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 further information be sure to visit — the Professional Development page and, in particular, the Teacher Employment page.

AUST. 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’.
  • 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

  • Development and Accreditation
    Includes sections on Teacher Performance and Development and Teacher Accreditation. Further options available via the Teachers and Staff item in the top menu.

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 D of E in the schools sector and located within a reasonable travelling distance of the conference’.

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NORTHERN TERRITORY

  • Orientation and 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’.
  • Orientation and 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.

N.T. REGISTRATION BOARD

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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

  • 10 Tips for Beginning Teachers
    ‘We know there can be a lot to get to grips with as a new teacher, so we’ve pulled together some advice we’ve collected from people who've recently made the transition from preservice to beginning teacher’.
  • An early childhood teacher‘s learning journey
    ‘In August 2019, Susan applied to be part of the Mentoring Early Childhood Teachers [MECT] program. To support her learning, the MECT program provided access to all the features of the Mentoring Preservice Early Childhood Teachers program, including access to a fully trained and qualified mentor ECT and professional learning opportunities based on the National Quality Standards’. An interesting presentation.
  • 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’.
  • Charters Towers School of Distance Education - Teacher Induction
    Even a distance education centre has a plan similar in most ways to every other school.
  • Department of Education - Induction
    ‘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’.
  • Early Childhood Mentoring Beginner Teacher Program
    ‘Assists schools to support Early Childhood Teachers [ECTs] to progress from provisional teacher registration to full registration’.
  • Employee Performance and Development Policy
    This also includes the Employee professional development including Study and Research Assistance Scheme [SARAS] procedure 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’. 2023.
  • Induction Resources
    ‘The department provides a range of resources to support : team leaders to develop and contextualise induction at a local level; teachers to gather appropriate information for their new role; Mandatory annual training ready reckoner [PDF, 3.3MB]; Mandatory induction program; Induction planner [XLSM, 175KB]; Induction Guidelines and Orientation checklists for teachers’.
  • Professional Learning Opportunities
    Includes information about both the ‘Restart Teaching Program and also a Beginning Teacher Learning Suite’ as well as a Technologies [ITD] Teacher Pathway Program.
  • Salary, Benefits and Awards
    Multiple sections, several of which are more detailed. All are 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’.
  • Training and Capability Building
    Includes specific topics on aspects of beginning teaching, plus grouped links for Related information, Help and support as well as multiple resources.

QLD. COLLEGE OF TEACHERS

QLD. 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’.
  • New and Beginning Teachers in the QTU
    ‘The QTU has a range of useful resources. QTU members have a range of options available when needing assistance [see details]. Advice regarding keeping up to date with your details’.

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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

  • Teachers and School and Preschool Leaders
    Multiple sections cover relevant information sources, e.g. Types of employment; Requirements and registration; Authority to teach or work letter; Pay, salary and allowances; Teacher standards; Permanent teacher placement; Temporary and relief teachers [TRT]; Professional experience placements; and Amy Levai Aboriginal teaching scholarships.
  • 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’.
  • Induction Checklist
    An example of the type of induction process previously used.
  • Teachers and school and preschool leaders
    Multiple sections provide a range of information from across practical to professional areas.

S.A. 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 FOR EDUCATION

TAS. REGISTRATION BOARD

TEACHER UNIONS

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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.

DEPT. OF EDUCATION/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 and being a teacher-mentor 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’.
  • Induction into the Victorian Teaching Profession
    Listed with a sub-title of A Guide for Beginning Teachers.
  • Initial Teacher Education 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’.
  • 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’.
  • Training and Support for Early Childhood Professionals
    ‘This page provides details on how provisionally registered teachers can find a mentor, and how experienced teachers can become mentors’, as well as related information.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

TEACHER UNIONS

VIC. INSTITUTE OF TEACHNG

  • Moving to [full] Registration
    ‘Newly qualified teachers with provisional registration can access information and resources required to apply for full registration’.
  • Teacher mentoring programs [VIT]
    One component of this is ‘The Effective Mentoring Program which 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;’ more.
  • 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’. You may also find value from the Staff Induction Procedures [Department of Education].
  • 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 in terms of 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’.

