Perceived problems of beginning teachers in their first years of teaching are reviewed. Studies from different countries are included. Issues such as the reality shock and changes in behaviours and attitudes are considered also. The eight problems perceived most often are classroom discipline, motivating students, dealing with individual differences, assessing students’ work, relationships with parents, organization of class work, insufficient and/or inadequate teaching materials and supplies, and dealing with problems of individual students. There is a great correspondence between the problems of elementary and secondary beginning teachers. Issues such as person-specific and situation-specific differences, views of the principals, problems of experienced teachers, and job satisfaction of beginning teachers are discussed also. Three frameworks of teacher development are presented which provide conceptualizations of individual differences among beginning teachers. Finally, forms of planned support for beginning teachers are noted. Research using an interactionistic model for the explanation of behaviour is needed.
Multigrade and multi-age classrooms, in which students from two or more grades are taught by one teacher at the same time, represent a significant phenomenon in our schools. This article reviews the best evidence concerning the cognitive and noncognitive effects of the multigrade classroom, which is an administrative device used to cope with declining student enrollment or uneven class sizes, and the multi-age classroom, in which children of different ages are grouped together for educational and pedagogical benefits, in elementary schools. Studies in which the cognitive or achievement effects of multigrade and single-grade classes were compared revealed no consistent differences between these two types of classroom organization (median ES = .00). Studies of the noncognitive effects of multigrade and single-grade classes also produced no consistent differences (median ES = +.10). Studies in which the cognitive or achievement effects of multi-age and single-age classes were compared indicated no differences between these two types of grouping (median ES = –.03). And, finally, studies of the noncognitive effects of multi-age and single-age classes produced inconsistent effects (median ES = +.15). It is concluded that there is no empirical evidence for the assumption that student learning may suffer in multigrade and multi-age classrooms.
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