Case Studies on Effective Organizational Initiatives for the Support of New and Young Teachers Utilizing Mentors

Author(s):

Wakio Oyanagi(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

01. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations

Format:

Paper

Session Information

01 SES 02 A, New Teachers

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-10

15:15-16:45

Room:

B-202

Chair:

Hannu Jokinen

Contribution

It has been nearly 10 years already since interest was directed toward PISA results and subsequently in Finland’s PISA initiatives. Observations and surveys of numerous countries have been conducted in search of the reasons why Finland’s assessed scholastic ability is stable and high. Amid this, researchers began looking at the country’s development, cultural circumstances, and major changes in approaches to teacher training since the 1970s (Shalberg 2010).

By examining and comparing the kinds of initiatives implemented in Finland and contrasting initiatives in countries such as the United States and Britain (development of standards, teacher training, creation of systematic programs for current teacher training, periodic measurement of children’s academic skills through testing, etc.), Hargreaves & Shirley (2009) conducted research exploring new directions regarding educational reform to date by taking a historical look at problems and effective initiatives. They have presented “Fourth Way”.

Furthermore, Hargreaves and Fullan name the term “professional capital” as the key to educational reform, and have shown research results on the importance of devoting time to, and focusing on, the value of the expertise of teachers and schools (Hargreaves & Fullan 2012).

According to them, professional capital consists of human capital, social capital, and decisional capital (HC is not successful without SC and does not function without DC). They also point to the importance of the 5 Cs to its effective function (1. Capability or expert knowledge, 2. Commitment, 3. Career, 4. Culture, and 5. Contexts or conditions of teaching). In addition, while citing from and referencing Drake’s research (2002), they indicate the need to focus on mid-career teachers (career of 8–24 years) in order to facilitate the functioning of the 5 Cs, and note that educators in reality are able to truly contribute from their 8th year of teaching. Losing young teachers prior to that point not only leads to significant educational loss, but also societal loss since it greatly impacts the children being fostered. Moreover, citing research results from Day & Gu (2010), they state that to train teachers and improve a school’s organizational educational capabilities hoping they would be agents of reform, rather than develop an across-the-board training program implemented all at once, it is important to establish school-based initiatives rooted in issues related to various teaching career phases and their context, and teachers’ cultures and regions, as well as national and international organizational support systems for the valuation of specialized learning organizations that go beyond the school environment, and teachers, schools, and educational boards that promote them.

As stated above, even among global trends in research it is understood that today, when we must deal with multiple incidents and various changes in circumstances, a school’s organizational educational capabilities, expectations placed on middle leaders, and the importance of support for young educators are crucial issues. Therefore, this study visualizes the elements of school initiatives that are currently achieving results and positive responses related to effective, organizational endeavors that aim to support young educators through the utilization of mentors.

Method

This study focuses on initiatives involving the nurturing of young educators using middle leaders or candidates as mentors, visualizes the roles played at schools by them and the training conducted, and discusses the discernible characteristics through 3 case studies of elementary schools and 2 case studies of middle schools. The reasons for this approach include the fact that, as stated at the beginning, the teacher composition has greatly changed with the mass retirement of the baby-boomer generation, a sparse populated mid-career generation is being asked to take on the role of middle leader, and focusing on responsive initiatives is important, as the results of international studies noted earlier have shown. In addition, given this situation, schools are facing a generation of young educators, having to maintain school abilities and organizational educational capabilities, and circumstances that require response to modern issues all at the same time. Thus, since the constant growth of schools as a learning organization becomes key, and based on the necessity of visualizing elements of learning from case studies of initiatives, this report has conducted the analysis below while referring to Peter Senge’s “The Five Disciplines of Learning Organization” (Senge, 2003, Senge 2012).

Expected Outcomes

The above illustrates the following points shared by the initiatives conducted at elementary schools and middle schools: 1) classroom-based studies are being promoted to create a school-wide atmosphere that engages new and young teachers, 2) teams are being utilized to tackle issues and concerns that new and young educators encounter in a chronological order during the school year, and to mutually clarify strengths and weaknesses in the classroom, and 3) administrators are conscious of devices and innovations that nurture a mutually beneficial relationship between the new and young educators and mentors so that the mentor’s role would not end up with a mere facilitator. Problems have been identified with the intersection of mentor utilization and the effective promotion of demonstration classes, including 1) the need for creative devices and the allotment of time for young teachers to speak freely during demonstration classes, and 2) the need for innovative ways to present summarizations. Furthermore, the problems exist of 3) how to effectively use time within working hours, and 4) how to link school issues to issues of young educators. Though the desires of young teachers should be valued, issues were raised, including the difficulty of maintaining a school’s organizational educational capabilities.

References

Day,C.&Gu,Q.(2010) The New Lives of Teachers (Teacher Quality and School Development) . NY: Routledge. Drake,C.(2002) Experience counts: Career stage and teachers’ response to mathematics education reform. Educational Policy 16(2). 311-337. Hargreaves,A., & Shirley,D.(2009) The Fourth Way. The Inspiring Future for Educational Change. CA:Corwin. Hargreaves,A., & Fullan,M.(2012) Professional Capital. Transforming Teaching in Every School. NY: Routledge. Oyanagi,W. (2011) Development of "Self-Assessment Tool" to Improve Mentoring Performance by Inter-Understanding between Mentor and Mentee. Bulletin of Center for Educational Research and Development No.20 pp.19-28. Oyanagi,W. (2012) A Report on Training Methods for Facilitating the Organizational Power at School －A Pilot Program of Leadership from Middle－. Bulletin of School of Professional Development in Education (SPDE),　Nara University of Education No.4, pp.49-54. Shalberg,P. (2010) Finnish Lessons. What can the world learn from educational change in Finland. NY: Teachers College Press. Senge,P.,Cambron-McCabe,N., Lucas,T., Smith,B., Dutton,J., and Kleiner,A. (2012) Schools That Learn. Update & Revised. NY: Crown Publishing.

Author Information

Wakio Oyanagi (presenting / submitting)

Nara University of Education

Graduate School of Professional Development in Education

Nara

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