Mid-career Teachers Research Articles

Mentor, mentee and mathematics: A story of professional development

In this paper, I critically examine my role as a mentor to a group of mid-career mathematics teachers, to better understand how mentoring practices influence teacher learning. The teachers taught mathematics to Grades 5 or 6. They planned and taught lessons to promote conceptual understanding of mathematics through the use of discussions, and reflected on their own and pupils' learning in the process. The study lasted for a year. It draws on qualitative data from sources such as semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and teachers' reflective journals. As a mentor/researcher I found that in the case of mentees' perception of the mentor as a problem solver or evaluator of performance learning was inhibited, whereas mentor and mentee relationships established on mutual trust supported mentees' personal and professional growth. The close work with the teachers also gave me insights into aspects of learning influenced by teachers' beliefs and understanding of mathematics and of how learning takes place. The study has implications for other such teacher education initiatives, particularly in the context of developing countries like Pakistan.

Workplace Conditions and the Rise and Fall of Teachers' Commitment

Six organizational conditions of schools, identified from a review of the social-psychological literature on job design, are found to affect the job commitment of 1,213 teachers from 78 elementary schools throughout Tennessee. The authors divide organizational qualities into those that impinge on the tasks of defining boundaries and implementing the professional teaching task and those that directly affect the core instructional role of the teacher. Theyfind that novice teachers' commitment is influenced more by organizational supports for the management of boundary issues, while experienced teachers are influenced more by organizational qualities that affect the core instructional tasks. They also find that midcareer teachers have a lower commitment to their jobs and place a greater emphasis on task autonomy than do either novices or veterans.

The Distribution of Salary Increments and its Effect on Teacher Retention

Using personnel files provided by the State Education Department of New York, I examined and compared teacher retention rates from 1974 through 1984 in school districts that used alternative practices of internal salary distribution. A total of 57 school districts from two regions of the state were included in the study. I categorized them on the basis of changes from 1974 to 1984 in the relative attractiveness of salaries offered entry-level, midcareer, and senior teachers. Although the data revealed positive correlations between district retention rates and salary improvements in both regions, I also found regional and gender-related differences in teacher labor market behavior.