The findings of this research have identified a number of implications for successful recruitment, education and retention of early career teachers.
The training year, from a university-based or school-based route aims to establish the knowledge, disposition and skills appropriate to being an effective teacher. Knowledge encompasses knowledge of a subject specialism with its substantive and syntactic structure, knowledge of current curriculum and its ever changing expectations, general and content specific pedagogic knowledge plus knowledge of the learners and the characteristics of how pupils learn (Shulman, 1987). Those who have been educated abroad or completed their education many years ago need to appreciate the governance, financing and structure of
Irena Grounds NTU ID: N0360228 Professional Doctorate. Document 5: Main Research Project Page 117 school communities they will work in. Individuals also need to develop their own personal and professional philosophy as their teaching identity unfolds through experiences at university and in at least two school settings. This development is informed by diverse perspectives arising from wider research and educational theories at Master’s level of enquiry. Currently there appears to be too much to address in the ten-month education programme (September to July).
I would recommend that the initial teacher training programme is prolonged, as in Finland, incorporating subject content knowledge development alongside pedagogic content knowledge as seen in the current long SKE courses. This is particularly important for shortage subjects such as science or modern languages where trainees are expected to teach across the sciences or be fluent in several languages. A greater expectation of applicants having worked with young people in different settings prior to starting the training would help to ensure they had fully appreciated the demands of a teaching environment. Combining theory and practice with Master’s level study would raise the profile of the profession. University lecturers working alongside classroom teachers in the same educational institution, both in school and university would ensure theory and practice were shared and understood by all contributors to the education programme. A more gradual exposure to learning to teach through working with individuals, then small group work and onto full classes through collaborative engagement and planning with expert teachers with trainees would build confidence and develop expertise. The “Lesson Study” approach (Dudley, 2014:1) involving groups of teachers collaboratively planning, teaching and observing and analysing learning and teaching together is an excellent
development and should become part of every school culture. If the current world financial situation does not lend itself to prolonged funded training, the ITT year could be the first stage in a continuous process of professional development providing purpose-designed CPD courses for the first three years of teaching. All early career teachers could obtain Master’s level qualifications within those early years and have time allocation and mentoring time built in to their timetables.
A national collection of resources for each subject would be a valuable asset for early career teachers. Lock, Salt and Soares (2011) recommended a single, authoritative collection of resources to provide accurate and validated science subject knowledge for trainee teachers and NQTs, for all science topics in the National Curriculum, as a response to science trainees having to teach across all three sciences. This collection might be hosted and validated by a national organisation such as the Association for Science Education or the National Science Learning Centre. A similar resource collection could be developed for other subjects or at least for the shortage subjects of Mathematics and Modern Languages. The archiving of the excellent National Strategy material after the Coalition Government came to power in 2010 is still bemoaned by many in educational communities and seen by some as an act of professional vandalism as it is now almost impossible to retrieve these resources.
Irena Grounds NTU ID: N0360228 Professional Doctorate. Document 5: Main Research Project Page 118 In my experience, trainees on school based routes are not made aware of the selection of enhancement opportunities and accessibility to networking communities by their mentors. They are often limited to their support relationships in school. There may be no external quality assurance mechanism and the power relationships between school mentor and trainee could limit honest, open and frank discussions about perceived progress. Mandatory requirements of external support mechanisms should form part of all school-led
programmes.
The appropriate choice of first-post school is central to whether early career teachers continue in the profession. I suggest that NCTL guidance is produced for Head teachers regarding the implementation of a supportive induction programme for newly qualified teachers involving all colleagues in the school from the Head teacher and SLT through to support and technical staff, each sharing the importance of their role in the school community before term officially begins. A paid pre-induction procedure should occur in July or late August and have a planned structure. An experienced subject mentor and an expert induction tutor should be appointed who have been given time and professional development opportunities in the field of mentoring and coaching.
All newly qualified trainee teachers on a university-based course produce a Career Entry Development Plan (CEDP) in collaboration with their university tutor on completion of the training course. This identifies strengths, areas for development and main professional aims for the future and accompanies newly qualified teachers into their first post. The contents should form the basis for the first induction tutorial so that induction mentors and tutors are aware of the needs of newly qualified teacher just as all teachers are aware of the needs of their pupils. I recommend that this document be given a higher profile and form a focus for discussion in the early induction. My institution sends a copy of the CEDP to the Head teacher and Lead Induction Tutor in the first-post school asking for confirmation of receipt. The focus and dates of KIT events are included to continue liaison between school and university into that first very important formative year with continued collaborative development of CPD events for established teachers and researchers.
What feels like an overwhelming workload of planning and assessment requirements plus expectations outside the classroom can result in some early career teachers establishing an unacceptable work/life balance especially in the first term. A reduced first year timetable with protected time for planning and marking is recommended. NQTs new to the school would benefit from early advice from expert teachers on effective time management and realistic expectations of marking policies and procedures. These basic skills can be neglected in the hectic settling-in period.
The suggested pre-induction programme including a targetted welcome by the Head teacher and SLT, introduction to school procedures and key colleagues, for example the SENCO, plus provision of own teaching room and introduction to school resources should be mandatory for all newly appointed colleagues. This provision seems an obvious precursor
Irena Grounds NTU ID: N0360228 Professional Doctorate. Document 5: Main Research Project Page 119 for personal and professional congruence among new career teachers. Possibly the high bursary provision for trainees with high level degree classifications could be channelled into enhanced reward for outstanding outcome and a return to the ‘Golden Hello’ payments after a certain number of years in teaching. As I found no correlation between incoming degree classification and outgoing achievement award, a common bursary for all trainees should be resumed with scholarship provision from professional associations made available. The Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry scholarships are generous and provide subject specialist mentoring throughout training and into early years. Other educational subject bodies could be supported to provide similar incentives.
A positive school culture is essential for continuing professional development. Embedding an expectation of a programme giving opportunities to observe excellent practitioners and be observed in turn, using successful professional collaborative strategies like ‘Lesson Study’ should be incorporated into school CPD programmes. Hattie’s (2012) emphasis on a
requirement of all teachers to make the effect of their teaching visible to themselves and others by gathering defensible and dependable evidence from many sources and holding collaborative discussions with colleagues and pupils about this evidence is relevant here. Continued collaboration with university education departments could provide Master’s programmes and research agendas for all staff. Possibly one day the UK will be able to achieve 50% of teachers involved in professional doctoral studies as they do in Finland.