A STUDY ON THE MUSIC EDUCATOR’S VIEW OF MENTORSHIP IN NORTH CAROLINA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the overall perception of the mentorship-training program in the state of North Carolina through the music educator lens. Four main questions guided this study: (1) What are the overall demographics of the NCMEA members who are mentoring beginning teachers? (2) What are NCMEA members' perceptions of their mentor training through the state of North Carolina? (3) What are the NCMEA members' perceptions of their mentor training through the participant's LEA? and (4) Whom are the NCMEA members mentoring? The researcher constructed the Mentorship Perception Survey using a six-point Likert-type scale, ranking scale, and open-ended response. The 48-item questionnaire was shared with all registered PK-12 North Carolina Music Educator Association (NCMEA) members of which 1.77% completed the survey (N = 33). Overall, most participants were satisfied with the training they received through the state of North Carolina and their Local Education Agency (LEA). Furthermore, the majority of participants (n = 20) have acquired a master's degree, and taught anywhere from 4 years to 43 years across all grade levels and specialty content areas.