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relational level. Engaged pedagogy requires a very different set of teaching strategies and skills than the usual classroom skills – teaching strategies that an NTE might not necessarily have or know how to engage in. The findings in this research also reveal that NTEs were not given training on these teaching methodologies or strategies. NTEs are not given any formal learning experiences of pedagogy, and rather it becomes something NTEs learn through their relationships with self-selective mentors.
NTEs' experiences of Relational Learning informs their work because their engagement with a person becomes the very product of the knowledge. If NTEs remain using school techniques to teach pre-service teachers then that compromises the quality of teacher education. NTEs need to be nurtured by other more experienced colleagues by sharing knowledge and by being given enough opportunity to practice what they learn. If NTEs are not professionally trained and professionally inculcated to teacher education then they may struggle to survive in the profession. How an NTE functions and perceives their role as NTE directly impacts the education of pre-service teachers.
Loughran, 2014; Ping et al., 2018). An appropriate training program which includes or is a combination of mentoring, induction or networking should be developed for institutions. This training program should incorporate both formal and informal opportunities for NTEs to engage with learning of the work of teacher education. This training program should include an organisational and professional induction, a structured mentoring program, and opportunities for NTEs to network and engage with colleagues. NTEs need training and guidance to develop into their role of teacher educators and this training needs to be explicit, functional and well conceptualised (Loughran, 2014). The implementation of these programs must also be organised and contain relevant content to inform the practice of NTE. The content of these training program of essential skills and knowledge still need to be determined. Continuous professional development (CPD) of NTEs should also be a focus.
CPD programs can ensure that NTEs are both developing and upgrading their skills. CPD programs also allow NTEs to choose to participant in professional learning activities to develop and enhance their skills. HEI institutions are often very fast paced and intense thus finding the time to engage in such program can be challenging.
7.5.2 Relational Learning as ways for NTEs to learn
Structured programs may require time, money and human resources such as administrators and facilitators which may not always be available. In environments such as this, a relational learning approach should be applied. This would entail supporting NTEs to develop relationships with staff in an informal capacity through dialogue, shared conversations, observation, and an exchange of ideas or skills that happens randomly and informally. The support from institutions could come in the form of creating set times for social meetings and encouraging collaborative efforts in work. Eraut (1994) highlights the fundamental importance of working alongside others in informal contexts to engage in learning experiences. Eraut (1994) points out that learning and knowledge is held within professional learning communities. Learning through relationships by being in connection with others creates an educative experience that bonds people and learning. However, finding time to engage in relational practices remains a big challenge.
7.5.3 Limited literature on NTEs' experiences
There is a paucity of research on NTEs managing their experiences as they transition into higher education. For example, many NTEs experience many changes in their teaching pedagogy and they must adapt their teaching styles to their new contexts. NTEs experiences
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many challenges in this regard, while research has identified some of the difference in pedagogical experiences, there is little research on how to overcome these challenges as teacher educators. Loughran emphasises to the lack of attention given to scholarly leadership in teacher education and sees this a primary reason that NTEs "might struggle to understand how to develop" (2014, p. 3). Hence the need to research and dig deep into identifying and theorising about NTE is work that still must be done. The emergent literature on the topic of teacher educators requires more insight into the nature of the work of teacher education.
7.5.4 The development of COP in higher education
The workplace is the primary place NTE can learn the necessary knowledge and skills needed for teacher education. When an NTE engages, collaborates and interacts with other teacher educators, they become a part of this higher education community. This community creates a social platform for NTEs and teacher educators to share and examine their experiences through reflection, dialogues, observation and modelling. This kind of educative activity between staff is invaluable and can become an immense asset to the institution. However, who will be responsible for developing community of practices in institutions and how will this be sustained? The climate in higher education through this research has exposed the isolating environment that some NTEs experience when they arrive in higher education institutions, and together with the hierarchal structures can make it difficult for NTEs to develop and join these communities. COP need to be organised and structured so teacher educators can engage in "thinking together" and "learning together" in an environment that is free from status and power relations (Stoll & Louis, 2007). NTEs also need to be empowered to understand communities of practices and their potential value. COPs often emerge naturally through people working together in the same department, through people working across departments or through any other activity that requires engagement, hence COP can be an unintentional act of relational learning.
