“I Believe I Did Not Preach into the Desert”: Opportunities and Challenges in Scaling Teacher Mentorship through Mobile Technology in Rural Côte d’Ivoire

About the research

Abstract

Mentoring is crucial for teachers’ professional development, but challenges of access, resources, and capacity make regular in-person mentorship difficult in low-infrastructure contexts. Mobile technologies such as social media have the potential to scale teacher professional development and communities. This paper explores the culture of teacher mentorship in rural Côte d’Ivoire and the motivations and challenges mentors face in using mobile technology in their work through semi-structured interviews with 33 teacher mentors. We found that mentors valued social connections and knowledge sharing in using mobile technology. However, power dynamics between teachers and mentors affected how they could collaborate. Mentors also expressed frustrations with the lack of moderation within social media groups. Lack of infrastructure and connectivity also raise potential issues of inclusion and access to rural areas and schools. We conclude with design recommendations for technologies that scale culturally relevant teaching mentorship in low-infrastructure contexts.