AUSSIE EDUCATOR

Beginning Teachers

Beginning teachers can face anticipation, uncertainty, stress, concern, even fear when first taking up a teaching position. They have to implement all they have learned in the most effective way, create relationships with students, other staff and parents, become part of a system, a school and a staff with all this implies, match the desirable with the possible and finally, cope with the physical demands of teaching full-time.

While this can prove rewarding, and hopefully does for new teachers, it makes for interesting times until the final moment when you know you made the right decision.

This page gives access to procedures and programs used in each state & territory, special reviews, reports and surveys, resources & tools, books, even Survival Guides. It looks at induction, mentoring and other special programs.

For related information, visit — the Professional Development and Teacher Employment pages.

Australian Capital Territory

ACT Education Directorate

  • Casual Teachers
    This information is included as many beginning teachers have found casual teaching may initially be the teaching option most available.
  • New Educator Support Professional Learning
    The first paragraph on this page is a clear indication of their approach to assisting beginning teachers.
  • Support for New Educators
    ‘New educators are supported during the early years of their career through a variety of programs’. Specifics can be found on the Professional Learning page.
  • Recruitment
    Teacher Registration – ACT Teacher Quality Institute; How to Apply to Teach in ACT public schools; Advice to applicants; Supporting documents for your application and other information to assist with your application and interview.
  • Supporting Staff
    ‘The wellbeing of staff is core business for the ACT Education Directorate. Everyone has a duty to safeguard and nurture the personal wellbeing of themselves and others at work. The following resources can be of assistance to support staff wellbeing’.
  • Teach in the ACT [ACT Teacher Quality Institute]
    Four different aspects relating to registration are covered.
  • Work In Canberra
    ‘What we offer and other employment information’. ACT Government site covering all areas of employment including aspects such as ACT information through to Employee tool kits.
  • Working with Us
    Looks at teaching in the Education Directorate system. Check sections in the menu at the left.

Teacher Quality Institute

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New South Wales

AIS NSW

Department of Education

  • Beginning Teachers Support Funding Policy
    ‘States the department’s policy for the provision of funding support to schools for eligible permanent and temporary beginning teachers’.
  • Casual and Temporary Teaching
    ‘The majority of teachers commence their careers in the NSW public education system as casual or temporary teachers. As a casual teacher you are employed on a day-to-day basis to meet relief needs within the school. As a temporary teacher you are employed full-time for four weeks to a year, or part-time for two terms or more. Casual and temporary employment provides valuable experience for teachers’.
  • Further Support for In-school Mentors
    ‘These resources support in-school mentors and provide effective practice focused support to beginning teachers’.
  • Further Support for Reflection
    ‘Reflective practice is integral to a teacher’s professional growth. The following resources can support beginning teachers to reflect on their practice against the standards at the proficient career stage’.
  • Strong Start Great Teachers
    ‘Every beginning teacher deserves a quality induction program in their first critical years of teaching - a program that is structured, comprehensive and school-based. Strong start great teachers [SSGT] provides schools with the induction support to achieve this’. Important sections are linked below :
  • Teacher Induction and Probation
    ‘During your first year of a career in teaching, induction plays a critical role in supporting your development as a capable and confident professional. For those not already accredited as Proficient teachers, your first year will be your probationary year’
  • Teachers Handbook
    ‘The Handbook will contain the current conditions of employment for teachers in the Teaching Service, and list their responsibilities. The Teachers Handbook is currently being revised. Completed chapters will be included progressively on this site’.

NSW Catholic Education

  • Teaching in a Catholic School
    This page from one diocese provides an example of what is expected and, as in the last two paragraphs, what special support is provided. It is anticipated each other diocese would be similar in approach.

