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Teacher induction is in the formative stages in nearly all APEC members, and members have not focused on formally evaluating their programs. Three members collect data or follow a review procedure. Only the Republic of Korea, however, does so uniformly across all of its programs, by soliciting feedback of inductees through questionnaires and review sessions. In Australia, individual states and territories evaluate their own, individual programs. For instance, every year the Northern Territory obtains feedback from teachers on their induction experiences during the orientation and "recall session," and in one case, New South Wales undertook a member-wide program evaluation. New Zealand is the only other member that conducts evaluations, and these are performed at the individual school level (although the Advisory service does collect data from all programs for a report to the Ministry of Education).
Australia, Canada, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Chinese Taipei have planned or begun reforms in teacher induction programs. In particular, Papua New Guinea, in an effort to upgrade teacher competency levels, plans to do the following: formalize its mentor program; extend induction activities to elementary and multi-grade teachers; and involve the member-level government in the direction, funding, and identification of master teachers. Another member seeking to foster the ideals of mentoring is the Republic of Korea, whose main reform is to establish a master teacher system. Reforms in Australia may include internship options for preservice education and the integration of induction and the achievement of basic competencies.
There is no one method or member-level framework for teacher induction in Australia. However, the Australian Education Union has set forth the following recommendations:
Generally, the purpose of teacher induction in Australia is to provide support and guidance for the beginning teacher and to facilitate his or her transition into professional teaching. Some states or sectors have more specific purposes. For instance, in the Northern Territory, teacher induction is intended to increase the retention of teachers in order to address teacher shortages in predominantly isolated schools with largely Aboriginal populations. In the Catholic sector, induction is viewed as a way to ensure a "positive fit" between the new teacher and the school.
Mentoring. Mentoring is a main feature in all fairly well-developed or formal teacher induction programs, and a highly regarded practice. Mentors may be experienced teachers, deputy principals, or principals. When possible, advanced skills teachers, or those teachers with at least eight years of experience, serve as mentors. Generally, the role of the mentor includes many responsibilities, such as: advising and supporting the new teacher; observing and assessing the new teacher; attending education courses and in-services with the new teacher; and allowing the new teacher to observe the mentor's class. Also, some mentors are expected to "team teach" with the beginning teachers.
Several territories use a mentoring team approach. In both the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, where teacher induction is centrally funded and mandated, teams comprising advisors, teachers, and administrators guide and assess the inductee over time. For experienced teachers, participation as a mentor is seen as both a responsibility and an opportunity given them by their chosen profession. Participation often aids in promotion, and, in some cases, teachers receive a small stipend for their mentoring duties. There is no formal training for mentors, except in the Northern Territory for those teachers who work primarily with new Aboriginal teachers.
In-Service Training. Many states and territories use in-service and other instructional sessions as a way to further train and guide beginning teachers. These in-services, and indeed all induction activities, focus mainly on teaching methods, curriculum development, classroom management, and school policies. Additional topics may include ethics, dealing with families, cross-culturalism, values, professionalism, and professional growth.
An in-service may be as simple as an orientation or as elaborate as a series of sessions implemented on multiple government levels. In the Northern Territory, teachers participate in in-service training at the territory, regional, and school level, as well as in a mid-service session to discuss the new teacher's needs and curriculum ("recall orientation"). In Queensland independent schools, beginning teachers have the opportunity to participate in the Beginning Teacher Seminar, which allows several days of learning and interaction with experienced teachers.
In some cases, especially in the independent sector, beginning teachers receive reduced teaching loads to accommodate their professional development. Another common support is relief-time. For instance, Queensland teachers have up to three student-free days to participate in induction activities. In some rarer cases, teachers may be reimbursed for outside expenses (e.g., travel) for courses taken as part of induction.
Within some states, reviews are underway to improve teacher induction. In South Australia, researchers examined the use of a competency framework for beginning teachers. A special advisory board in New South Wales has developed a Strategic Policy Framework for Teacher Education that addresses, in part, teacher induction. There also are approaches at the member level that involve exploring the use of teacher competencies to improve induction and investigating the use of internships in preservice education.
Teacher induction activities are generally confined to the first days and weeks of the beginning teacher's tenure and consist mainly of orientations, observations, and informal advice from principals and senior teachers or department heads. Beginning teachers often note the non-existence of and lack of support for a system such as model classrooms, team teaching, or mentoring, where they would have an opportunity to observe and directly learn from veteran teachers. The involvement of experienced teachers is limited to observing beginning teachers and subsequently offering advice on such topics as curriculum requirements, teaching performance, and classroom management.
Since these teacher induction practices are informal and unspecified, they occur during school hours. In terms of attention, support, or evaluation of new teachers, teacher induction generally does not exceed one month and has no formal conclusion.
An Innovative Program. Staff of the Sultan Hassanal Bolkieh Institute of Education (SHBIE) recently collaborated with the Ministry of Education in a project that aims to attend to the needs of primary school teachers in improving science and math teaching. The project--Collaborative Action Research in Science and Math Education (CARISME)--is the first link between higher education and fledgling teacher induction activities.
Recently, the Director General of Education of Brunei Darussalam expressed interest in exploring a more systematic program of teacher induction. As a step in this direction, a National Task Force, comprising members of the Ministry of Education and of Higher Education, was established in 1996. In highlighting teacher induction as one of the most important areas in need of attention, the Task Force stated: "The first few years of teaching may well be a critical period in the making or breaking of a professional and, hence, require special attention." Arising from a recommendation from the Task Force, a three-day Teacher Induction Programme will take place in mid-June 1996 for newly graduated teachers. Besides briefings by senior officers of the Ministry, the beginning teachers would participate in a series of simulation exercises developed jointly by school principals, head teachers, and university lecturers. School-based follow-up activities will then be encouraged and monitored. Future plans will therefore more than likely develop the notion of teacher induction as a tool for assisting teachers to become competent and effective professionals in the classroom.
