Annexes to SEC(2010)538 - Developing Coherent and System-wide Induction Programmes for Beginning Teachers - a handbook for policymakers

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dossier SEC(2010)538 - Developing Coherent and System-wide Induction Programmes for Beginning Teachers - a handbook for policymakers.
document SEC(2010)538
date April 28, 2010
agreement that induction programmes should be focused on the needs of each beginning teacher, as identified by observations, analysis of children’s or students’ learning, and discussion, all of which contribute to a formalised induction plan. They combine new teacher support, development, and assessment.

Induction programmes are more likely to be productive when they occur in settings where more experienced teachers are committed to supporting their new colleagues, in cultures that foster openness, collaboration, and asking for help” (Cameron 2007, p. 30).

The common goals of induction have been described as follows (Huling-Austin, 1988; Ashby et al 2008):

• achieve smooth transition from teacher education to being a fully qualified teacher (reduce the ‘reality shock’),

• improve teaching performance

• increase the retention of promising beginning teachers during the induction year

• promote the personal and professional well-being and development of beginning teachers

• support collegiality and teamwork of teachers (becoming a member of the wider school system)

• certification to transmit the culture of the system to beginning teachers.

Induction programmes provide assistance to novice teachers during their first year(s) of teaching and integrate pre-service education with continuing professional development. Support programmes vary greatly in terms of length, nature, organisation and purpose, as well as ideology and strategy (Eurydice, 2002; Villani, 2002, Ashby et al 2008). There are generally four approaches to organising induction programmes:

• ‘school as a learning organization’ approach (school has full responsibility for supporting a new member of the organization);

• co-operative approach between teacher education institution and schools (mentor training, group mentoring and individual consulting are organised by initial teacher education institutions);

• teacher community-based approach (teacher unions are responsible for support programmes); and

• municipality-based approach (municipalities are responsible for implementing support programmes) (Britton et al., 2003).

There are integrated models as well, but whichever model is chosen, it is always important to take local, regional and national contexts into consideration.

Based on experiences in Switzerland, Japan, France, Shanghai (China), and New Zealand, Britton et al. (2003) (as cited in Wong, 2004) reported that effective induction programmes have the following three characteristics:

• Comprehensive: Effective induction approaches are highly structured, comprehensive, rigorous, and seriously monitored. There are well-defined roles of their leadership personnel: staff developers, administrators, instructors, mentors.

• Professional learning: Effective induction programs focus on professional learning, and delivering growth and professionalism to their teachers. Induction programmes are considered to be one phase or part of a total lifelong professional learning process with many components.

• Collaboration: Collaborative group work is understood, fostered, and accepted as a part of the teaching culture. There are shared experiences, shared practices, shared tools, and a shared language among all colleagues. New teachers as treated as colleagues. In the induction phase this sense of group identity is stimulated.

The available literature suggests a number of tangible benefits of various aspects of induction programmes on teachers’ transition from pre-service training to sustained professional practice.

“Experiences of the induction year are dependent on many factors, including the induction arrangements made by schools, individual induction mentor-NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) relationships, and how NQTs draw on their ITE to interpret their experiences as beginning teachers. The literature indicates that where schools make arrangements for regular observation of trainees, ‘feedback’ sessions, sufficient non-contact time; where schools have an ethos which encourages professional growth; and where they provide conditions for induction tutors to both pursue their own professional development for the role as well as carry out the role, then they can aid NQT retention and provide bridges both from ITE to the NQT years, and from induction to early professional development. Such positive outcomes, where achieved, may well enhance teacher retention and motivation in the longer term.” (Ashby et al 2008, p. 52).

8.2. Mentoring

The mentor is a key figure in induction programmes, who supports the socialization of novice teachers to the school context and their professional development (Feiman-Nemser 2001, 2002). Mentoring is a widely researched aspect of both teacher education and induction/ teacher development programmes.

Little (1990) and Wang and Odell (2002) confirm that mentoring can facilitate professional development and provide emotional support to the novice members of the school community. A number of studies have addressed the characteristics, skills, and competencies of mentors. Based on prior research, Harrison, Dymoke and Pell (2006) summarise the skills required by mentors as guiding, leading, advising, and supporting; coaching, educating, and enabling; organising and managing; and counselling. Rippon and Martin (2006) identify approachability, teaching credibility, professional knowledge and authority and motivational skills as important characteristics of the mentor. In some schemes mentors also have an assessment role, which can complicate the relationship with their mentees considerably.