NSW Teachers Federation

  • Beginning Teacher Conferences
    ‘Beginning Teacher Conferences are open to all new [beginning] teachers who are employed as full time, temporary or casual teachers by the DET in the schools sector and located within a reasonable travelling distance of the conference’.
  • Graduate Survival Kit
    ‘The transition from student teacher to permanent, temporary or casual teaching is a daunting process. The Federation has produced this information and advice to assist student teacher members in their dealings with the DEC’s employment and staffing procedures’.
  • New Educators Network
    ‘The New Educators Network is a network of teachers in their first five years of teaching who are interested in understanding more about and becoming involved with their union - the NSW Teachers Federation’.

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Northern Territory

  • Induction for New Teachers [Teach in the Territory]
    ‘As a new teacher in the Northern Territory, you will be offered induction and mentoring to help you settle in to your new role and workplace’.
  • Induction for Teachers [Department of Education]
    ‘Teachers will commence in schools at varying stages of their careers with a range of knowledge and experiences. Induction is a highly valuable process that provides a foundation for career-long professional growth. The stages of induction are : Prior to commencement; On arrival with a face-to-face central orientation program and local induction at the school; and Ongoing support through professional learning, mentoring and network opportunities’. Information for two areas are provided by the following links. Each has pages you can download :

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Queensland

  • BETA
    ‘Strives to assist in maximising the effective induction of beginning and establishing teachers as professional educators in schools’.

Catholic Education

Department of Education

  • Beginning Teacher Basics
    ‘Get started; Soak up support from the department; Take care of yourself; Crunch your curriculum planning; School up on the standards; Other tips for getting started’; Other links.
  • Beginning Teachers
    ‘If you have just commenced work, returned from leave or started a new teaching position in a Queensland state school, this website will help you. It is a useful resource and reference point, and contains information that may assist you in your role within the department. Covers : Getting Started; Schools; My Teaching Space; Accessing Support; Supply Teachers’.
  • Department of Education and Training induction website.
  • Charters Towers School of Distance Education - Teacher Induction
    Even a distance education centre has a plan similar in most ways to every other school.
  • Developing Performance
    ‘The Employee Performance, Professional Development and Recognition Policy promotes a constructive and supportive workplace culture where employees and supervisors have regular and meaningful (informal and formal) performance exchanges about standards of conduct, performance expectations and opportunities for developing capability’.
  • Early Childhood Mentoring Beginner Teacher Program
    ‘Assists schools to support Early Childhood Teachers [ECTs] to progress from provisional teacher registration to full registration’.
  • Flying Start Induction Toolkit for Beginning Teachers
    Not the newest information but it has a wide range of items which may prove useful. A Department of Education production.
  • Induction
    ‘The Department of Education [DoE] is committed to providing induction for all employees who are beginning new roles and responsibilities. Induction is both an individual and collective responsibility, and is delivered at all levels of our department. Induction is tailored to a location such as a central office, regional office or state school’.
  • Induction Guidelines - Queensland State Schools
    ‘These guidelines outline requirements for induction of all employees including newly appointed, transferred and promoted employees, and those returning from extended leave as well as central and regional resources available to support school leaders in designing a quality induction program’.
  • Induction Resources
    ‘The department provides a range of resources to support team leaders to develop and contextualise induction at a local level and teachers to gather appropriate information for their new role. Provided are : Mandatory annual training ready reckoner [PDF, 288KB]; Mandatory induction program; Induction guidelines; Teacher Induction and Development program; Orientation checklists for teachers’.
  • Mentoring Beginning Teachers
    ‘The Mentoring Beginning Teachers [MBT] program focuses on the professional development and growth of our beginning teachers with an aim to improve teaching quality and support beginning teachers to transition from graduate level to proficient level with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Principals will have the flexibility to make local arrangements to support the mentoring of beginning teachers according to their school context and needs’.
  • Queensland State Schools
    Multiple sections, several of which are also listed here and related to a positive induction process.
  • Support for Beginning Teachers
    ‘Before you start; Teacher Learning Centres; Beginning Teacher Induction Conference; Teacher networking events; Professional learning and support; Beginning teacher learning suite’.

