The influence of cognitive tasks on mentoring provided: Investigating the moderating influence of professionally educated staffs

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this article is to study the influence of cognitive tasks on mentoring provided and the moderating influence of professional teacher education.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional survey was based on a questionnaire that was sent to a total of 435 employees from 29 pre-schools in Norway. A total of 284 responses were returned, a response rate of 65.3 per cent. Two research hypotheses were formulated. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to develop three measurement models and structural equation modelling (SEM) based on multi-group analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results revealed that cognitive tasks increase the occurrence of mentoring provided at work and professional teacher education moderates this relationship.

Research limitations/implications

The use of convenience sampling and self-reports are discussed, especially related to representativeness and reporting biases.

Practical implications

The findings implicate a need for increased interdisciplinary co-operation both at work and in the teacher education.

Originality/value

This is an under-studied area and no previous research has used a confirmatory approach to investigate how cognitive tasks and professional education influence the occurrence of mentoring provided.

Citation

Waaland, T. (2014), "The influence of cognitive tasks on mentoring provided: Investigating the moderating influence of professionally educated staffs", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 39-55. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-02-2013-0008