W.A. REGISTRATION BOARD

  • Teacher Registration Board of WA
    Information will apply primarily to the registration process for beginning teachers as well as 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 & 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.
    AUSTRALIA.
  • Induction and Mentoring [Education Council NZ]
    A wide range of induction and mentoring information, policies, and other data can be found in the listing from the New Zealand Education Council.
    NEW ZEALAND.
  • The 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 one other country.
    IRELAND.
  • 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’.
    CANADA.

MENTORING

RESOURCES

  • A Checklist for Beginning Teachers
    Alberta Teachers’ Association, Canada. Simple, thought provoking, common sense approach
  • 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.

AITSL is the abbreviation for the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. ‘At AITSL, we believe that student learning comes first. We’re committed to improving teacher expertise’.

  • 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 a copy of the report [PDF, 740.25kB] here’.
  • 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 a copy of this report [PDF, 22.72MB] here’.
  • 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. Updated app now available.
  • 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
    ‘This group is for those Beginning and Experienced Teachers wanting to participate in an online forum for mentoring other teachers. As we progress, there will be opportunities to participate in tasks, share your expertise and seek questions about any part of teaching ! Participating in this group will enable you to use for your portfolio and we will have a certificate for you to add for your accreditation’
  • Must Reads for New Teachers [neaToday]
    American based, but clearly described and still relevant.
  • New Teachers
    Edutopia. An extensive listing of topics designed to assist new teachers. More than 4 000 items that will surely provide you with a wide range of assistance.
  • 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 with many that will 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

VIDEOS

  • AITSL - YouTube
    A vast number of videos of different lengths covering a wide range of topics relevant to beginning teachers. One example is the Induction for Beginning Teachers animation.
    AUSTRALIA. [3:04].
  • 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 ?’
    UNITED KINGDOM. [3:28]
  • 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 to their needs.
    USA.
  • 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. Length of videos varies considerably from a few minutes up.
    INTERNATIONAL [including AUSTRALIA].