Queensland College of Teachers

Queensland Teachers’ Union

  • Basic Guide to : Beginning your Teaching Career
    ‘This basic guide provides QTU members with information on their entitlements and can be used by school administration to help in timetabling’.
  • Beginning your Teaching Career - QTU
    ‘Internships; Teacher Registrations; Applying to become a teacher; Probation; Mandatory Induction; Beginning teacher mentoring; Action : Five easy steps to your professional rights’.

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South Australia

AIS SA

Catholic Education

  • Early Career Teacher Program [CESA]
    This includes Systematic requirements which apply to all teachers employed in SA Catholic schools. Among these are : Induction; Accreditation to Teach; “Made in The Image of God; plus services including Frequent emails, Online Resources and School Visits”. Click on titles to access details.

Department for Education

  • connectED Induction
    ‘It is important for new employees to gain an understanding of the organisation and the people who are part of it. connectED has been designed to help you navigate your way around the department’. Monitor for event details.
  • Early Career Teachers [Facebook]
    ‘We invite Early Career Teachers to use the page to stay in touch with events and resources, share classroom ideas and work together to discuss issues that arise in teacher’s day to day work’.
  • Early Career Teachers : Preparing for the Profession
    ‘Tells the story of a group of early career teachers working in the Barossa Valley during their first year out of university’. This is part of a larger collection of TV webisodes which, though several years old, provide a range of information and options.
  • Induction Checklist
    An example of the type of induction process previously used.
  • Working as a teacher
    Multiple section provide a range of information from the practical to professional areas.

Teachers Registration Board

Teacher Unions

  • New Educators [AEU SA]
    ‘As a new educator, the AEU stays in touch with your needs through the New Educators Network which helps shape all the union’s activity for beginning teachers’.
  • The IEU is People Like Me
    ‘Many of us in the IEU office [and Executive] are, or were, teachers. We are people like you. This makes the IEU your ideal support team, enabling you to focus on teaching’.

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Tasmania

Department of Education

  • 2021 Meeting the Standards : Induction for Early Career Teachers [Professional Learning Institute]
    ‘Induction is a responsibility shared across the teaching profession. This four day program will explore the practice of teaching through the focus areas of the Standards and include current research about effective learning and teaching, and how to practically implement strategies in the classroom’. Details from the site.
  • BeTTR
    ‘The Beginning Teacher Time Release to engage with the variety of supports available within the the Department of Education’. A listing of the components is provided. There are also links to an application for this, an Induction Policy, the Induction Procedure and the Principal’s Induction Checklist for New Teaching Employees and more. [You can only access these by logging in to the Staff Intranet].
  • Professional Learning Institute
    ‘The Department’s Professional Learning Institute offers a number of courses for school leaders and teachers’, including an Early Career Teacher Induction program.

Teachers Registration Board

Teacher Union

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Victoria

Catholic Education

  • Beginning Teachers
    ‘In Catholic education, we have a responsibility to strengthen ways in which we provide access for early career teachers to high-quality induction and mentoring. Once teachers are employed in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, they are supported in various ways’. The situation is similar in each of the other diocese.