This probation will certainly make it possible to evaluate the teacher, but, even more importantly, it will give him an opportunity to serve a kind of internship, to acquire practical training and theoretical knowledge, either in education or in specialized subjects.
This is evidence of the dual purpose of Québec's program: (1) enabling new teachers to prove their competence and (2) helping new teachers integrate into the profession.
The first component, screening, is met as teachers are routinely observed and reviewed by the principal. The principal uses a provincially designed form to evaluate the new teacher, and to submit a report at the end of the year. To assist him or her in this responsibility, the principal may call on department heads, educational consultants, and probation committee members (the committee includes a member of the school administration, who has main responsibility for the inductee, and a senior teacher, whose role is to advise and guide the inductee). At the end of two years, the principal may recommend the probationer for permanent certification, and all personnel involved in the probation sign their agreement.
During this probationary period, beginning teachers are provided assistance in their work toward permanent certification. They are assigned a mutually agreed-upon overseeing teacher who serves as a mentor. The overseeing teacher is responsible for welcoming new teachers and advising them throughout the probationary period. Activities of mentors include: helping new teachers with planning; encouraging new teachers to become increasingly autonomous over time; offering their own classroom for observation by new teachers; and observing and consequently advising new teachers relating to teaching methods.
A noted feature of the probationary system is that beginning teachers have several roles. They are expected to take initiative and progress toward fuller responsibility and autonomy throughout the probationary period. Also, they perform self-evaluations based on the provincial review criteria for the purpose of discussion, comparison, and self-development. Beginning teachers may also help choose the criteria upon which to be evaluated. Finally, new teachers may appeal a rejection for permanent certificate to the Review Committee.
This system is not without its difficulties, notably the occasional refusal by a mentor to evaluate a teacher who is a peer.
Preservice education and the attainment of a D-2 diploma require coursework in general education, foundation of education, the teaching-learning process, and a specialization area as well as a semester-long practicum. The academic requirements of preservice education have been strengthened and enhanced to ensure that graduates of teacher preparation:
The implications for teacher induction are that teachers will be better prepared to enter a classroom and less in need of basic teacher training. There also are practices that offer opportunities for professional growth to teachers once they have assumed their teaching roles. At both the primary (KKG) and secondary (PKG) levels, teachers participate in activities such as study groups.
First-year teachers in Indonesia, for the most part, are treated like experienced teachers, with the same expectations and duties. The only difference is that first-year teachers are not placed in early grades, where basic teaching skills are deemed essential, or in the sixth grade, which is viewed as a critical level of education.
Beginning teachers receive a variety of training and support throughout the induction year. Induction activities focus on areas essential to fulfilling professional duties: basic academic requirements, course instruction, ethics, special activities, and student guidance. Teachers participate in induction activities both in and out of school.
Training In School. Beginning teachers receive training and advice from guidance teachers and others at the school 2 days per week, or 60 days per year. The guidance teacher is not only involved in directly mentoring the beginning teacher, but also is responsible for garnering the assistance of other school personnel to support and encourage the new teacher. The program ensures that beginning teachers carry a lighter teaching load that can accommodate the training schedule and provides release-time for the guidance and new teacher during the periods when they are involved in induction. To achieve that, the program provides one part-time teacher for every one new teacher, or one full-time teacher for every two new teachers, who assumes the duties of the otherwise-involved new and guidance teachers.
Training Out of School. Training outside the school occurs in several ways: weekly training sessions; four- to five-day training excursions; and "On-board Training." First, beginning teachers spend 1 day per week, or 30 days per year, on outside training. This includes education courses, lectures, practica, and observational tours of other schools, social education facilities, child welfare facilities, and private corporations. Some beginning teachers may even have the opportunity to gain experience with volunteer or outdoor educational activities during the training sessions. Another outside training experience in which all beginning teachers participate is four- to five-day excursions developed and run by the prefectural boards. A final type of outside training is "On-board Training." Specially recommended teachers (approximately 2,400 of 18,000 new teachers) participate in member-run trainings on ships and in harbor locales.
Teacher induction often continues after completion of the pre-appointment activities. Both provincial offices of education and individual schools provide orientation to beginning teachers. The orientation offered at the provincial level focuses on informing new teachers about the status of schools within the jurisdiction and further enhancing their sense of commitment and responsibility as teachers. The orientation at the school level, on the other hand, concerns itself with issues of the particular school, such as status, goals, direction, and management. Other induction activities include workshops, peer supervision, and clinical supervision. Workshops may be seminars on curriculum content or teaching methods, or teacher meetings for reading papers and articles. Although the idea of formal mentoring is not yet established in the Republic of Korea, principals often provide advice on teaching methods, and experienced teachers invite their younger colleagues to observe exemplary classrooms.
All the in-service induction activities occur periodically for the first year of teaching, with no formal conclusion. Generally, teachers spend a few hours per week--before, during, or after school--in teacher induction. Currently, there are no supports such as release-time in place for teachers who participate in induction. Beginning teachers carry a lighter administrative load, but spend the same amount of time on classroom activities as experienced teachers.
[Chapter 2 (part 3 of 3)]