Brief historical development of mentorship in Kazakhstan

60 courses are organized from 2017 developed by the AEO “NIS” in cooperation of Faculty of Education at Cambridge University and it is planned to cover more than 3,000 teachers (Zharkynbekova, 2016). Apart from this program, the scholarship program “Bolashak” is functioning where teachers also can improve their qualifications and take language courses. Professional development programs are renewed and opportunities for teacher professional development and qualification are provided (MESRK, 2010).

61 entrusted to people with high professional qualification and rich life experience. The process of mentorship was extensively propagandized, reviews and meetings were organized, best mentors were encouraged and rewarded with special gorgets such as

"Nastavnik molodyezhi" ("Mentor of youths") in the 1930s and title of honor

"Zasluzhenny nastavnik molodyezhi" ("Honored mentor of youths") in the 1980s (Scherbakova & Scherbakova, 2015).

Examination of the given period denotes an increasing role of a teacher in teaching children, educating them to voluntary discipline and communistic attitude towards education and labour. For this reason the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union obliged the National Commissariat of Education in all union republics, soviet and party organizations to provide teachers in their work with all necessary conditions in every possible way in order to acquit successfully responsible and honorary commitments in teaching and nurturing young generation of the USSR.

For the purpose to provide soviet schools with pedagogical staff and attract young people to schools it was suggested that the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (usually known as Komsomol) in each soviet countries to create and develop special events to select pioneer leaders, assigning them with particular obligations and improving their general as well as special pedagogical qualification. These young people were considered as a valuable reserve for preparing new pedagogical staff.

During the II World War in 1941-1945 and with the appeal of considerable number of pedagogues to the army the educational level of teachers decreased. Teachers as mentors were extremely in need as questions were sharply emerging concerning the activation of methodological works and activities of in and out of schools, methodological unions and panel sessions.

The notion 'mentoring' resumed its modern understanding in the 60s of the XX century and it was regarded as an important form of professional preparation and education of young people in the teaching profession. As experienced male teachers were gone to the fighting line they were replaced by their own students. Mentors of these young specialists were assigned, with excellent professional background and rich pedagogical experience. These mentors and mentees observed each other's lessons with the following analysis.

62 In the 70-80s of the XX century, with the aim to best accustom to a new pedagogical staff, the USSR enacted a law in which it was proclaimed that for improving practical knowledge and skills of graduates of higher education institutions young beginners pass a training on probation on the particular specialty under the supervision of the administration in the corresponding enterprises, institutions and organizations and under the control of higher education institutions. The requirements to the trainings on probation and its programme were presented in the Instructional letters of the Ministry of Public Education of the USSR in March 27, 1974 (Scherbakova & Scherbakova, 2015).

When examining social and pedagogical aspects of mentoring Batyshev (1977) indicated mentoring as a peculiar process of pedagogical work in the context of production. Every graduate of pedagogical institutions was obliged to pass traineeship according to individual plan developed together with the leader who was appointed from the number of experienced pedagogues. This plan included various directions of work for newly hired teacher which allowed him/her to improve in the teaching activities, in the out-of-school work, in the communication with children's parents, to learn advanced pedagogical experience, to acquire new methods and approaches of teaching and learning as well as to demonstrate managerial capacity. The head of school was responsible for the realization of the plan. Within the ten months traineeship newly appointed specialists learnt the principles of perspective and present planning, took part in planning the work of the school, developed lesson plans for his/her classes.

Alongside with that newcomers got necessary consultations with experienced senior teachers and heads of school.

One of the researchers who investigated the phenomenon 'mentoring' during the Soviet Union period was Rogachevskaya (1982) who analyzed the development of mentoring from the first phases of the Soviet regime, discovered its traditions and continuance, demonstrated its place and role in the professional preparation of the working class. “In the first decades of the Soviet regime the movement appeared and began to develop to educate and train young working class. Although this movement hasn't been indicated as mentorship yet, according to its nature and methods of training of youths this have already been mentorship in socialistic type” (Rogachevskaya, 1982, p.11-12).

63 In general, the nature of mentoring in this period differs with its social essentiality.

Studies were focused on the mechanism of influence of mentoring to the increase of labour and social activity.

At the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s, with the dissolution the USSR, the interest in mentoring as a mass movement weakened.

However, on the boundary of the XX and XXI centuries, as a result of fundamental reorganizations in all spheres of lives of Kazakhstani society in conditions of modernization in the educational system again the necessity came to a head for renewal of mentoring institutions. Because in the modern educational area of “higher education - professional sphere of activity” there are no more substantial mechanisms of cooperation which conduce to professional socialization of young specialists right after their graduation. Almost two thirds of graduates of pedagogical institutions feel unfit entering a new work environment; they don't feel potential in themselves for professional growth and career development. In such situations, developing mentoring system again would be one of the most effective methods of professional socialization of new university teachers.

Today mentorship enters into a new stage of its development, its social role and significance is increasing since the system of mentoring refines the process of induction and professional formation of young academics.

Hence, having analyzed the evolution of mentorship development, it can be concluded that formation and segregation of mentorship as a social institute was entailed with the expanding needs in society in theoretical reasoning and generalization of naturally compounding experience of teaching and nurturing of oncoming generation. Mentor executes a peculiar function of society: nurturing an individual, his/her intellect, spirituality, preparation to life in general, to participate actively in labour work. The phenomenon of mentorship comprises an essential social and pedagogical component of social development and maintenance of valuable traditional socio-cultural grounds.

64

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY