First-year teachers’ perspectives on the roles school leaders enact

Novice teachers' perspectives on mentoring: The case of the Estonian induction year

This study presents comparative case studies of preservice and first‐year teachers' and expert teachers' conceptions of the concept of prior knowledge. Kelly's (The Psychology of Personal Construct, New York: W.W. Norton, 1955) theory of personal constructs as discussed by Akerson, Flick, and Lederman (Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2000, 37, 363–385) in relationship to prior knowledge underpins the study. Six teachers were selected to participate in the case studies based upon their level experience teaching science and their willingness to take part. The comparative case studies of the novice and expert teachers provide insights into (a) how novice and expert teachers understand the concept of prior knowledge and (b) how they use this knowledge to make instructional decisions. Data collection consisted of interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Findings suggest that novice teachers hold insufficient conceptions of prior knowledge and its role in instruction to effectively implement constructivist teaching practices. While expert teachers hold a complex conception of prior knowledge and make use of their students' prior knowledge in significant ways during instruction. A second finding was an apparent mismatch between the novice teachers' beliefs about their urban students' life experiences and prior knowledge and the wealth of knowledge the expert teachers found to draw upon. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 88:970–983, 2004

Many teacher educators, teachers, students, administrators, and even novice teachers themselves assume that once novice teachers have graduated, they will be able to apply what they have learned in teacher-preparation programs during their first year of teaching. However, the transition from the teacher-education program to the first year of teaching has been characterized as a type of “reality shock” (Veenman 1984: 143); the ideals that novice teachers may have formed during the teacher-education program are often replaced by the realities of the social and political contexts of the school. One reason may be that teacher education programs are unable to reproduce environments similar to those teachers face when they graduate. Consequently, many novice teachers are left to cope on their own in a “sink-or-swim” situation (Varah, Theune, and Parker 1986). This chapter examines the challenges that novice second language teachers face in their first years in the classroom and outlines how these challenges can be addressed in language teacher education to better prepare novice teachers for the delicate transition from the teacher-education program to the first year of teaching. It first defines what is meant by the novice teacher and then discusses the topics of learning to teach, and the influences and challenges novice teachers that face during their first year.

Serving over 1.1 million students in more than 1,800 public schools, the New York City Department of Education is the largest school district in the nation. When individuals graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree in teacher education the New York City Department of Education assign a school-based mentor for one year. The case study examined how a novice special education teacher described his reflective experiences and progress, or lack thereof. The central research question was, “What were the differences, challenges, and successes between novice teachers’ first-year experiences and their third-year mentoring experiences?” Data collection included an individual interview. Data analysis was analyzing themes by manual coding. The findings were a lack of resources and exemplary administrative support. Still, often too late, lack of available materials, qualified mentor-teacher role, impractical standard planning time, meaningful observations, and good work ethics are qualities of mentors and initial dissatisfaction without a mentor. These results can inform school districts what happens when mentors are not assigned and develop improved mentoring programs for new special education teachers. A limitation of this study was one novice teacher was interviewed, and the findings were not generalized to other novice special education teachers. However, the implication was that new teachers, especially special education teachers, need mentors in the first year of teaching and beyond. Social change may include improved mentoring programs for school districts to ensure that novice special education teachers remain in the teaching profession.

