lived experiences” of relationships (Smith, 2018). This directs towards understandings of educational relationships.

Phenomenological research establishes a renewed contact with original experience, prior to theorizing about it and to bring to light the meanings woven into the fabric of the experiences (Smith, 2018; Van Manen, 2016). The life world which is the world of lived experience; both the source and object of phenomenological research indeed is the starting and end point (Van Manen, 2016). This work is vital to an ongoing understanding of ontological nature of phenomenology and its quest for exploring a priori nature of everyday experiences in the live world (Caelli, 2001). In addition, Moustakas (1994) remarked that a focus on the wholeness of experience, a search for principles of experiences, viewing experience, and behavior as integrated and inseparable relationships of subject/object. The transcendental emphasis includes the researcher’s setting and using systematic procedures for analyzing the data. The importance of phenomenological writing does not reflect as phenomenological research brings something to speech (Paley, 2016; Van Manen, 2016)). The educational mentoring relationship builds itself on solid foundations of trust and teacher-student relationship gives meaning to teachers’ experiences on ground (Oreshkina and Greenberg, 2011). The conceptual framework of the study includes four pillars of educational mentoring relationships such as inquire, share, encourage, and care between mentors and mentees under normal phenomenon in mathematics and science pre-service teachers’ education.

Problem statement

Teacher educators’ and teacher-students’ educational mentoring relationships depend on collaborative and two-way pedagogical praxis such as co-planning, co-teaching, co-learning, and co-thinking process (Orland-Bank and Wang, 2021). By modifying, the capacity building short-term training opportunities regarding curriculum appropriateness, differentiated instruction, and participatory action research, lesson planning, and pedagogical reflective practices required in mentoring relationships (Geletu, 2024b). These reflective practices ensure investment and reinvestment of the 21^st century skills and competencies on their professional development, renewal, and reassertion. Phenomenology grounds from sources of deep insights and meanings into educational context and other contexts of human cares and formation (Brinkmann, 2017). The process of hermeneutic phenomenology reflection focuses on the “to-and-fro” circling movement towards positive significance meanings of a phenomenon (Gadamer et al., 1994). Every experience encompasses memories, schemas, anticipations, expectations, and the states their fulfillment or disappointment (Gadamer, 2013). The central goal of phenomenological orientation towards the lived concrete and situated experience are very useful keeping the tacit, qualities of educational situations open to further questioning (Saevi, 2020) because teachers lack professional and pedagogical competencies required in classrooms (Geletu, 2024a).

Today, quality education program is complex and multifaceted concepts although teachers are makers rather than interpreters of content-driven curriculum imperatives (Ryen, 2020). It is more complicated if one wants to measure the efficacy of teacher training about student academic performance (Workneh and Tassew, 2013). In the context of Ethiopian teachers’ education, there is a pathetic state of mentors-mentees relationships. Teacher educators’ mentoring practice depends on preliminary feedback evaluation criteria and lack forward-looking feedback (Demekash et al., 2023a). Teacher educator mentors use poorly designed face-to-face learning interaction with mentees to improve instructional practices in classrooms in specific policy direction and practices (Geletu, 2024b). The existing educational mentoring relationships did not cause the “to-and-fro” mutual interactions among mentors and mentees towards essential meanings of lived experiences. Mentors share lived experiences (Smith, 2016) surrounded by multiple relationships that culminated teaching-learning process. The mentor-mentees’ relationships grow out of voluntary interaction, and mentors become mentors to pass down their accumulation competences and skills to the next generation (Bova and Phillips, 1984). This potential of growth and the desire to pass along learning experiences is a characteristic of the mentoring in educational process.

The mentoring phenomenon is linked with maturation of those who wish to help others accomplish their goals (Stevens, 1995). Mentors ought to work enthusiastically to make students reflective practitioners through developing mutual communication mechanisms on career advice to prevent professional dilemma through increasing sense of professionalism in mentees (Girma and Abraham, 2019). In the context of Ethiopian college of teachers’ education, a hierarchical relationship between mentors and mentees occurs with the dominance of the mentor (Demekash et al., 2023b) rather than mutual educational relationships based on their lived experience and performances. The existing mentor-mentee relationship in college of teacher education is a one directional pedagogical practice like one-way communication and learning exercises (Merket, 2022). The occurrence of such reciprocal educational relationships between mentor and mentee can be loosening conversational praxis in educational mentoring process (Foong et al., 2018; Giles, 2008). Therefore, using the following four pillars of mentoring such as inquire (pool of knowledge and seek new information and insights), share (experiences and confidences are sensitive or embarrassing), encourage, and care are important between mentors and mentees educational relationships.