Mentoring can be pursued with different types of goals and objectives in mind, and it can be approached from various perspectives. Wang and Odell (2002) define the approaches in terms of a humanistic, situated apprentice and critical constructivist approach. Each, with its roots in major conceptions of learning, considers the goals of mentoring, the role of mentors, mentors’ expertise and mentor training. The humanistic perspective focuses on helping novices to overcome challenges on a personal level, and to feel comfortable in the teaching profession. Mentoring within a situated apprentice perspective emphasises adjustment to the school culture and the prevailing norms of teaching, and supports the development of techniques and skills necessary in a particular context. The goal of mentoring within a critical constructivist perspective is to transform teaching by engaging novice teachers and mentors in collaborative inquiry with equal participation.

Similarly, Gold (1996) identifies on the one hand a personalized approach to mentoring, where the novice teacher is encouraged to develop her self-efficacy and to come to terms with personal and professional needs as well as learning to address these, and on the other hand a technical and experiential approach, which focuses on technical skills and relies on an apprenticeship model of learning in which the mentor is the key person.

Orland-Barak and Klein (2005) identify three additional approaches to mentoring: a therapeutic, an apprenticeship, and a reflective orientation. In the therapeutic approach emphasis is on personal growth, which can be facilitated through a common understanding of the novice teacher’s experiences. The apprenticeship or instructional approach regards mentoring as a modelling of various behaviours to be reproduced by the novice teacher; the mentor’s role is first and foremost instructive and prescriptive. The reflective approach is characterised by an inter-subjective process, in which the asymmetrical relationship between the mentor and the novice teacher is acknowledged, but is harnessed to facilitate dialogue and development on multiple levels.

Pachler and Field (2001) posit the need for key stakeholders to emancipate themselves from an apprenticeship model of mentoring as an essential pre-requisite for engaging student teachers effectively in the sophisticated discourses required in relation to the multidimensional nature of their professional learning. They advocate ‘discursive’ mentoring which goes beyond the pragmatic with a view to encouraging student teachers to access more theoretical aspects of educational discourses, whilst remaining focused on the professional dimension of teaching. They see the adoption of such discursive practices as central in enabling the move from “technicist emphases to a model that integrates the social processes of change within society and schools with the individual development and empowerment of teachers” (Patrick, Forde and McPhee, 2003). In the context of repeated international calls for a re-professionalisation of teaching, e.g. based around notions of learning (and knowledge construction), participation, collaboration, cooperation and activism (Sachs, 2003) or a view of professionality as “an ideologically-, attitudinally-, intellectually- and epistemologically-based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences his/her professional practice” (Evans, 2002), principles of discursive mentoring also appear to have great relevance in the context of induction programmes.

Stokking, et al, (2003) addressed the issue of socialisation in relation to school development. In the induction phase the novice teacher initially forms collegial relationships, acquires membership in the teaching profession, consolidates knowledge, acquires skills, and accepts or rejects the norms and values of the school. Socialisation takes place on two levels simultaneously: (1) into the organisation (workplace), and (2) into the profession. These processes can be influenced by the behaviours, opinions and attitudes of more experienced teachers, but also the newcomer with a fresh perspective may help to raise awareness and to question the status quo. The mentor can function as a bridge between the novice teacher and the organisation, facilitating the novice teacher’s socialisation into the community, but ultimately the roles mentors adopt depend much on a school’s culture.

Hobson and colleagues (2009) analyzed international research literature on mentoring beginning teachers and describe the potential benefits of mentoring support. Effective support of professional development, reduced feelings of isolation, increased confidence and self-esteem, improved self-reflection and problem-solving capacities have been described as the main benefits for mentees. The most common feature amongst research findings relates to the provision of emotional and psychological support increasing novice teachers’ morale and job satisfaction. Mentors help novice teachers to adapt to the norms, standards and expectations associated with teaching in general and with specific schools (Hobson et al 2009:200- 201).

Positive impact on the professional and personal development of mentors is mentioned as the main benefit in some of the literature. Mentors gain new ideas and new perspectives from beginning teachers; mentors have reported learning new and improved teaching styles and

strategies, becoming more self- reflective (Davies et al 1999 cited from Hobson et al 2009: 209), improving their communication skills and becoming more knowledgeable about beginning teachers’ and others’ professional development needs (Lopez-Real and Kwan 2005, Moor et al 2005 cited from Hobson et al 2009:209), increasing confidence in their own teaching and improving relationship with pupils and colleagues (Davies et al 1999). Some studies suggest that mentoring can be an aid for individual career planning. A survey carried out by the Association for Teachers and Lecturers in 1996 in England found that mentors perceived to derive a number of benefits from working with student teachers: professional development, job satisfaction, management skills, curriculum innovation, morale, new teaching methods and addition of new resources.

Promoting teacher retention and stability is mentioned as the main benefit of mentoring for schools and educational systems by Smith and Ingersoll (2004). Through mentoring relationships the staff have come to know each other better, which has led to their increased collaboration and work enjoyment (Moor et al 2005 cited from Hobson et al 2009:209).

8.3. References

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