Abstract :
Quality English teachers are required to have a good mastery of
English language skills and language teaching methodology. New teachers or
lecturers, in particular, need assistance in improving these two aspects. One
of the ways is through Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Traditionally,
professional development (PD) is done by attending professional forums
and pursuing further education. However, this traditional practice has
some weaknesses, one of which is giving little opportunity for teachers to
take control over their own learning (Kennedy, 2005; Rose & Reynolds,
2007). While mentoring practices as a form of CPD are common in more developed
countries, they are not widely practiced in Indonesia. To respond to
the scarcity of research in this area, the current study is conducted by using
observations and questionnaire as the instruments to portray the implementation
of a mentoring program in an English training institution in East Java,
Indonesia. Specifically, the article reports the practice of the mentoring program
and the mentees’ perceptions of the mentoring sessions with the mentor.
The findings show that the teachers respond positively to the mentoring
program, and they also feel that their self-confidence is improved after joining
the program. The mentoring program conducted in the institution helps
the teachers to enhance their professionalism as English teachers.
