Principals as Mentors in Teacher Education: How Preservice Teachers’ Voices Informed Practice

Abstract

Principals in today’s schools clearly have their work cut out for them. The job has never been easy andthe addition of accountability for state standards and assessments just adds to the load. Theimplications of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for principals involve spending significant amounts of timeon the development of effective classroom teachers. The content of induction programs for newteachers now includes federal and state requirements for licensing and recertification (Highly QualifiedTeachers) in addition to aligning new teacher needs with school mission and goals. As a result, theprincipal’s role with beginning teachers has never been more important than in today’s era of schoolreform. What impact do accountability measures have on the attrition and retention of new teachers?According to Hoerr (2005), 25 percent of new teachers will leave the profession within four years. Willthat figure be further impacted by the fact that new teachers must deal with strict accountability issuesalong with the traditional concerns of classroom management, planning and organizing instruction,motivating and evaluating students, and using effective teaching strategies (Gordon & Maxey, 2000)?Federal and state requirements put added pressure on principals to get their teachers up to speedquickly in order to improve and sustain student achievement. While principals can put new teachers onthe right course through well-developed induction programs, they may want to become involved sooner.It may prove advantageous to schools and the profession, if principals start looking at earlierinvolvement with new teachers during pre-service. Principals may argue that the extra time investedwith preservice teachers may not impact their particular school when most students will take jobs inother districts. Considering the statistics on new teacher attrition and the prediction that we will need toeducate 54.3 million students by 2008 in our nation’s classrooms (Glatthorn, Jones & Bullock, 2006),principals may be providing a service that could impact the profession of teaching as a whole.

Using the Theory of Learning Organisations to Understand the Role of Principals in School Health Promotion: A Case Study

“…Cosner et.al., posit that "sharing ideas, points of view, information and expertise helps to keep everyone informed and, in the loop," 29 Varrati and Smith also assert that "teachers view principals as key figures for support and guidance." 30 Principals could also take an active role in "improving their support systems through mentoring programmes." 31 The provision of support can be associated with caring leadership.…”

“…30 Principals could also take an active role in "improving their support systems through mentoring programmes." 31 The provision of support can be associated with caring leadership. Caring lies at the heart of the effective enhancement of healthy school environments and good school leadership.…”