The rationale motivating me to conduct this research evolved from my own relationship with phenomenological disposition as qualitative researcher. Although an objectivist view advocates knowledge exists in objects independent from consciousness and experience, my constructivist epistemology asserted that knowledge is a product of the social context where meaning evolves from interactions with others. According to the principles of phenomenological exploration: (1) The researcher-respondent relationship is subjective, interactive and interdependent. (2) Reality is multiple, complex, and not easily quantifiable. (3) The values of the researcher, respondents, research site, and underlying theory constrict all aspects of the research. (4) The research product is context specific. Based on my reading and literature review, no one has conducted phenomenological study to explore educational mentoring relationships and ripple effects in terms of inquiry, sharing, encouraging, and caring variables. This study bridged theoretical, conceptual, and methodological gaps linked to educational mentoring relationships. Therefore, I was motivated and inspired to explore phenomenological experiences of educational mentoring relationships and concerns for 21st century pedagogical praxis in Fitche pre-service-teachers’ college of education.

Objectives

The study explored phenomenological experiences of educational mentoring relationships and concerns for 21st century pedagogical praxis in Fitche pre-service primary school (grades 1–8) college of teachers’ education. It further:

1. Explored educational relationships between mentors and mentees pertaining investing and reinvesting knowledge, skills, and competencies.

Research questions

The central research question is: What do the phenomenological experiences of educational mentoring relationships and concerns for 21st century pedagogical praxis in Fitche pre-service primary school teacher education looks like? The specific research questions are as follows:

1. How best does the relationship between mentors and mentees contributed to investing and reinvesting knowledge, skills, and competencies in pre-service teachers’ education?

Significance

The study has professional, social, academic, and practical significance to mentees, mentors, and college of primary school-preserve teacher education, and teaching profession at large because the effects of educational mentoring relationships contributes to mentors and mentees’ professional development and reassertion based on their past teachers’ experiences

Method and design

The study employed qualitative research method with phenomenological design where phenomenology as qualitative research is important to explore meaning attribution (Paley, 2016) by overcoming an ongoing controversy about the authenticity of qualitative research methods claim phenomenological between (Smith, 2018; Van Manen, 2016). However, the goal of phenomenological research in education understands people’s perceptions, experiences, and feelings as well, as how they interpret their social and educational environments (Eddles-Hirsch, 2015a; Taşkıran, 2017). Yet the claim under argument was that:

“Not all qualitative research inspired by phenomenology is phenomenology. It acknowledges that the various qualitative research methods that are inspired by phenomenology may be undeniably important and relevant and yet are not to be confused with genuine phenomenological methods and phenomenological research approaches” (Van Manen, 2016: 777).

The phenomenological description aims at working out on how a human creature equipped with a lived body, soul, consciousness, and conception of self and becomes a self can express sense-giving intentions (Brinkmann, 2017; Smith, 2016). Likewise, Creswell and Pouth (2018) suggested that the best criteria to determine the use of phenomenology is when the research problem requires a profound understanding of human experiences common to a group of people. The members of the group need to articulate their lived experiences. Phenomenological methodology turns towards a phenomenon rather than a preoccupation with research techniques (Gadamer et al., 1994). The social phenomenology explained the reciprocal interactions that take place during human action, situational structuring, and reality construction publically accessible to others (Caminada, 2016). The methodological terms capturing transcendental through phenomenological reduction needs to achieve a perspective, which avoids overly solipsistic. Furthermore, Moran (2016) considered an integrated ontology and recognized a middle ground between the subjectivity of the “I” and the acute objectivity of thinking of humans as objects in the world. The researcher selected this methodology because of its systemic processes complemented to exploring and understanding the ripple effects of experience in educational relationships between mentors and receivers in these research efforts.