Department of Education and Training

  • Effective Mentoring Program
    ‘The Effective Mentoring Program [EMP] equips experienced teachers with mentoring skills to support provisionally registered teachers at the beginning of their careers and guide new teachers through the process to become fully registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching’. A Reflective Guide to Mentoring is found here.
  • Graduate Teacher Learning Series
    ‘The Learning Series will connect you with the right people and the right resources at the right time. Designed as 12 editions spanning the teaching year, everything in the Learning Series is written for you, a graduate teacher starting out in the teaching profession’.
  • Initial Teacher Reforms
    ‘The single most important thing we can do to improve student outcomes is to improve the quality of teaching and learning in every classroom. Teachers play a pivotal role in building the Education State and are at the core of workplace reform’.
  • Mentoring for Early Childhood Teachers
    ‘This page provides details on how provisionally registered teachers can find a mentor, and how experienced teachers can become mentors’.
  • New Teacher Induction Plan Checklist for Principals
    Copy of a checklist which covers various steps over two years.
  • Pedagogical Model
    ‘When implemented together with the practice principles, the pedagogical model enables teachers to maintain a line of sight between their own professional development and school-wide improvement based on FISO’. You can download a copy of the Pedagogical Model here.
  • Starting at a school, Training and Professional Development
    ‘Learn how to become a teacher in Victoria, find training opportunities and build your professional skills’. Multiple sections.
  • Starting a Job in a Government School [Induction]
    The first section is For new and beginning teachers and provides access to the Graduate Teacher Induction Guide while a second section, For principals who are welcoming new teachers gives access to Principal and School Leader Guide to Induction Of Graduate Teachers which covers much of the induction and mentoring process new teachers will experience. The General induction resources section provides videos on several topics. It is also recommended you familiarise yourself with the information about the Graduate Teacher Conferences.
  • Teaching Academies of Professional Practice
    ‘Teaching Academies of Professional Practice [TAPPS] are partnerships between a cluster of schools and one or more universities for the purpose of improving initial teacher education [ITE]. They are cross-sectoral, with membership from government, Catholic and independent schools’.

Independent Schools

Teacher Unions

Victorian Institute of Teaching

  • Effective Mentoring Program [VIT]
    ‘The Effective Mentoring Program is comprised of a two-day professional learning program developed and delivered as a partnership with the Department of Education and Training. The EMP is open to experienced [fully] registered teachers working in government, Catholic and independent schools and early childhood services. FAQs about the program; Professional Guides; Links’.
  • Moving to [full] Registration
    ‘Newly qualified teachers with provisional registration can access information and resources required to apply for full registration’.
  • Victorian Institute of Teaching
    Check this site for further involvement with beginning, and early career, teachers.

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Western Australia

Catholic Education

  • Teaching Roles [CEWA
    ‘All our schools select and recruit their own staff, offering choice and flexibility for teachers to find the school that best fits their needs and preferences. Teachers will have opportunities to broaden their professional and learning experiences through professional learning, accreditation and leadership development programs’.

Department of Education

  • Benefits and Support
    ‘Working for the Department of Education means you will enjoy a range of employee benefits. Benefits include competitive salaries, flexible working arrangements, comprehensive salary packaging options, attractive leave provisions and training and career development opportunities’.
  • Graduate Careers
    ‘When you join us, we support you in your transition from university with ongoing professional development opportunities and guidance from our senior leaders and mentors’.
  • Staff Induction Policy
    ‘The Staff Induction policy outlines the mandatory requirements for implementing a formal induction program that introduces all newly appointed employees to the Department, its policies, procedures, and orients them to their worksite’.
  • WA Graduate Teacher Induction Program [GTIP]
    ‘The Western Australian Institute for Professional Learning [WA IPL] delivers a Graduate Teacher Induction Program to all government school graduates. The GTIP supports beginning teachers to make the transition from pre-service training to effective classroom teaching’.

Independent Schools

  • AIS WA Member Schools
    Use the search option on this page for finding an appropriate school, then see what is offered both as positions and support. If employed, you will be able to access their Professional Learning and Online Learning pages.

Teacher Unions

  • Education and Training Centre
    ‘Whatever your role or career stage, the SSTUWA’s Education and Training Centre can provide high quality industrial, professional, career development, financial and occupational health and safety courses to support your needs’.
  • Independent Education Union of Australia WA Branch
    ‘The IEUA WA Branch represents the interests of employees in Catholic and Independent Schools, English Language Colleges and Registered Training Organisations across Western Australia. Whether you’re full or part time, have years of experience or are just starting in the field, there’s a membership option for you’.

Teacher Registration Board of WA

  • Teacher Registration Board of WA
    Information will apply primarily to the registration process for beginning teachers and information regarding professional learning options.