It is well documented that entry into the teaching profession tests beginning teachers’ ability to cope and build capacity as they encounter the realities of teaching. Professional learning – particularly through mentoring and induction – has been identified as important for beginning teachers to effectively manage early professional practice, and to go on to thrive as teachers. For this reason, the development of professional learner identities is of significant interest in beginning teacher research. The aim of this research is to generate deeper understandings of the ways beginning teachers develop their identities as professional learners in their first year of teaching. Discussion about beginning teachers’ engagement with professional learning is often focused on externally driven accountabilities such as the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Teacher Registration Authority requirements. Significant responsibility has also been placed on schools to provide professional learning environments that meet the needs of teachers entering the profession. This approach to professional learning for beginning teachers, however, has a number of problems. First, access to quality professional learning environments has been shown to be highly inconsistent for those starting their teaching careers. Second, intentional engagement with professional learning, rather than an externally driven obligation to participate, is significant to the success of teachers from the outset of their careers. Third, professional learning provision generated in response to teacher standards and associated accountability measurers often fails to acknowledge the importance of internal motivation and attitude to beginning teachers’ sense of a professional learner identity. Framed within the theory of attribution, this study was motivated by the following research question: How do first-year teachers’ responses to their experiences influence the development of their professional learner identities? Attribution theory provides an explanation for how individuals make meaning of their experiences by determining causality for the outcomes of these experiences, thereby influencing their subsequent actions. Using a mixed methodology, whereby attribution theory informed data collection and analysis, this study investigated first-year teachers’ attributions of causality following a range of experiences to understand the influence of these attributions on the development of their professional learner identities. Participants in this study were drawn from independent schools across Queensland, Australia in 2015 and 2016. First, I administered an adaptation of the Causal Dimension Scale II (CDSII) as an online survey tool with 57 first-year teachers reporting their experiences and attributions of causality for perceived outcomes. Following this, I conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 16 first-year teachers who provided rich insights into the ways in which their attributional responses to experiences influenced the development of their professional learner identities. Through the use of descriptive statistical and thematic analysis for the survey and interview data respectively, the findings illustrated that attributions of causality were significant for first-year teachers in the development of their identities as professional learners across varied school contexts. Participants responding to their experiences using a balance of attributional behaviours were best able to maintain positive attitudes as professional learners despite the challenges and demands of entry into the profession. In contrast, predominantly unvaried and habitual attributional responses across many experiences negatively impacted the extent to which participants perceived thinking and acting as a professional learner to be purposeful, necessary and manageable. These findings also demonstrated that first-year teachers’ perceptions of their school contexts impacted the ways they made meaning of their experiences and thus their ability to enact their envisaged professional learner identities as they progressed through the first year of teaching. In an era of standardisation and accountability, this study draws attention to the need to expand current approaches to supporting first-year teachers beyond the provision of professional learning, with current models of professional learning proposed by external accountabilities and standardised regimes insufficient for the development of positive professional learner identities and building capacity within the workforce. This study highlights the importance to a number of stakeholders of taking into account first-year teachers’ attributional behaviours and attitudes to professional learning; they include policy makers, teacher educators, school leaders and those responsible for beginning teachers’ induction into the profession. This study makes an important contribution to research about effective support for teachers as they commence teaching, their professional and personal growth, and their identity work as professional learners.

& Many novice teachers experience a reality shock during the transition from teacher education programs to the first years of teaching, due to the unpredictable and dynamic nature of authentic educational contexts (Veenman, 1984, p. 143). To better understand novice teachers in transition, research on teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) has explored their shifting behaviors and beliefs during the first years of teaching (Farrell, 2009). However, this line of research has rarely examined the transformation of professional identities of novice ESOL teachers in a comprehensive way that allows for a broader understanding of the reality shock from the teachers’ own perspectives —how they understand their relationship to the world, how that relationship is constructed across time and space, how they understand possibilities for the future (Norton, 2000) during transition from teacher education programs to real-world teaching contexts. In order to address this gap in the literature, this article reports on a 3-year longitudinal case study of the transformation of the professional identities of four Chinese ESOL teachers during the first years of teaching in K–12

The field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) is similar to other fields in that we must not take it for granted that novice teachers will survive their first year without some kind of support. This paper outlines how three novice ESL teachers in Canada survived their first year without any support from the school they were placed. Specifically, the paper outlines how they, with the aid of a facilitator, engaged in reflective practice by using a framework for reflecting on practice to help them navigate complex issues and challenges they faced during their first year of teaching. Had they not engaged in such structured reflection during their first year, they would have probably become another statistic of those who quit the profession and contribute to the growing perception that TESOL is a profession that eats its young. The paper suggests that language teacher educators and novice teachers should not just wait until their first year to learn the skills of reflective practice but should do so much earlier in their teacher education programs so that they can be better prepared for the transition from their teacher education programs to the first year of teaching.

