Developed out of the Provincial Teacher Education and Development Committee (PTEDC), the Mentor Teacher course has been developed to capacitate classroom teachers as expert mentor teachers during student Teaching Practice in schools.

The Mentor Teacher course is collaborative project with the Cape Teaching and Learning Institute (CTLI) and the four public universities in the Western Cape and supports teachers in the mentoring and training of student teachers during the Teaching Practice component of their Initial Teacher Education.

The Mentor Teacher course is a blended learning programme presented online via Google Classroom and which runs over ten weeks. It comprises of six units (see overview below) that includes information about student practice teaching, mentoring and coaching and the development and use of evaluative criteria for student teachers. Included are short activities that assist teachers to work through the course material and take a reflective stance in relation to themselves as mentor teachers in schools. The course presentation is supported by three Teams contact sessions that are held online.

The course is relevant for both primary and high school teachers as it presents a conceptualisation of mentoring that can be applied to supporting student teachers completing their teaching practice in different phases and grades.
Ideally groups of teachers from the same school should consider completing the course together as the course encourages schools and teachers work together to develop a school programme that can be used to support student teachers in each unique school context during their teaching practice.

The Mentor Teacher Course has been accredited with SACE and teachers will receive CPTD points on successful completion of the course.