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Other Information

Books & Other Publications

  • Beginning Teacher’s Handbook
    ‘Takes you through the challenges you will face in joining a school community, establishing positive relationships with parents from day one, and engaging the students you are given’. Fee-based.
  • New-Teacher Toolbox
    US, but still applicable. Available through Amazon. ‘Description; Contents; Reviews; Features; Preview’.
  • Beginner Teachers : Induction and Mentoring
    ‘Induction and mentoring are not ‘new’, with substantive research available in the area. In most of these studies though, induction and mentoring are usually associated with teacher retention. The case is different in Australia, where the focus of induction and mentoring is placed squarely around quality teaching and the need to support our next generation of teachers in developing their knowledge, expertise and professional competency ’. Teacher Magazine.

General Sites

Induction and Mentoring

Induction

  • Improved Beginning Teacher Induction
    ‘Induction plays a critical role in building on the knowledge and skills developed through initial teacher education as well as providing the support needed for beginning teachers as they embark on a new phase of their career’. AITSL.
  • Induction and Mentoring [Education Council NZ]
    ‘An induction and mentoring program supports newly qualified teachers or overseas trained teachers, new to the New Zealand teaching profession, to develop effective teaching practices for diverse learners in a New Zealand teaching context’.
  • National Induction Program for Teachers
    ‘Aims to support the induction of newly qualified teachers into the teaching profession in primary schools in Ireland’. A very detailed example of what occurs in other countries.
  • Teacher Induction in California
    ‘The second tier of preparation is a two-year job-embedded individualised induction program that is focused on extensive support and mentoring to new teachers in their first and second year of teaching’. USA.
  • The New Teacher Induction Program
    Ontario Ministry of Education, Canada. ‘Supports the growth and professional development of new teachers. A step in a continuum of professional learning for teachers to support effective teaching, learning, and assessment practices. Provides another full year of professional support so that new teachers can continue to develop’.

Mentoring

Resources

AITSL

  • Building the Right Foundation : Improving teacher induction in Australian schools
    ‘This report was developed to provide a meta-analysis of the key research in the area of new teacher induction’. Contains three major sections.
  • Graduate to Proficient
    Australian guidelines for teacher induction into the profession. ‘The guidelines for teacher induction into the profession, frame support for beginning teachers to make the transition from the Graduate to the Proficient Career Stage, based on the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers’.
  • Induction Environment Scan Report
    ‘This review examines induction activity across a range of organisations, sectors and jurisdictions. It seeks to identify better practice and innovations that could be instructive for the induction of Australian school teachers. Download [PDF, 740.25kB]’.
  • Initial Teacher Education : Data Report 2018 [AITSL]
    ‘This report brings together the available data on initial teacher education [ITE] in Australia. It includes information on ITE students and graduates, as well as ITE institutions and programs. Download [PDF, 22.72MB]’.
  • My Induction App
    ‘The My Induction app brings together resources and activities to support your development in the first few years of teaching. It also provides advice and strategies for maintaining your personal wellbeing while transitioning to life as a working teacher’. Available in both Apple and Android formats.
  • Prepare for Practice
    ‘Whether you’re a pre-service teacher or a recent graduate, these resources are designed to help you prepare for your teaching practice’.
  • Reflect on your Leadership
    ‘Reflecting on where you are now and how to move forward can help you improve your leadership practice. Our self-assessment and reflection tools allow you to explore your leadership and plan your pathway towards improvement’.
  • Research on Induction Best Practice
    Annotated Bibliography, Induction environment scan, case studies, videos, more.
  • Start your Career
    ‘Your first years as a teacher can be as challenging as they are rewarding, so it's important that you receive the right support and guidance to develop your skills. Our resources can help you get used to the classroom and improve your practice as you transition to the Proficient career stage’.
  • Support Beginning Teachers
    ‘Providing quality induction and support is critical to improving learner outcomes and developing the teacher's skills at the start of their career’. Includes video, case studies and more.
  • Beginning Teachers Lounge
    ‘I help beginning teachers who feel overwhelmed and stressed like I did when I started teaching 20 years ago, to regain their confidence through mentoring, nurturing and inspiring ... so you can grow into the teacher you have dreamed of being !’
  • Must Reads for New Teachers [neaToday]
    American based, but clearly described and still appropriate.
  • New Teachers
    Edutopia. An extensive listing of topics designed to assist new teachers. Current topics [2020] back several years.
  • New Teacher Resources
    ‘We surveyed the TeacherVision community, and together with our Advisory Board of veteran teachers, we curated a collection of resources just for new teachers. Whether you're a first year teacher of elementary school, middle school or high school, these resources will help you grow and thrive as a new teacher’. US-based. Very extensive and may prove useful in an Australian setting.
  • TeachersFirst - Newbies
    ‘Ideas and help for new teachers, those teaching something new, and their mentors. We offer you four basic strategies to get you started’.