Methodologically, my knowledge development paradigm as the researcher provides rationale for strategic decisions regarding selection of methods, data collection process, subject sampling, and data analysis. In addition, ontology as the claim researchers make regarding knowledge, whereas epistemology is how individuals have arrived at that knowledge and methodology is the process of studying it (Creswell and Poth, 2018). I agreed with the contention that “all knowledge and meaningful reality is contingent upon human practices being constructed in and out of interaction between human beings and their world, developed and transmitted within essential social context” (Smith, 2018). This ontological assumption helped me emphasized on lived experiences of instructors and student-teachers in mentoring relationship. In addition, the constructivist epistemology enabled me navigating with an open-minded approach to discovery. The context specific interpretation is influenced by the values of all involved in shared history, language, and actions (Smith, 2018). My philosophical persuasions helped me to construct the framework based on pragmatic undertones with the belief that meaning is created through action and interaction. I believed that truth is what individuals recognized as a current worldview and new knowledge becomes useful in changing and further developing what was recognized as reality. The study explored lived experiences of mentors and mentees in educational mentoring relationships in college of teacher education.

Study participants

Phenomenological research is directive as its sampling method is purposive. The participants in phenomenological research were chosen according to what is known as purposive sampling technique. Phenomenological research creates a detailed description of participants’ experiences and encourages them to examine the subjective meanings of their experiences (Taşkıran, 2017). Pertaining this, Yin (2018) stated that purposive sampling technique incorporates specific criteria met by the participants. The participants of this study were mentors and mentees selected from five departments within a college of teacher education. Based on the criteria and their willingness, the researcher engaged 47 participants into the study. Pertaining this, Patton (2015) suggested that 20–30 participants are commonly included in most qualitative studies, whereas Creswell and Poth (2018) suggested that the sample size ranges from a single participant to 100 participants, thanks to the advances in qualitative data management system soft wares such as NVivo-14, ATLAS, and MAXQDA-2020. Accordingly, the data represented a sample of instructors/mentors and student-teachers/mentees, academic dean, vice academic dean and department heads of each stream, and the researcher. 47 participants were selected using purposive sampling technique based on the criteria such as academic background and teaching experience, lived experience, performances and position in the program: 14 instructors/mentors, the researcher (1), 3 college of education academic deans, 5 department heads, and 24 teacher-students/mentees. The mentors have more than 7 years’ experiences of mentoring, and mentees have more than 2 years’ experiences. The participants’ ages lies between 20 and 51 years.

Data collection tools

The most appropriate data collection strategy for a phenomenological research is the profound interview, observation, and document analyses (Yin, 2018). Key considerations for conducting the interviews include establishing rapport, using open-ended questions, probing for deeper understanding, allowing for silence and reflection, maintaining reflexivity, and analyzing data systematically to uncover common themes and meanings (Sandi-Urena, 2018). The phenomenological interviews allowed me to understand the lived experience or phenomenon intensely providing a space of aperture for informants to express their experiences in detail approaching reality as faithfully as possible. Creswell and Poth (2018) suggested that the researcher made an interview with 3 to 15 individuals, and Patton (2015) suggests that 20–30 participants are commonly included in most qualitative studies. All participants have experienced the phenomena.

I was one of the instructors mentoring and coaching pre-service teacher candidates in participatory action research and practicum/teaching practice program for about 15 consecutive years. I reflected on my observation and lived experience, and mentors-mentees educational relationships on their professional development. I recalled my own personal and professional mentoring experiences throughout the last 25 years. All lived experiences of mine were positive and meaningful. Through bracketing/reduction process, three individuals flashed back from my personal memory as I reflectively meditated, letting the preconceptions and prejudgments enter and leave my mind freely. First, there was a secondary school teacher who taught me biology from 1991–1994 whose interest guided me down a path I would not have traveled without his direction and support. I believed that this contributed to significant turning point in my profession. For the past 2 years, I actively participated in a formal mentoring/inspirational practicum program at University, investing time with different collegiate mentees each year.’ I positively reflected on these experiences from recent times and long ago and set aside any application they might have to this research by disconnecting myself from those memories. I repeated a practice until I felt sense of closure. As I moved toward openness, I was able to concentrate fully to listen and hear the participants’ presentations without coloring it with my own habits of thinking, feeling, and seeing.

I prepared and utilized open-ended leading questions to collect data from mentors and teacher candidates in teachers’ education. Then, the researcher conducted an in-depth interview with 32 participants for 45–60 s for 60 days. In addition, three focus group discussions were made for 2:00–2:30 h with three groups comprise 15 discussants for 10 days. The researcher used analytical codes (A–Z) or pseudonym to each interviewee and discussant to protect their identities.

