Teachers’ Perception of Personal Characteristics, Competencies and Prerequisites for Teacher Mentors

The research is aimed at identifying the personal prerequisites of mentor teachers; self-examination of “strong” and “weak” sides in order to raise the mentor's awareness of the need for constant professional development. Mentors are responsible for increasing the level of competence, self-efficacy and self-esteem, and motivation of the mentee to stay in the profession Not every teacher can be a mentor, as the tasks of a mentor are very complex. Research into the personal qualities of a mentor is of interest. The survey was conducted in November 2021. Forty-one primary and secondary school teacher-mentors from Serbia took part in the research. The obtained results show that, to the greatest extent, teachers mentioned approachability, consistency and responsibility as the most important characteristics; among the mentors’ professional competencies they named subject competencies, willingness to cooperate, commitment, and competencies that are developed through a lifelong learning approach. The participants are willing to change their expressed empathy, which is why they listed emotionality, indulgence, cooperation with parents, and tolerance as the weakest professional competence. The study reveals that the teachers have a clear idea of their current competencies as a starting point of their professional development, and the direction of further development with regard to missing competencies.