Session Information
01 SES 04 A, European Perspectives on Teacher Induction and Mentoring (Part 1)
Symposium to be continued in 01 SES 06 B
Contribution
For over 30 years there have been calls to focus on supporting beginning teachers and improve teacher quality (Darling-Hammond 1995; Huling-Austin 1992). This has led to new national standards, legislation and policies which aim to safeguard beginning teacher learning. The underlying purpose of teacher induction is to provide support to beginning teachers (Britton et al., 2003; Mena & Clarke, 2021; Olsen et al., 2020; Shanks et al., 2022; Snoek et al., 2010). Here, four national contexts (Malta, The Netherlands, Norway and Scotland) are compared to critically inquire into induction. A comparative approach helps us to understand the interrelatedness between education and culture (Kazamias 2009) and how national contexts surrounding teacher learning are embedded in policies, resources and actual practices. A comparison between countries which differ in terms of history regarding induction, and policy contexts: Centralized or decentralized approach; Level of collaboration and trust between teacher education institutions and schools/local authorities; Employment status of beginning teachers after initial teacher education (permanent or temporary/partial license or registration to teach); Approaches to address teacher shortages: Focus on teacher recruitment or retention; Availability of clear teacher career paths. To analyse and compare the impact of these differences we use Schiro’s curriculum ideologies as a lens. This is based on our understanding of the teacher profession as a continuum of professional learning. As initial teacher education provides a curriculum that supports the professional development of student teachers, an induction programme can be understood as a curriculum supporting beginning teachers. Schiro (2013) recognizes four different ideologies that can drive curriculum aims and curriculum development: Scholar Academic ideology; Social Efficiency ideology; Learner Centred ideology; and Social Reconstruction ideology. Our research question is: How do curriculum ideologies in different national contexts create a European perspective for teacher induction? For each country, we analyse to what extent the curriculum ideologies can be recognised: Scholar Academic ideology (e.g., focus on further development of knowledge, skills and inquiring mindsets of beginning teachers); Social Efficiency ideology (e.g., focus on improving learning outcomes of children/students and reducing teacher attrition); Learner Centred ideology, (e.g., focus on the needs of beginning teachers); Social Reconstruction ideology (e.g., focus on beginning teachers as change agents in schools, education systems and societies). This comparison highlights the importance of studying local educational practice and pedagogy, including historical factors which impact how induction is structured. The induction schemes are inspired by or can lead to a common European framework.
References
Britton, E. Paine, L., Pimm, D., & Raizen, S. (2003). Comprehensive teacher induction. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Darling-Hammond, L. (1995). Changing conceptions of teaching and teacher development. Teacher Education Quarterly, 22(4), 9-26. Huling-Austin, L. (1992). Research on learning to teach. Journal of Teacher Education, 43(3), 173-180. Kazamias, A.M. (2009a) Comparative education: Historical reflections. In: Cowen, R., Kazamias, A.M. (eds) International Handbook of Comparative Education vol. 1. Dordrecht, Heidelberg: Springer. Mena, J., & Clarke, A. (Eds.) (2021). Teacher induction and mentoring: Supporting beginning teachers. Palgrave studies on leadership in teacher education. Palgrave Mcmillan. Olsen, K.-R., Bjerkholt, E.M., & Heikkinen, H. L.T. (Eds.) (2020). New teacher in Nordic countries: Ecologies of mentoring and induction. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. Schiro, M. (2013). Curriculum theory: Conflicting visions and enduring concerns. London: Sage. Shanks, R., Attard Tonna, M., Krøjgaard, F., Paaske, K. A., Robson, D. & Bjerkholt, E. (2022) A comparative study of mentoring for new teachers, Professional Development in Education, 48:5, 751-765, DOI: 10.1080/19415257.2020.1744684 Snoek, M., Eisenschmidt, E., Forsthuber, B., Holdsworth, P., Michaelidou, A., Dahl Norgaard, J., Pachler, N. (2010). Developing Coherent and Systemwide Induction Programmes for Beginning Teachers. A handbook for Policy makers. Brussels, European Commission.
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