Mentoring as Professional Support for Beginning Teachers in Kyrgyzstan

This study explores the role of mentoring in supporting the professional development and retention of beginning teachers in government schools in Kyrgyzstan. Using a mixed-methods design – semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and reflective journals from 30 teachers (mentors and novices)–the research reveals that novice teachers heavily rely on teacher-centered instructional practices, resorting to student-centered methods only rarely. These tendencies appear to be largely shaped by systemic constraints such as overload, insufficient pedagogical models, and limited institutional support. Mentoring has emerged as a critical resource that offers both pedagogical guidance and emotional support, helping novices navigate classroom management, workload demands, and adaptation to diverse learners. However, the quality of mentoring varies markedly across schools, reflecting broader systemic gaps such as uneven mentor preparation, restricted resources and inconsistent organisational structures. The findings underline the need for structured mentoring programmes that combine technical pedagogical training with relational, psychosocial support – a balance essential for improving teaching quality and reducing early-career teacher attrition in Kyrgyzstan and similar contexts. These results have significant implications for policy and practice, particularly regarding the design, support, and scaling of mentoring programs.