Survival Guides

Video Resources

  • AITSL - YouTube
    A vast number of videos of different lengths covering a wide range of topics. One example is the Induction for Beginning Teachers animation.
  • Beginning Teacher Talk
    ‘Our mission is to give beginning elementary teachers access to the tools, tips, and secret tricks of the trade that they didn’t learn in university’. USA.
  • Behaviour Management for Beginning Teachers
    ‘Mark explores the different issues that affect behaviour within the classroom other than just ‘telling pupils off’. What do you think are the most important things a teacher can do to build a positive learning atmosphere in the classroom ?’
  • Videos [Edutopia]
    ‘Explore videos that showcase evidence-based learning practices in K-12 schools, and see our core strategies and key topics in action’. You may find a number of useful videos in this US-based collection. Not specifically geared for beginning teachers but still relevant
  • New Teachers - Videos [Google Search]
    A simply massive collection of videos from a vast array of sources and countries. You will surely find something of use.

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Research, Reports & Surveys

Australian

  • New !  Beginning Teachers’ Perception of Their Induction into the Teaching Profession Teaching Profession
    2015; Lynda Kidd; Natalie Brown, Noleine Fitzallen. ‘The main objective of this mixed method study was to gain a deeper understanding of beginning teachers’ experiences and the perceptions of their induction into the teaching profession and the support they received. A key finding was that many beginning teachers entered the profession through casual or contract positions. Although the beginning teachers reported receiving satisfactory support, the support received varied among schools. Beginning teachers’ perceptions of their induction are that the mentor and induction programs are limited. Lack of support, work dissatisfaction and an informal entrance into the profession influences beginning teacher’s career plans and thus teacher attrition’.
  • New !  Fish out of water : …
    Investigating the ‘readiness’ and proficiency of beginning drama teachers in Western Australian secondary schools.
    2020; Christina C. Gray, Kirsten Lambert, Sarah Jefferson . ‘Recent research indicates that nearly 50% of beginning teachers lack readiness, are overwhelmed with stress, and will leave the profession within five years. This paper seeks to elucidate this disconcerting reality by providing a nuanced focus on the experiences of beginning drama teachers. Findings indicate that while participants began feeling confident and ready for teaching drama, they were largely unprepared for the unwritten requirements of the profession – namely, coping with systems, policies and bureaucracy - and extensive extra curricular responsibilities. This article posits several strategies for enabling beginning drama teachers to successfully ‘manage’ their induction into the profession’.
  • New !  Online mentoring for the induction of beginning teachers
    2005; Laurie Brady, Sandy Schuck. ‘Solutions to the enduring problem of teacher retention increasingly focus on the need for quality induction programs for beginning teachers. One response of the NSW Department of Education and Training is to nominate school mentors for all beginning teachers. This article reports on research that investigates the extent to which e-learning networks can support school mentoring to enhance induction programs. Beginning teachers from five NSW schools were monitored as they accessed a mentoring online program provided by the University of Technology, Sydney over a three-month period’.
  • New !  Preparing teachers to mentor beginning teachers : An Australian case study
