Empowering Teachers Through Mentoring Within Language Teacher Associations: Examples from Africa

This chapter discusses mentoring in Africa, a context where, historically, English language teaching and teacher education have generally been driven by ideas and resources generated from other contexts, particular the UK and the USA. The chapter describes and critically examines the processes, challenges, and opportunities for teacher mentoring within the context of teacher associations in Africa and highlights the extent to which a participant-centered approach to teacher development through mentoring can enhance the potential and agency of teachers and result in the development of thought leadership on the continent. Drawing from two examples of teacher mentoring programmes within Africa ELTA, the chapter argues for the need to localise mentoring practices and to contextualise teacher education efforts within English Language Teacher Associations (ELTAs) in less favourable contexts.