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RESEARCH/REPORTS/SURVEYS

AUSTRALIAN

  • New !  Beginning Teachers’ Perception of Their Induction into the Teaching Profession
  • 3/2015. Lynda Kidd, Natalie Brown, Noleine Fitzallen. ‘Beginning teachers’ induction into the teaching profession needs to be personally and professionally fulfilling, which is often not the case. 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. For beginning teachers to remain in the teaching profession, their induction period needs to be personally and professionally fulfilling [Skilbeck & Connell, 2003], offer targetted professional learning [Corbell, Osbourne, & Rieman, 2010], and provide support from mentor teachers [Huling, Resta & Yeargain, 2012]. Accommodating these needs for beginning teachers will assist in counterbalancing the difficulties faced during the first year in the profession, which is frequently described as a time of survival’.
  • New !  Beginning Teacher Support in Australia : Towards an Online Community to Augment Current Support
  • 4/2014. Nick Kelly, Shirley Reushle, Sayan Chakrabarty, Anna Kinnane. ‘This paper describes opportunities to improve the current support provided to beginning teachers in Australia. It holds that there is a need for approaches that go beyond school-based induction and support. The paper presents data from a survey of beginning teachers in Queensland, with aims to determine current access to support and perceptions about gaps in support. It uses these findings alongside existing evidence to make arguments that some beginning teachers are effectively unsupported and that universities have the potential to play a greater role in beginning teacher support. Further results are used to suggest guidelines for developing a national online community of pre-service and beginning teachers. A case study of a successful online professional support community is used as a model for how this may be implemented’.
  • New !  Development of a Teaching Performance Assessment in Australia : What did we learn ?
  • 8/2023. Rebecca Spooner-Lane, Tania Broadley, Elizabeth Curtis, Peter Grainger. ‘Following increasing criticism of the variability in graduate teachers’ readiness to enter the profession, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL] introduced a program accreditation requirement that all initial teacher education [ITE] providers must implement a Teaching Performance Assessment [TPA] in the final year of their teacher education programs. AITSL were not prescriptive in how ITE providers must meet the program standard which has resulted in 12 TPAs being implemented across 42 ITE providers. This paper outlines the development and implementation of one endorsed TPA designed to measure the readiness of graduating teachers, whilst taking into consideration the learnings from well-known TPAs and our own experiences. With this being one of the earlier unfunded TPAs in Australia to have been approved through the accreditation endorsement process, the paper offers some insights into meeting the additional accreditation program requirements and raises some longer-term considerations associated with implementing TPAs’.
  • New !  Fresh evidence on the relationship between years of experience and teaching quality
  • 3/2023. Jennifer Gore, Brooke Rosser, Felicia Jaremus, Andrew Miller, Jess Harris. ‘It is commonly assumed that experienced teachers are more proficient than beginners. However, evidence supporting this premise is complicated by diverging research traditions and mixed results. We explore the fundamental relationship between years of experience and teaching quality using a comprehensive pedagogical model. Our analysis of 990 lessons, taught by 512 primary teachers in New South Wales during 2014–15 and 2019–21, found no significant differences in pedagogy across the experience range [< 1–24 + years]. We canvass two possible explanations : that initial teacher education [ITE] performs better than is typically assumed; and/or that experience, including ongoing participation in many forms of professional development [PD], has minimal impact on pedagogical quality. The important lesson from this study, however, is that the continual positioning of beginning teachers and ITE as deficient is unwarranted and, instead, we should focus on providing teachers with access to high-impact PD throughout their careers’.
  • New !  Induction of Beginning Teachers in Australia – What do early career teachers say ? [Spotlight, AITSL]
  • */2017. AITSL. ‘There is broad agreement in the education sector around the value of induction as a support for beginning teachers, but less clarity about how to best implement it in practice. Early career teachers’ perspectives on their actual induction experiences provide important feedback for the profession and an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of induction practice. However, evidence of early career teachers’ perspectives on induction suggests that induction could be more consistent and more effective at meeting the needs of beginning teachers. Potentially, effective induction could optimise the early career teacher’s impact on student’. It poses a range of factors that need to be considered, especially discrepancies between the concepts held by inductees and those who percieve they are supplying it. An easy to read and understand presentation which also has links not only to other sources but also to conclusions which make a lot of sense.
  • New !  Strong Beginnings : Report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel
  • 7/2023. Teacher Education Expert Panel, Chaired - Professor Mark Scott, AO. ‘This report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel [the Panel] addresses two questions : how to attract high-quality candidates into ITE and how to best prepare them for long, successful and rewarding careers. Appointed by Australia’s Education Ministers, the Panel was tasked with examining ITE across four specific areas, exploring how to strengthen ITE programs to deliver well-prepared beginner teachers; enhance the link between performance and funding of ITE; improve the quality of practical experience in teaching; and improve postgraduate ITE programs for mid-career entrants’. While this fascinating document precedes what is normally perceived to be that of beginning teachers [i.e. in schools] it will have an effect on the confidence and knowledge levels of beginning teachers and this may well be as valuable [or even more so] as many current induction programs. If you know what you are doing you are more likely to be effective and feel more as if this is where you belong.
  • New !  Teacher induction in Australia : Historical context and current challenges
  • 10/2023. Sean Kearney. ‘The project was based on research which reported that many beginning teachers did not get the support they needed as permanent or contract workers, or, as casual, relief or support teachers and that small scale trials had shown that online support could be effective. One third of beginning teachers who were alumni of UNE in 2004, reported they did not receive adequate or any mentoring. UNE web-based technologies provided the teachers and mentors with online environments for professional and social interaction and resource sharing. We found that support was especially sought by the project participants in their first school term and there were differences in the levels of online support sought by secondary and primary beginning teachers. The project raises implications for on-going systemic support for beginning teachers, the issue of transition from students to teachers, as well as questions about teacher education students’ preparation. This paper provides the key findings of the project’. While the evidence applies to NSW, it is unlikely other states would be significantly different. [An earlier review on the challenges of teacher induction by Sean Kearney [2019] was also recently included in this section.]