    2017; Denise Beutel, Leanne Crosswell, Jill Willis, Rebecca Spooner-Lane, Elizabeth Curtis & Peter Churchward. ‘This paper has a dual purpose. The first is to present an Australian mentor preparation program designed to prepare experienced teachers to mentor beginning teachers. The second purpose is to identify and discuss mentor teachers’ personal and professional outcomes and the wider contextual implications emerging from the Mentoring Beginning Teachers [MBT] mentor preparation program. Design/methodology/approach. This case study, situated within Queensland, Australia, draws on qualitative data collected via interviews and focus groups with mentor teachers who participated in a large-scale systemic mentor preparation program’.
  • New !  Teacher Attrition and Retention Research in Australia : Towards a New Theoretical Framework
    2015; Shannon Mason, Cristina Poyatos Matas. ‘This article yields significant insights into the history and potential future of the teacher attrition research field. A study of the Australian literature reveals that the field in this country is still in its infancy, and is dominated by small-scale, qualitative exploratory studies. Furthermore, it shows the lack of consistency amongst studies discussing teacher attrition, as well as the need for a theoretically informed framework that acknowledges the complex nature of teacher attrition. The authors propose a new theoretical model, arguing that teacher attrition is a complex phenomenon, a product of the interaction of elements from social capital, human capital, positive psychological capital and structural capital intersecting’.
  • New !  “Trying to keep afloat” : Early career teaching in an Australian setting
    2019; Dawn Joseph. ‘Teacher preparation requires pre-service teachers to have requisite skills, knowledge and understandings in regards to curriculum planning, preparing and presenting. This paper forms part of a [larger] research project. Narrative reflection and interview data is presented as a case study of ‘Laura’ transitioning from ‘student identity to teacher identity’, putting theory into practice, ‘thinking on her feet’, ‘looking after self’ and ‘keeping afloat’. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis as an analytical tool, the findings are discussed in relation to three overarching themes : learning on the job, forming a teacher identity and showing leadership’.
  • New !  Understanding beginning teacher induction: : A contextualised examination of best practice
    2014; Sean Kearney. ‘The problems that teachers face early in their careers are a major factor in growing rates of attrition among neophyte teachers. While induction practices have become more common in recent years, there are still no mandated structures for inducting teachers into the profession throughout Australia. This article reviews a number of international induction programs, which have been successful in supporting beginning teachers and curbing attrition rates, to emphasise why many programs are inadequate at meeting the needs of beginning teachers. The review proposes a definition for induction to better understand common misconceptions and highlights best practice induction as a way to retain quality teachers in the profession and help ameliorate conditions for beginning teachers ’.
  • New !  What do we know about early career teacher attrition rates in Australia ?
    2016; Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership. ‘There is a perception in Australia that there is a high attrition rate of teachers both during their initial teacher education [ITE] and within the first five years of graduation from ITE. If this is correct, there are implications for governments that fund ITE and staffing implications for education sector employers and schools. The impact of attrition may be the loss of quality teaching graduates, which could in turn impact the development of a strong workforce of experienced, high calibre teachers – critical for student outcomes’. A Spotlight article.

