Don’t let me forget the teacher I wanted to become

Abstract

This article reports findings from a study of 14 beginning teachers in their first year of teaching in primary schools. By the end of the first year, half were reconsidering their long-term commitment to teaching. The study found they were considering leaving because they were struggling to be the teachers they had envisaged being. One reason for this was the lack of alignment between the supports offered to them, and their own visions of good teaching. The consequences of misaligned supports for beginning teachers are discussed, along with suggestions for the ways in which mentoring and induction programs can better support beginning teachers to be the teachers they wish to be.

Creating Conditions for Strong Mentoring

“…The mentor should meet the beginning teacher's professional needs as well as provide expert advice in curriculum and instruction (Bickmore & Bickmore, 2010;Hobson et al, 2009;Resta et al, 2013). In addition, mentors familiarize beginning teachers with their new roles, including the specific context of the school (Adoniou, 2016;Leimann et al, 2008). The mentor's charge does not end with professional support; the mentor also assists with personal needs, such as supporting the mentee's feelings of belonging and reducing stress (Bickmore & Bickmore, 2010;Leimann et al, 2008;Resta et al, 2013).…”

“…When a mentor talks about pedagogical knowledge, they must connect theoretical issues to their mentee's practices (Orland-Barak & Hasin, 2010). Additionally, the mentor must be willing to form a collaborative relationship with their mentee (Adoniou, 2016). Effective mentors take into account the beginning teacher's needs, get to know the beginning teacher's pedagogical conceptions, and use this knowledge to design goals together and needs to be able to handle a complex relationship that encourages open dialogue but also allows the mentee autonomy in their classroom (Parker, 2010).…”

“…Lozinak (2016) argues administrators need to make prudent decisions in pairing mentors with mentees, as mentoring is most effective when considerations about how the two will match are taken into account. Assigning new teachers to random mentors leaves too much room for personality and pedagogy misalignments (Adoniou, 2016). The pairing should take into consideration the beginning teacher's strengths and weaknesses so the pair can get along on a personal and professional level (Adoniou, 2016;Hobson et al, 2009).…”

“…Mentoring programs, or systems of assigning a more experienced teacher to assist and guide a new teacher, first became a popular strategy to improve the teaching profession during the 1980s (Feiman-Nemser & Carver, 2012), and researchers began studying mentoring outcomes in 1990 (Hobson, Ashby, Malderez, & Tomlinson, 2009). Since then, many studies examining the mentoring relationship have found that mentoring can increase new teacher retention (Adoniou, 2016;Callahan, 2016;Ingersoll & Strong, 2011;Leimann, Murdock, & Waller, 2008;Shwartz & Dori, 2016;Sparks, et al, 2017). In a 2015 federal analysis, beginning teachers assigned a mentor were significantly more likely to remain in the profession than those without a mentor (Godrik, 2016).…”

“…Numerous studies demonstrate that new teachers attribute mentoring to their decisions to stay in the profession (Adoniou, 2016;Andrews, Gilbert, & Martin, 2007;Hobson, 2009;Resta, Huling, & Yeargain, 2013). In a 2014 survey by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year and the American Institute for Research, over half of new teachers listed "access to a mentor" as the largest impact on their teacher efficacy (Godrik, 2016).…”