Validity and trustworthiness of data collection tools

After developing instruments for data collection, validity, and trustworthiness were maintained using expert reviewers. The review was made by 5 expert reviews that have PhD and above, and lived experiences on educational mentoring and agreed comments were incorporated into the instruments. To secure the validity of the data, different data sources were cross-checked against research questions and objectives because this helps ensure objectivity, transparency, and credibility in findings (Greening, 2019). Moreover, the researcher used triangulation to maintain the validity of the data and thereby align the findings and conclusions to each other.

Methods of data analysis

The qualitative data management system, MAXQDA-2020 simplified the formation of themes, sub-themes, and verbatim statements for researchers based on textual and contextual settings, and analysis framework (Creswell and Poth, 2018). The systemic procedures and detailed data analysis steps of phenomenology outlined by Moustakas (1994) are ideal for assisting less experienced researchers. The hermeneutic and transcendental approaches using systemic procedures are consistent with my own philosophical view of balancing both the objective and subjective approaches to knowledge and detailed rigorous data analysis steps. I completed interpretive writing during interview because interpretative analysis is important for experiencing phenomenon (Smith, 2018). In this way, conducting a search for ontological understandings could further illuminate the analysis initiated. The purpose is to find phenomenological themes in a whole sense rather than themes relating to each participant; themes that Van Manen (2016) describes as having “phenomenological power lived experiences.”

According to Moustakas (1994), the ways of analyzing phenomenological data follows a systematic procedure that is rigorous yet accessible to qualitative researchers. The first step in the analysis is the process of horizontalization. In the transcripts that provided information about the experiences of the participants. Concerning this, Van Manen (2016) noted that the essential quality of a theme I explored a phenomenon what it is and without which the phenomenon could not be what it is. I described my own experiences with the phenomenon and I explored the mentors-mentees relationships to identify significant statements in the database from participants and clustered these statements into meaning units or themes. Next, I synthesized the themes into descriptions of experiences of individuals (textual and structural descriptions). Then, I constructed composite descriptions meanings and phenomena from methodological, epistemological, and ontological points of view.

Themes and sub-themes formation

In phenomenological research, it is important to follow a specific structure when reporting findings that present themes and meanings from participant experiences, discussion that interprets the findings (Greening, 2019). Accordingly, I identified 382 individual verbatim statements shared by the mentors and teacher candidates. Of these, 329 individual verbatim statements represented non-repetitive, non-overlapping significant statements. These statements reflected the entire sentences and were a subjective extrapolation from the transcripts. The rest 53 verbatim statements were redundant and unrelated to the issues of educational ripple effects hence, deleted. Based on the assumption of Mustakas (1994), the researcher identified 329 statements grouped into seven meaning units. In this phase of analysis, I explored how individuals learned and viewed educational ripple effects in mentors-mentees educational relationships and educational powers of professional development.

I presented the findings of the research in seven themes and sub-themes. The first theme described how teachers and students were always in relationships. The second explored the nature of mentors-mentees comportment. The third revealed the ripple effects in the play/performance, the fourth showed how to invest and reinvest in others. The fifth predicted how mentoring influences others positively or negatively. The sixth underlined the ability to give and the capacity to receive, and the seventh overshadowed interconnections within relationships.

These themes were presenting separately though they all are parts of the dynamic and interrelated whole. Regarding this, Moustakas (1994) described the horizon as the grounding or condition of the phenomenon that gives it a distinct character. As I thought about each horizon and its textual qualities, I began to understand the experiences through my own self-awareness and reflection because this approach recognizes that knowledge is not derived from empirical observation, but from personal experiences and interpretations (Greening, 2019; Van Manen, 1990).

Enduring educational relationships

When the relationship matters, mentors and mentees educational enduring experiences were engaged, connected, and respectful of the others. This aspect of the phenomenon revealed that while variously experienced, the relationship mattered. Accordingly, an instructor mirrored out that 3 weeks ago on the second last day before the semester break, some of the 3rd year chemistry student-teachers said him that we really enjoy your classes” (D, 25 March 2023). This is important because the relationship matters to everyone. The students show their care through their informal comments to the teacher about the course and in their farewells prior to vacation. This instructor mattered to the students before, during, and beyond the classroom experiences. The teacher reveals a different kind of mattering. The teacher recalls feeling pressured by time and the tasks to complete in the lesson. The movement and pace of the lesson, the teacher works to keep the students on tasks. The teacher focused on ensuring the students receive the contents they need, that he overlooks their human needs. What mattered initially then for this teacher was different from what mattered for the students. The teacher made reflection on the lesson, concerned, and prioritized the completion of tasks when he should have recognized the implications of the vacation.