To address increasing national interest in teacher candidate performance assessments, this multiple case study examined three novice teachers’ assessment literacy practices from their completion of a teacher candidate performance assessment through their first year of teaching. Drawing on the literature on assessment literacy and novice teacher learning, we analyzed multiple data sources including a performance assessment completed at the end of teacher preparation, and interviews and observations over the first year of teaching. Findings suggest that novice teachers’ practice of assessment can be traced back to the performance assessment, particularly in the areas of designing assessments, analyzing assessment data, providing feedback to students, and using assessment information to inform instructional decisions. In some instances, change in assessment practice across time was attributable to specific teacher preparation components, professional support, and personal factors. This study contributes to the limited body of research that explores the relationship of performance assessments completed at the end of teacher preparation and classroom practice during the first year of teaching.

School leadership initiates and influences the school community towards shared educational goals and fostering a positive teaching-learning environment there. This study aims to explore the current challenges faced by school leadership in the community schools. The data were collected from the head teachers, assistant head teachers and teachers from three community schools, three participants from each school by employing interview under interpretive epistemology. The data from the informants were transcribe, coded and the matisized. The reliability and validity were established by triangulation and multiple interviews. The result found that divergent challenges facing the community schools' leadership such as excessive workloads, improper handling of rewards, socio-economic and diversity challenges of students, etc. Furthermore, the school leaders are required to focus on the strategies for addressing the current challenges such as, head teachers need more authority, staff equity, stakeholder meetings, legal reforms and staffing solutions. The study highlights the challenges faced by leaders in balancing administrative responsibilities and pedagogical leadership, affecting school performance and leadership practices. Community school leaders require professional development to improve the quality of education. It offers insights into strategies to improve leadership effectiveness and school outcomes. The result of the study would be beneficial to the leadership of community schools across Nepal.

This study investigated developmental trajectories of novice elementary teachers’ efficacy beliefs (i.e., personal teaching efficacy and outcome expectancy) and their mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). Overall, study findings indicated growth in participants’ personal efficacy beliefs and in various assessments for dimensions of MKT. Additional relationships between participants’ MKT trajectories and their mathematics efficacy beliefs trajectories were found. Findings from our study can help teacher educators, researchers, and school leaders in better understanding how novice teachers develop their MKT and their teaching efficacy beliefs during the teacher education program and in their first years of teaching.

Using the Teacher Career Cycle Model as the theoretical framework, this study extended our understanding of how teachers professionally develop during their first year of teaching. The purpose of this study was to describe the induction activities and socialization process that novice agricultural education teachers experience, and to determine their psychosocial attitude after completion of the first year of teaching. Thirty-one agricultural education teachers in their first year of teaching participated in the study, and both quantitative and qualitative research methodology was utilized to collect and analyze the data. Researchers concluded that factors related to the organizational environment of the school influence the induction stage of teaching. Novice teachers were not prepared for isolation and socialization issues, were challenged by complex program management responsibilities, and expressed frustration by the amount and quality of support that was provided by the school administrator. Novice teachers learned that they serve an important role in students' lives, and reported "love/hate" aspects of their career. It was determined through the use of a semantic differential scale that novice teachers concluded their first year of teaching with an overall positive psychosocial attitude.