INTERNATIONAL

  • New ! A systems approach to understanding novice teachers
  • 2/2023. Carol Bertram. ‘The seeming disconnect between what novice teachers learn at university and what their first year of teaching demands has been described and lamented for decades. Researchers, teachers, and school managers often blame teacher education programmes for not preparing novice teachers for the realities of school. However, blaming student teachers’ initial teacher education [ITE] program is reductionist and ignores that this is only one of the complex systems that shape their practice. I argue that a more productive way to understand novice teachers’ experiences is through a systems approach that engages with four nested systems that shape their practice - the system of the teacher [that encompasses their personal and professional identities and their knowledge and competences], the classroom system, the school system and the macro-educational system. In this paper, I present interview data generated from 30 novice teachers after they had been teaching for 18 months. The data shows that many challenges faced cannot be addressed by the ITE curriculum because they are grounded in other sub systems. I engage with what ITE program can do and suggest that the main influence of ITE is in developing student teachers’ ethical commitment, professional identity, competences and professional knowledge and in providing practical teaching experiences in different schools. I also highlight what aspects need to be addressed by the macro levels of the schooling system’.
    SOUTH AFRICA.
  • New ! Beginning Teachers Training System in Shanghai : How to Guarantee the Teaching Profession from the Start ?, Bulgarian Comparative Education Society, 2022
  • 6/2022. Xu, Su Bulgarian Comparative Education Society. ‘In the last decade, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission has piloted beginning teachers training system to guarantee the teaching profession from the start. This paper explores concepts and features of beginning teachers training [BTT] system plus challenges and strategies related to the design and implementation of beginning teachers training policies in Shanghai. A qualitative study to explore the challenges and strategies of beginning teachers training system is conducted. In the summary discussion, suggestions are made for policy makers and teacher educators when they try to improve design and implementation of a BTT system’.
    BULGARIA/CHINA.
  • New ! Mind the gap : Early-career teachers’ level of preparedness, professional development, working conditions and feelings of distress
  • 6/2023. Wilfried Admiraal, Karl-Ingar Kittelsen Røberg, Jannecke Weirs-Jenssen, Nadira Saab. ‘In the first years of a teaching career, teachers experience high levels of distress and the attrition rate appears to be high. Early-career teachers do not always feel well prepared for their job and feel insufficient support during their first experiences as a teacher. Induction programs, professional development,and school support could equip early-career teachers with the additional teaching repertoire they need and improve their well-being. The current study aimed to contribute insights into the importance of the level of preparedness, professional development and working conditions for early-career teachers’ well-being. Based on multi-level regression analysis of TALIS 2018 data of more than 77 000 teachers in 24 European countries, the impact of the level of preparedness, professional development and working conditions have been examined on teachers’ feelings of distress during their first years of teaching. Early-career teachers have been divided into two groups : novice teachers [with no more than 2 years of teaching experience] and advanced beginners [with between 2 and 5 years of teaching experience]. These two groups were compared with mid- and late-career teachers [with more than 5 years of teaching experience]. Level of preparedness and professional development variables were only weakly related to teachers’ feelings of distress, whereas working conditions were strongly related to early-career teachers’ feelings of distress. In particular, high workload and classroom discipline issues were strongly and positively related to teachers’ feelings of distress. Differences between the two early-career teacher groups and the group of mid- and late-career teachers were marginal. Yet, additional research is needed into the quality and the variety of initial teacher education and induction programs to come to more rigorous conclusions about the potential effects of different programs’.
    EUROPE.
  • New ! Perceptions of Beginning Teachers and Mentor Teachers : Case Study of a Campus Mentor Program