As the teachers, noticed the absence of people in classrooms, the teacher is reminded his mattering of the relationship. Teacher’s concern for students continues to matter as the events of sharing the lesson with a colleague and then carried into an evening meal, a holiday, and beyond. Thus, the relational experience of being with these students is not over for the teacher. It affects the teacher’s professional and personal life. Lessons do not end with the clock times. They live in teachers and students historicity as endless and open to further understanding. There are occasions when instructors and teacher-students’ relationship does not appear to matter. As the students departed, they remind the teachers of their relationships and how the teacher mattered in the relationships (Frymier and Houser, 2000). In this context, there seems to lack of care and attempts of instructors to subordinate student-teachers. The teacher in the next section appears to be such a prototype teacher:

One of the mentees described that his teacher was much unexpected and thought that his way was the only right way. He came in and said this is what you have to be able to do. If you cannot do this, then you are going to fail. This teacher shouted at some people and she was thinking, whether she backs to school or not because he is humiliating at people (A, 25 March 2023). A couple of people challenged the teacher because he was so impolite. I would never back down or apologize. Amazingly, J, a 3^rd year teacher candidate reflected that

“She was too sorry to come to this school by saying that I charged one instructor to the discipline committee of the college but they left him with simple warning”. She was demoralized to attend her lesson in this class. He wrongly checked her exam and she went to office to ask him. Then, she asked him to see and correct her exam paper if she responded to his another question and finally, she became dehumanized and demoralized to have such stupid question from this old man” ( J, 25 March 2023).

Therefore, the student-teachers/mentees experienced teachers who appear to care little about educational relationships and interprets their relationships in terms of personal engagement. The student-teacher questions the teacher’s way of relating is dangerous for female students. Why must this teacher be act in this way? Why must the experience of relating with this teacher be so difficult? The absence of care is noticeable. Such type of teachers is with the students but not for the students; present in the teacher-students space but not towards the students. This teacher’s way of relating was less of a being-to-being relating and more of an objectified I-It relating (Buber, 2002).

This type of relationship does not welcome any appearance of the student as a person and as an individual. The students felt distant from the teachers and somewhat “lost” in an experience where the meaning and “way” was difficult to comprehend. The student and teachers are always in relationship. While the student or teacher might appear to “break” this relationship, this is in fact not possible. The ontological nature of the relationship overshadows that the relationship is always an integral part of both the teacher’s and the student’s everyday worlds. When the relationship does not matter to the teacher, the character of this experience is of concern to the students.

In the dialogue that follows a teacher experience with a student who had a case, a 3^rd year student-teacher who used to be so uptight reflected that “I felt the ‘system’ had wronged me because a teacher already had experiences, skills, and knew how to manage his lesson. He was good at practice and yet he had to go through this retraining course” (D, 8 April 2023). Then, an instructor pointed out that “his relationships with students are a fatherly approach at certain boundaries that I coach, guide, and give advice to make learners reflective practitioners. The instructor ensured that he and his students have strong relationships except the case of ‘D’, for instance, a teacher recalled a student who was completing her 2^nd year academic study under pressure”. The needs to retrain are interpreting as unfairness by the student, given the extent of the student’s prior knowledge and experience.

Therefore, how close should the teacher-student educational relationship be and become? This relationship matters differently to the teacher and the student. The student is keen to continue their relationships, the teacher less so. Teachers can feel as if certain students are mistreating the trust within their relationships. The central notions in this theme addresses that we are always in relationships and that relationships matters. The elemental nature of being human is one of being-with-others in a relational co-existence that is essential to the world we share with others. Once a student has enrolled in a particular course, the teacher and student are “always” in relationship; they cannot exist in any other way.

Instructors and teacher candidates personal manner

The mentors-mentees’ comportment is sensed by others and shows how they are. While this comportment is transitory, the comportment has the familiarity of a particular stand that shows what is integral to the person. This familiarity experienced how the teachers and students manner related.

With respect to mentees comport, a 3rd year student teacher describes about knowledgeable teacher who does not appear to have a breadth of experience in the subject matter she is teaching. The student senses a lack of experience in the way the teacher comports towards their teaching. There was one instructor “M” who said I know that

“She had her academic qualification but he doesn’t know how much experience she actually had. Things can be all right in theory but in practice, that is not always, how it happens. She really knew her academic information, the theories, the right answers, the academic side of things but I felt that somewhere there was something missing in her practical knowledge. I am sure that she is the sort of person that you wished you had her head on your shoulder when you were trying to write your assignments because she knew the right things to say. She did come and visit me when I was on a practicum in a school. She was very positive and specific with her praise but some of the comments she made me felt were made from perspective of someone not having been on the floor teaching her not quite knowing how it is to be there” (M, 8 April 2023).

