Since September 1999, all Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in England who wish to teach in the maintained sector have to complete an induction period. In the light of the introduction of this statutory policy, this paper critically examines the key role of the school based induction tutor in managing the process. It draws upon an analysis of the government's induction circulars (DfEE/S 1999; and uses empirical data from a large, national DfES-funded project which evaluated the implementation of the policy. We argue that, for the majority of schools the work of the induction tutor within the whole school context, including management by the headteacher, is the major factor in the success of the policy. Further, we argue that there remain some tensions in the policy between the professional development and the assessment agenda.This paper addresses an aspect of school management of induction, namely the role of the induction tutor. The induction tutor's role was one area of investigation in a wider, national research project carried out at the Institute of Education between October 2000 and December 2001. There were four overarching aims of the project. These were to assess:1. The effectiveness of mechanisms for carrying out the induction of NQTs, including the cost effectiveness of its various different components. The effectiveness of dissemination of information by DfES, TTA and AppropriateBodies about the statutory arrangements. 3. The impact on the effectiveness of NQTs as a result of undergoing the induction year. 4. The impact on recruitment and retention of NQTs.The four research aims were broken down into 40 research objectives. Case studies comprising semi-structured interviews, fieldnotes and school-produced documents and questionnaire surveys were carried out. An NQT, an induction tutor and the headteacher in 24 state-maintained primary and secondary schools were interviewed twice -near the beginning and end of an induction period -to gain some insight into changes in practice and perspective over time. Appropriate Bodies in which the school case studies were to be located were initially selected by geographical diversity, i.e. urban/rural and by region. Telephone interviews with representatives from 18 Appropriate Bodies, (17 LEAs and the Independent Schools Council Teacher Induction Panel -ISCTIP) were conducted. The LEAs were chosen to represent a wide range of size and type of local authorities nationally, avoiding those undergoing inspection. Nine were then identified for the case studies, of which one subsequently dropped out. The eight Appropriate Bodies were asked to identify one school which they deemed to offer 'best practice' in induction provision. The researchers selected a further two case study schools, ensuring that at least one primary and one secondary school were seen within each Appropriate Body, and that the sample contained a range of characteristics overall, e.g. small, foundation, single sex etc. This data was complimented by a survey of 568 NQTs from the 1999-2000 and 2000-200...

The design and early implementation of a major national design initiative in England, the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL), is described in this paper. This novel hybrid master's degree seeks to span the traditional academicpractitioner divide, reconstitute the theory-practice dynamic as reciprocal and coconstruct an authentic signature pedagogy for teacher professionals drawing on contextualised theories of learning and teaching. The historical, theoretical and pedagogic foundations of the programme of professional enhancement are described at the outset of the implementation of this new model of early career development in the South West of England through the formation of university provider consortia, stringent processes of validation and critical milestone reviews including trainer and coach training, recruitment and first inauguration of the programme. IntroductionThis paper informs the debate about professional learning from the perspective of improving practice-related outcomes for learners who are also school teachers. It seeks to reframe teacher professional learning within the specific policy context of a new national model of master's level professional development -the Master's in Teaching and Learning (MTL) -which is being developed under the aegis of the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) in England, and more broadly against the background of issues raised in the literature on approaches to professional development. Here we seek to situate the account of this reframing within:

This paper considers the professional responsibility of schools in England to provide effective induction practices in the context of a central government mandated policy. It looks at individual schools as 'habitats' for induction and the role of school leaders and LEAs as facilitators or inhibitors. Notions of professional responsibility and public accountability are used to analyse the small number of 'rogue' school leaders who, within the new legislative framework, treat new teachers unprofessionally and waste public resources. A typology of 'rogue' schools that are in some way deviant in transgressing induction requirements is developed and the various sanctions that can be deployed against such schools are examined. How LEAs handle their monitoring and accountability role and manage deviant schools is considered. Finally, suggestions are made for improvements, such as the need to clarify professional responsibility and refine systems of professional accountability.

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