The induction year experience in a cross-cultural setting

Abstract

A new teacher's first year in the classroom is when he or she begins to establish a professional identity, to negotiate a place in the school as well as the classroom. It is a continuation of the acculturation process begun in practice teaching to a new culture, the culture of the school. In Canada, many newly graduated teachers are faced with an even more demanding acculturation task. A sizeable number find themselves hired by an Aboriginal school board and transported to a new community culture, often with neither formal training nor informal experience of Aboriginal cultures. To date, no studies of this acculturation to both school and community cultures and the impact it may have on the beliefs and practices of beginning teachers have been reported in the literature. This case study documents the experiences of a first-year teacher in a small Aboriginal community, describing the ways in which she developed and modified her beliefs about teaching in order to create a sense of self-efficacy in the cross-cultural classroom.