The teacher’s comportment makes an impression upon the student is being and the student feels that somewhere there was something missing in his/her practical knowledge as if the teacher did not have an experiential knowledge from having worked with children. This student is unsure how she knows this “but it was just something.” Something in the way the teacher comports, speaks to the student of someone “not quite knowing how it is to be there” with children. Had the teacher been experienced her comments and interactions would have been different and shown in the way she comports herself. The teacher’s comportment influences the way this student stands in his relationship with the teacher moment by moment (Girma and Abraham, 2019). It is in the way that the teacher is with the student that the student feels “knowing” about who this teacher is. Whom this teacher comes across to the student on different occasions; such is the nature and influence of the teacher’s comportment (Dreyfus, 1991). Unless, the student can trust a teacher’s knowing comes from and is rooted in experience, then confidence in the teacher’s practical wisdom is undermined.

A mentee ’R’ further reflected that

“I think some teachers are inspiring the students they teach. He said that one teacher asked us for ideas and listened to us. She was interested in us. She was not interested in just telling us; she wanted to get our thoughts. She was not teaching anything significantly different, but she just put it into a way that was useful. It made such a big difference. For many of the instructors, we were treating, as we were kids in a class. They said theoretically we are all colleagues but a lot of them did not treat us like that. Whereas, this teacher managed to teach us without actually making us feel like we were children and made big difference” (R, 8 April 2023).

Therefore, learning requires engagement with another and sharing ideas in dialogue. The roles and responsibilities of teachers and learners are sharing through actively listening to how the students are relational. The expression of each person’s voice in the reciprocity of dialogue releases the potentiality of learning. These students felt as if they were an integral part of their teacher’s learning. In the process, teacher’s way-of-being releases this student to learning about and how of teaching and learning. The other stories show how a teacher’s comportment can have students fright the thought of further encounters. A 3^rd year student underlined that “I think that by speaking to the student as an object, this teacher lets the students know that they are not equals. Regarding this, students felt less than children, and spoken down without affirmation” (G, 25 March 2023).

Furthermore, another interviewee “B” stated that

“An instructor in my 2^nd year that pickled me likes a kid. The way he spoke to us, the way he asked another student to stop talking; He means it was probably even more offensive than the way he asked my youngsters to stop talking. He would not even talk to the classmates in my class without his permission though pedagogical mutual praxis is encouraging. He spoke right down to me and frightening. I never had a frightening teacher when I was at school but he learned what one was like. Even, when the students perform better in exams, he is belittling them by using offensive language” (B, 16 March 2023).

This reveals that the student endures a frustrating position because the teacher does not want to listen to the student, indicative of comportment that is not open to being with the student. The teacher-students’ relationship, there may be preconceived notions, which are popular conceptions that come from life and personal experience (Mullen, 1994).

Educational performances

The relationship between an instructor and a student teacher is always in performance. The play’s movement has the teacher and student continuously engaged in the immediate and concrete situation (Latta and Hostetler, 2003). Because of the occurrence of dynamic or changeable relationships and unpredictable relations, instructors and student-teachers moved forward and fit to each phenomenological context in the journey of improving educational performances. Thus, learning theoretical knowledge about relationship gives way to a direction that is in the prediction of the situation (Dunne, 1997). While the knowledge that informs the “know-how” of relationships might be useful to the situation, it is the lived experience of relation that has unpredictability. This theme shows how mentors and mentees experience being-in-the-play of relating and the scenario or practice wisdom of being in the relational play. An instructor describes a student-teacher whose contribution to a classroom discussion is different from the way the conversation had been unfolding.

For instance, an instructor and vice dean of the college summarized about performance that “a 3^rd year chemistry students as underachievement students one morning. The interviewee ensured that most students have strong relationships with grades rather than their learning that they are not working hard to develop their competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities) about their teaching profession” (F, 14 April 2023). How can teachers meet the needs of some students assessing their performance? In the course of discussion, we were talking about going that little bit extra to form a relationship with students and give a little bit of extra time to those who were not doing well. Was there something outside of the classroom or the structured lesson that you could do that would help them achieve more?