Introduction and Statement of the Problem Across the United States, an ever-increasing number of high schools have reevaluated their use of instructional time and have adopted some form of a block schedule. Block scheduling, an innovation grounded in Trump's (1959) Flexible Modular Scheduling Design, reorganizes the school day into extended of time, each approximately 70 to 90 minutes. According to proponents of the block schedule, the reorganization of instructional time into longer, more flexible blocks offers possibilities to extend experiences (Marshak, 1999), to reduce discipline problems (Hampton, 1997), to increase student attendance (Khazzaka, 1998) and to decrease failure rates (Hottenstein & Maletesta, 1993). Cawelti (1994) believes that block scheduling increases teacher planning time, decreases teacher load by reducing the number of students and preparations per teacher, and encourages teachers to vary teaching strategies. Literature on the problems of beginning teachers falls into one of two categories: those that deal with problems specific to novice teachers and strategies offered to alleviate those difficulties. To date, no study specifically examining problems of beginning teachers related to teaching within a block schedule could be found in the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine the problems first-year teachers experienced in the block as they negotiated the beginnings of their careers. First-year Teachers Studies designed to identify problems and issues facing beginning teachers have been conducted for more than half a century. The findings of these studies indicate that the issues and problems faced by first-year teachers are perennial. Brock and Grady (1997) concluded, Teaching is one of the few careers in which the least experienced members face the greatest challenges and most responsibilities (p. 11). Equipped with book knowledge of subject matter, a few practiced teaching strategies, and limited planning skills, novice teachers experience an odyssey of emotions which run the gamut--exhilaration, frustration, uncertainty, confusion, and isolation. Veenman (1984) referred to this phenomenon as reality shock, and In general this concept is used to indicate the collapse of the missionary ideals formed during teaching training by the harsh and rude reality of everyday life (p. 143). According to Ganser (1997), Being a beginning teacher is like being in water over your head. You are floating on a tiny piece of foam that crumbles away every day just a little bit (p. 106). The problems faced by first-year teachers include isolation (Lortie, 1975; Rosenholtz, 1989), management (Coats & Thoresen, 1978) and general frustrations (Bullough, 1987). Fox and Singletary (1986) found that inexperienced teachers have difficulty adapting to students' needs and abilities. Gordon (1997) reported that Beginning ... teachers need more than knowledge of content and teaching strategies. Insight into adolescent culture is critical to success in managing a classroom (p. 56). Lortie (1975) identified isolation as a major obstacle for entry-year teachers, and Rosenholtz (1989) stated, Most schools are characterized by isolated working conditions where teachers seldom see or hear each other teach (p. 429). According to Veenman (1984), the number one problem of entry-year teachers is maintaining discipline. Brock and Grady (1997) attribute this difficulty, at least in part, to the first-year teacher's lack of familiarity with the students' culture: Novice teachers encounter students whose behaviors are foreign to them. Young themselves, the teachers have difficulty establishing an appropriate social distance (p. 17). A second category of literature concerning the problems of beginning teachers includes research that offers solutions to the problems of entry-year teachers. …

This longitudinal research examines the knowledge of, beliefs about, and planned use of the science practices of five novice elementary or primary teachers during their science methods course, student teaching, and first year of teaching. To answer our research questions, we collected lesson plans and conducted interviews after the teachers taught science lessons, and we coded these data sources for science practices and sub-practices. We found that the novice elementary teachers assumed a wide range of purposes for using the science practices in their classroom. For example, they emphasised the practices’ cross-curricular nature as well as how the practices can engage students in real science. In reference to the use of the science practices in their plans, there were aspects of the practices where the novice teachers’ planned practice did not yet match their understanding or beliefs. For instance, the novice teachers knew that reasoning is a part of science explanations, but there was little evidence of this element of Explanation and Argumentation in their plans. This work adds to the field's understanding of how novice elementary teachers use multiple science practices in planning to engage their students in sensemaking, and has implications for elementary science teacher education.

<p><span>This study investigates novice non-native English teachers’ opinions about the effectiveness of their teacher education programme and the challenges during their initial years of teaching. The results of a survey administered to fifty-five novice teachers and follow-up interviews identify strengths and weaknesses in their teacher education programme and catalogue the difficulties they faced when they star-ted to teach. The study found significant differences between the content of novice teachers’ academic courses in their teacher education programme and the conditions they experienced in classrooms. The major challenges of their first years of teaching were related to lesson delivery, managing behaviour, unmotivated students, and students with learning disabilities. The article includes suggestions to prepare teachers for the actualities of working in schools.</span></p>

This article addresses the question of how novice teachers perceive their work environment and how their perceptions affect burnout. Data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to novice teachers at the beginning and at the end of the school year. It was found that (1) novice teachers experienced high levels of burnout as early as the beginning of their first year of teaching; (2) novice teachers’ perception of their work environment at the beginning and at the end of their first year significantly and meaningfully explained their sense burnout; (3) three variables contribute to predicting burnout at the beginning and at the end of the first year of teaching: (a) lack of appreciation and professional recognition from students; (b) lack of appreciation and professional recognition from the public, and (c) lack of collaborative and supportive ambience.