Utility of the Tripartite Student Teacher Mentoring Scheme in Zimbabwe : Tripartite Student Teacher Mentoring Scheme in Zimbabwe: hopes, gaps and challenges expressed

The study assessed the utility of the professional relationships of the mentor, student teacher and lecturer in pre-service teacher preparation in Zimbabwe. Using a descriptive survey design within a case study, through questionnaires and interviews on a sample of 80 host teachers, 32 lecturers and 75 student teachers, data was collected from the three principal parties in the mentoring scheme in three teachers colleges in the Masvingo province of Zimbabwe. The empirical investigation revealed that the tripartite student teacher mentoring scheme, though with high hopes of yielding fruitful results, was flawed with gaps and challenges, rendering the quality of the student teachers' school based professional training some-what wanting. Promising initiatives, especially to do with more dialogue between lecturers and host teachers on aspects of host teaching,as measures to mitigate the challenges were suggested.