A 3^rd year student teacher that “it sounds really nice and very idealistic but why he was going to give an extra hour or three hours a week to lower performer students if he isn’t not getting paid for it by the name of cooperative learning or 1:5 active learning directive?” (Z, 25 March 2023). “In addition, where are you coming from on this? Before he had time to react, another student openly challenged him and said, if you have that attitude, if you are just in it to fill in hours and take home wages, why do you want to be a teacher? Is not teaching about helping people of going that extra distance of making a difference? In addition, he said, yeah, as long as, he is paid for it. He was serious, straight up and no longer face challenges'' (K, 14 April 2023).

An instructor finds feeling blown away, terrified by the student’s comments and struggles to understand where this student is coming from; who is the one who speaks. This reveals the seriousness and the weakness of the relationships between instructors and student-teachers by focusing on delicate opening and closing of relationship within a classroom dialogue, educational endeavor, the relationship moves and “becomes” in plays. This is experienced in moments that change the nature and movement of the relationships between mentors and mentees. This scenario shows confidences, tact, pedagogical thoughtfulness and moral knowing. An exclusive focus on the target of this moment (e.g., the lesson plan) might squeeze out the self in teaching as the “who” is sidelined and silenced by the “what”. Accepting the opportunity to be with the children in a different way, this student is overwhelmed and moved. Field and Latta (2001) suggested that some experiences remembered as causing us to be a different person in a different place. The moment calls for the student to be in the uncertainty of the relational play with children. Therefore, both mentors and mentees experience unrehearsed to-and-fro movement of being in the play of relating.

Investing and reinvesting in others

Relationship is a process of investing in another person by doing things for the person’s own good without consideration of self-reward and is the sum of our responses to another human being (Van Manen, 2016). All who touch it weave the fabric of one’s life. As relationships increase, the benefits enlarge; lives become richer, and strengths are expanding through others. All mentors talked in detail about the investment made in the mentoring process. Lasting, significant differences occur when one individual invests time and energy in another. Although mentoring relationship is a complex process, the evidence of past participants in the mentoring relationship suggested that commitment, trust and the willingness to invest time, energy, and self are critical components.

According to mentors’ experiences, those who are the recipients of this individualized investment often become investors themselves, leading to the humanistic concept of reinvestment. “One of the mentors shared that “investment is a deposit of something you give to another in multiple levels…investment in time...investment through listening, and the relationship piece; investment through learning and teaching. She recalls the faces of younger elementary school teachers who are replicating the profession a smaller scale (A, 25 March 2023). Through her teaching profession, the program will provide rich mentoring experiences to teacher candidates in pre-service teacher training program (E, 16 March 2023). In addition, another mentee ensured that “I have seen people in their oldest years and still they want to invest others”(C, 16 March 2023). The pre-service teacher candidates gain insights from educators, peers, and self-evaluations and enriching their overall learning experience (Yiğitoğlu-Aptoula, 2021). Therefore, although the sole reliance on instructors/mentors feedback hinders the growth of reflectivity in pre-service teacher education (Pow and Lai, 2021).

One of the mentor summarized that “from an early time in my life, I was the recipient of a personal investment that has affected her in a humanistic way. Honestly speaking, the investment made on me by others has transformed me professionally successful career opportunities in teaching in rewarding dimensions (Girma and Abraham, 2019). “Those who invested in others were commonly referred to as the mentors’ difference makers (H, 25 March 2023). As people accept risk to help reveal others’ gifts, they become difference makers too. I myself as the researcher remembered that my biology teacher while I was learning in secondary school advised me to join either medicine or teaching profession in my future career. This encouraged me to join University to take either of the professions. Unfortunately, I joined teaching profession and joined biology department. I decided to be a good biology teacher just my former biology teacher advised me as mentor. Furthermore, after graduated from Addis Ababa University, I joined college of teachers’ education as instructor and now, I am investing and reinvesting my talents, abilities, and knowledge in others. This is the ripple effects of educational mentoring relationships between mentors and mentees.