  • 6/2023. Deborah F. Spoon, Ray Thompson, Paul Tapper. ‘The purpose of this study was to examine beginning and mentor teachers’ perceptions of a campus mentor program and the match of the mentor teacher to a beginning teacher. The focus was to identify specific factors that would contribute to supporting a campus mentor program. The researcher selected one public school district in Southeast Texas for this case study. Beginning teachers and mentor teachers who were licensed teachers in the state of Texas, employed by the same school district and were teachers in one of the seven intermediate schools within the school district were invited to participate in the study. The six teachers invited to participate included : three mentor teachers and three beginning teachers. Semi-structured, open-ended questions were used to gain insight into the experiences of the beginning and mentor teachers. The findings of this study indicate that it is imperative that beginning teachers be assigned a mentor in their first year of teaching and receive support from the mentor for at least the first two year’.
    USA.
  • New ! Practicum : A Space for Leadership and Mentoring
  • */2022. Debbie Woolston, Tracy Dayman. ‘Associate teachers [ATs]) play a crucial role in supporting beginning teachers but there is little research that identifies the practicum as an opportunity for advancing ATs’ leadership capability. While research identifies mentoring as central to the way ATs support beginning teachers entering the profession, there is little explicit discussion of the leadership skills ATs engage in and model to student teachers during a practicum experience. Nor is there explicit acknowledgement of the AT role as a pathway to leadership for early childhood teachers. In this article we draw from a case study located in a provincial New Zealand city and a review of literature to demonstrate that practicum is largely overlooked as a space for early childhood teachers to develop and advance their leadership skills. We argue that mentoring and supervision of student teachers during practicum provides a rich opportunity for ATs to increase their own professional knowledge and expertise as leaders within early childhoo’.
    NEW ZEALAND.
  • New ! Predictors of the Challenges Faced by Beginning Teachers : Pre-Service Teacher Education Competency and Professional Commitment
  • */2021. Isahak Kozikoglu, Nuray Senemoglu. ‘The purpose of this study is to determine to what level beginning teachers’ perceptions concerning the competency of pre-service teacher education and their professional commitment predict the challenges they face. This study was conducted with 942 beginning teachers working at Istanbul, Konya, Gaziantep and Van provinces in Turkey. The data were collected with the scale of challenges faced by beginning teachers, teachers’ perceptions scale concerning the competency of preservice teacher education and teachers’ professional commitment scale developed by the researchers. Descriptive statistics, MANOVA, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and stepwise regression analysis were used for data analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that beginning teachers face challenges at moderate level in their first year. Furthermore, it was found that three variables [“ relations with students, colleagues, administrators, parents and society”, “teaching planning and implementation” and “ commitment to the profession”] are significant predictors explaining approximately one third [%30.4] of the variance concerning the challenges faced by beginning teacher’.
    TURKEY.
  • New ! The Professional Development needs of beginning and experienced teachers in four municipalities in Sweden
  • 1/2020. Martin Karlberg, Christopher Bessina. ‘This article reports findings from a larger study aimed at identifying the perceptions of teachers across four municipalities in Sweden on continuing professional development. It focuses on beginning teachers, namely those who are in their first five years of their career. This study has been undertaken amidst growing concern that current models of in-service training in Sweden are not leaving the desired impact on teacher motivation and student achievement; that the teaching profession feels disengaged, disempowered, distrusted. It has been undertaken in a context which is finding it hard to attract teachers into the profession and one where teacher attrition is high. The responses help to shed light on what the municipalities and teacher education institutions need to focus on in order to support new teachers. Implications are drawn out for schools, municipalities and teacher education institutions as they need to come together to engage in more collaborative ventures to ensure adequate and ongoing support to new teachers’.
    SWEDEN.
  • New ! Supporting Beginning Teachers through Mentoring
  • 1/2023. Karla Turton. ‘It is often assumed that beginning teachers possess the skills, strategies and practices necessary for effective instructional practice and classroom management. The reality is that beginning teachers struggle to overcome the many challenges and obstacles faced in the first years of teaching. Without adequate supports, beginning teachers may crumble under the pressure, assume basic survival skills, or simply quit in the face of dismay and disillusionment. A quality induction program that offers mentoring support is an ideal way to retain teachers and build capacity. A mentoring relationship, consisting of joint inquiry and reflective dialogue, should increase teacher effectiveness and professional growth’. The beginning sections starting at The Reality of Teaching bring back specific memories of where it all begins.
    CANADA.

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