7.5.5 NTEs adaptation into HEI environment and emotional support
Feelings of anxiousness, despair, and doubt are feelings not unknown to NTEs. To curb these feelings and ensure an NTE remains in the profession, some sort of emotional support needs to be made available to NTEs. Emotional support is important for NTEs because of the experiences they encounter, such as feelings of being overwhelmed, hierarchal challenges, cultural changes and contextual differences. Emotions play an integral part in how an NTE thinks and behaves to these changes as they construct meaning and knowledge (Dirk, 2001).
Hence emotions become a motivating factor that encourage an NTE to take action that will either bring about their success or failure (Dirk, 2013). Emotional support is critical for NTEs' personal and professional development because emotions affect the decisions we make. A support structure within the department or institution can provide NTEs with skills to manage their emotions. NTEs need to feel safe and secure and this will motivate them to work hard and to manage their roles better, therefore, emotional support needs to be a focus in the professional development of NTEs.
An attribute of RCT, and key to good emotional support is mutual empathy. Mutual empathy is when both participants in a relationship show understanding of the other person's experiences and responds in a respectful and empathetic manner. Unlike the common understanding of empathy that is one-way, mutual empathy requires both participants to engage relationally by both listening and engaging in the act of empathy. Similarly, NTEs who have relationships with teacher educators must make an effort to show an "emotional response, to understand the other person, to regulate emotions and to show awareness of self and others" (McCauley, 2013, p. 3).
7.5.6 HODs should not automatically be assigned as mentors to NTEs
The findings of this research reveal that while HODs are well versed with the intricacies of their department, institution and staff, they do not always make the best person to act as mentors for NTEs. A mentor has a significant role to play in the development of an NTE and therefore mentorship should be the mentor's focus. Mentorship should not be assigned to someone as an incidental activity or substitute position. Mentorship is serious because it has a direct impact on the professional careers of NTEs. HODs or academic leaders are often burdened with heavy administrative roles and are consumed by attending meetings therefore they become inaccessible to an NTE. A mentor from the department the NTE is in would be better suited as they understand the functioning of the department and have the time to support and assist the NTE. Accessibility and time are quintessential qualities for a mentor to an NTE. Mentoring should also be seen as an investment for both the human resource department and the academic department. Investing in the professional development of academics like NTEs is a worthy exercise to undertake has it adds to the quality of education, retains novices in a profession and also enculturates a person into the institution. For mentoring to be effective in an organisation, it needs to be work that is acknowledge by the institution and factored in the mentor's workload.
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7.5.7 NTEs require a more detailed induction program
It is imperative that more detailed and tailormade induction programs be devised for NTEs.
Van Velzen considers induction of NTES to be "haphazard" and "dependent on the good will, time and effort of teacher educators" (Van Velzen et al., 2010, p. 62). Induction programs are integral to the integration of NTEs higher education because it introduces NTEs to their work environment and serves as a welcome into the institution itself. NTEs require an induction program that separates organisational induction from professional induction. The findings from this study identified that organisational induction could include topics on institutional policies and procedures, and the professional induction could include topics on professional knowledge, developing professional skills, professional identity, and participating in communities of practice to list a few. There is little evidence in research on how to conduct such inductions or consider what content could potentially be the focus in teacher education as a discipline. This, then, encourages teacher education as a discipline to take stock of what teacher education really means and to define what the quintessential components are that encapsulates teacher education (Martinez, 2008). Professional induction should be done in departments at a 'meso' level, rather than a macro level. Inductions can also occur in many different formats such as small workshops, departmental meetings, discussion sessions, and they do not have to be in such a rigid structure that overwhelms NTEs.