Influencing others positively or negatively

A primary function of a mentor is to serve as a role model for the mentees, demonstrating achievements that are worthy of imitation. The mentors described influencing as making a difference to another in a positive way by recognizing their strengths and helping them be the best at who they are. The three ways that mentors influence their protégé are by heightening anticipation, deepening expectations and helping to motivate creativity (Merket, 2022; Smith, 2016). This active influencing process passed on as a multiplier, similar to the investment/reinvestment concept. An instructor explained, “there is this positive influence that gets multiplied beginning with one person learning about their talents and abilities” (G, 14 April 2023). The other teacher talked in detail that “the influences received from his grade 9 geography teachers. His teacher’s influence had an impact on both academically and personally, resulting in achievements that he believes would not accomplished without a special influence that assisted in his development at a young age” (N, 14 April 2023). For instance, the mentor (T) communicated 6 teachers who he was mentoring on higher diploma program together to brainstorm on how they and their students could potentially “fill him up so that he can spill over.” They planned a surprise announcement of “we love you.” The mentor developed strong efforts whereby his teacher candidates learned positively from each other’ (T, 14 April 2023).

Therefore, a care that several mentors stated was the fact that influences could be positive or negative and that a negative influence could ripple through an individual to another or through groups of people just as positive ones. This may mean the difference between growth in teacher candidates and negative stagnation decline in the teacher candidates overall well-being as a person. The mentor said that “you can be influenced positively by someone and they can make your day, and then they move on and influence another, hopefully in a positive way and it ripples down and reaches a whole lot of people”( Q, 14 April 2023).

The ability to give and capacity to receive

Giving and receiving is a binary effort where the mentors suggest that the relationship first begins with the mentor having the potential to give to the teacher candidate by taking an interest in teacher candidates and identifying the individual’s strengths, talents, and abilities. Yakamoto (2012) suggested that the mentor is to find and highlight the essence of what makes the pupil special with the meaning of mentorship in teachers training program being to see life grow. For this effort to be profitable to the teacher candidates, s/he must possess the inner capacity to receive the assistance to build on his/her internal strengths. This role is to help another discover, intensify, and clarify her/his needs, objectives, and goals. Mentoring relationships is “the element of human relations capital” (Pow and Lai, 2021). If the mentor’s capital is neither equal to nor greater than the teacher candidates’ needs, the relationship can never be a total success. A mentor explained, “You can’t give away what you don’t have. The final step in the process is determining the capacity for the teacher candidates to receive’ (G, 20 April 2023). The other mentor continued by saying that “if an individual does not have the capacity or willingness to be the recipient of the mentor’s assistance, the gain is minimized” (P, 20 April 2023).

Therefore, no matter how much we are giving attention to it, the ripple effect is not strong enough to develop the ability to give and capacity to receive. Relatively, mentors have the ability to give but mentees’ capacity for receiving was void. The role of the mentor is to find and highlight the essence of what makes the protégés/mentees special with the meaning of mentorship being to see life grow (Giles, 2008).

Interconnections within the relationships

This concept surrounds mentors first understanding themselves and then understanding others through deep awareness and care of each individual’s potentiality. One mentor referred to interconnections as “relationship aptitude” All people possess some level of this but those who have the greatest potential to grow through relationships and then have the ability to extend to others have the largest aptitude. Trust is a primary give-and-take/reciprocal component in the relationship building process. The interviewee “V” stated that

“I suggest that while interconnection is a choice and one described it as a circle because over time, there seems to be no beginning and no ending; it just grows and develops. With this respect, one mentor strongly highlighted that “it is always a choice. It is always a choice to have strong interconnections within relationships” (V, 14 April 2023).

Therefore, in essences, sharing the contentedness was significant and multiplying teachers’ professionals and life changing, and hence, mentors frame life as relationship where the understanding of contentedness means understanding humanity (Calbrese, 1996). Mentors are builders, nurturers, and guides who invest in humanity and see far beyond the kind personalities and into the depths of the soul to that inner child. Mentees are the consumers who develop their professions enthusiastically from strong interconnections within the relationships. Regarding this Demekash et al. (2023a) suggested that teacher educators/mentors inadequately leveraged varied feedback methods to foster active reflective practices among pre-service teachers/mentees. This shows gaps of connectedness of the lived experiences between mentors and mentees.

The phenomenon of mentor-mentees’ educational relationships

From the thematic analyses, I made a narrative of what was experienced in textual descriptions, and how it is experiencing in structural descriptions. The textual and structural descriptions of experiences are synthesizing into composite descriptions of the phenomena through the research process referred to by Moustakas (1994) as intuitive integration. This description becomes essential and invariant structure of ultimate essence that captures the meaning ascribed to the experience (Mullen, 1994).