International

  • New !  Challenges for Beginning Secondary Technology Education Teachers
    2020; Sally Arnett-Hartwick, John Cannon. ‘The highest attrition rates are among beginning teachers and with a continued shortage of TE teachers, identifying the problems new teachers encounter need to be identified for retention and the sustainability of the TE profession. Qualitative analysis revealed four themes : facility management, student management, external relations and instruction management. Each theme contained sub-themes. The predominant sub-themes were equipment and funding. By adequately preparing TE teachers at the pre-service and entry levels to handle potential problems, the profession can increase job satisfaction and reduce teacher attrition in efforts to eradicate the TE teacher national shortage’. USA.
  • New !  Improving Teacher Retention through Support and Development
    2020; James V. Shuls, Joshua M. Flores. ‘Teacher attrition is a considerable burden for students and school leaders. The purpose of this study is to explore teacher retention policies utilised by highly effective school districts. Through the use of semi-structured interviews with three key central office figures who oversee personnel, we explore each district’s strategies for increasing teacher retention. Interestingly, our findings suggest that successful schools did not have explicit teacher retention policies. Rather, they have policies which promote teacher voice, supported teacher induction and development’. USA.
  • New !  Navigating Pandemic Schooling for Novice Teachers
    2021; Emma Mecham, Eric J. Newell, Laura J. Reina & Courtney Stewart. ‘Teachers navigated a vast set of challenges during the 2019-20 school year when a pandemic shut down school and changed the face of classrooms. The challenges that emerged during this time were heaped upon the already full plates of the novice teachers featured in this study who were just gaining confidence in the classroom. This article highlights the six themes that emerged from interviews done in spring of 2020 as part of a larger longitudinal study following teacher education graduates. This snapshot of the data provides inside into the effect of the early stages of the pandemic on these teachers’ classrooms, perspectives, roles and impact on their students’. USA.
  • Updated !  Supporting New Teachers as Designers of Learning
    2020; Barbara Brown, Sharon Friesen, Jaime Beck, Verena Roberts. ‘The aim of this study was to examine a professional learning intervention designed to support new teachers with implementing professional practice competencies. The findings indicated the professional learning intervention positioned new teachers as designers of learning engaging in continuous cycles of design – enactment – reflection and strengthened their pedagogical capacity to interconnect professional practice competencies with support from a community of learners. The findings from this study have implications for supporting new teachers during a period of induction and demonstrate one way to provide new teachers with the foundation for continual growth throughout their career’. Canada.
  • New !  The continuation of a mentoring network for pre-service teachers into early in-service years
    2020; Chrissy Cross, Keith Hubbard, Lesa Beverly, Dennis Gravatt, Adrienne Aul. ‘Many educator preparation programs have formal and informal mentoring for pre-service teachers. However, few educator preparation programs continue the mentoring of mathematics teachers after graduation. This qualitative research examines the impact of a mentoring network for pre-service mathematics teachers embedded in the educator preparation program and continuing after they graduated from a rural university in Texas. The focus of the research is to evaluate the impact of the mentoring network on the choice of instructional methods used in classrooms by novice mathematics teachers’. USA.
  • New !  Values and Beliefs Matter : Newly Qualified Teachers’ Experiences of Relational Trust
    2020; Jenny Haagensen, Gunilla Eklund, Jessica Aspfors. ‘In Nordic and Finnish teacher education, emphasis has often been placed on the teaching process and content over the teachers’ ability to handle and take responsibility for relationships within the profession. This study aims to explore teachers’ experiences of their relationships with pupils and parents, as well as their relational competence concerning these after one year of teaching experience. The study uses the theoretical framing of relational trust. A total of 14 Finnish primary school teachers participated in the study. Data were collected from individual interviews and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results revealed two main areas of knowledge - enhancements and challenges - relating to how newly qualified teachers experience their relationships with pupils and parents. Based on the results, the importance of enhancing the teachers’ consciousness of their values and beliefs are stressed for the creation of fruitful relationships based on trust’. Finland.
  • New !  What They Didn’t Teach Us : New Teachers Reflect on Their Preparation Experiences
    2020; Patricia Rice Doran. ‘This article describes findings from a qualitative, practically-focused study of how novice teachers perceive the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher preparation coursework. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with fourteen teachers at two highly diverse elementary schools in an urban area. Participating teachers were in their first, second or third year of teaching, and administrators and teacher mentors were interviewed to provide background information and corroborating input as well. Teachers indicated they felt well prepared in areas such as lesson planning but poorly prepared with respect to skills such as data analysis and relationship-building with students and families. This article concludes with recommendations for improved teacher preparation in areas related to both university coursework and field-based placements’. USA.

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Last updated - 5 July 2021.

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