Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

The First Year At University: Giving Social Capital A Sporting Chance, Fiona Budgen, Susan Main, Deborah Callcott, Brenda Hamlett

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The first year of university has been identified as an area of interest and concern for several decades because, for many students, their first year at university is also their last. The researchers developed a program based on a Sports Education model to influence the engagement and retention of first year students. The program sought to build social capital by providing opportunities for students to connect with their peers and establish supportive social and collegial networks at university. The data highlighted a number of interesting outcomes for both the first year students and mentors. First year students reported that the …

Understanding Teachers' Perceptions Of Academic Coaching Quality In An On-Site Professional Development Program, Phillip Wood

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Quality teacher training and continued learning is essential to providing the high quality education that yields adequate levels of student success. Though called by many different names, academic coaches appear to be the answer to the continuing problem of creating a positive learning environment that meets the challenges of educating students with varying abilities and needs. Driven by the analysis of student performance data, academic coaches train teachers in the best instructional practices and build teacher content knowledge to support improved student learning. Additionally, academic coaches offer support during the implementation of content learned through staff development. This study utilized …

What Is The Profile Of The Ideal Christian Coach, Alan Coker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The question this writer would like to explore is: What is the profile of the ideal Christian Coach? Recently I sat down with Jonathan Reitz, CEO of CoachNet, one of the largest Christian coaching networking agencies in the world. Jonathan's question to me was can we come up with a profile of the ideal coach? The goal is to answer the question by using materials from evaluations and assessments provided by CoachNet. These have been agreed upon to be readily available for the purpose of this project. The research and statistical analysis provided should present a profile from a random …

Mentoring: A Grounded Theory Study Examining How The Relationship Between The Mentor And Mentee Becomes Mutually Beneficial, David Martin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This grounded theory qualitative study examined the mentee/mentor relationship between five first year teachers and their five assigned mentors in a school district in Central Florida. To generate a model that seeks to explain how and why a mentee/mentor relationship changes and evolves from that of a single directional stream of information to that of a bidirectional stream which benefits the professional development of both parties, the grounded theory approach was utilized. Three forms of data were collected: interviews, focus groups, and participant journaling. This data along with artifacts and documents describing the school setting and the use of mentors …

Teacher Induction Programs In North Carolina: Factors Relating To Job Satisfaction And The Intent To Remain In The Profession, Hannah S. Reeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Attrition rates continue to rise for beginning teachers. It is alarming that almost half of all new teachers leave the profession within their first 5 years. The “revolving door” that is created negatively affects student achievement. The most common solution to decreasing teacher turnover rates is implementing a comprehensive new teacher induction program. Comprehensive induction programs are designed to increase teacher efficacy, promote quality professional development, and facilitate a collaborative work environment among teachers (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004).

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine beginning teacher induction programs in the state of North Carolina and the …

Novice Teachers Learning From Others: Mentoring In Shanghai Schools, Hairon Salleh, Charlene Tan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores critically the practice of teacher mentoring in Shanghai schools. It begins with a review of the literature on teacher mentoring, which is followed by an introduction to education and teacher mentoring in the schools. The next section critiques teacher mentoring in Shanghai and we highlight three key characteristics and strengths of the practice of teacher mentoring that ensure the effectiveness and smooth implementation of mentoring in Shanghai schools. In terms of the weaknesses, we argue that the success of teacher mentoring in Shanghai is inhibited by a performative culture that emphasises examination scores and an instrumental view …

How Can Schools Support Beginning Teachers? A Call For Timely Induction And Mentoring For Effective Teaching, Peter Hudson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Induction programs largely focus on informing the beginning teacher about the school culture and infrastructure yet the core business of education is teaching and learning. This qualitative study uses a survey, questionnaire, and interviews to investigate 10 beginning teachers’ needs towards becoming effective teachers in their first year of teaching. Findings were synonymous with studies in other countries that showed they required more support in the induction process, particularly around the school context, networking, managing people, and creating work-life balances. It also found that these beginning teachers required support in school culture and infrastructure with stronger consideration of developing teaching …

Balancing Support And Challenge Within The Mentoring Relationship, Tiffanie Joy Miley

Theses and Dissertations

Mentoring is a common element of new teacher induction aimed at easing beginning teachers' entry into the profession and assisting beginning teacher growth and development. Previous research has shown that mentors are comfortable supporting beginning teachers but are reluctant to provide challenge-activities that will help beginning teachers improve their practice. For optimal growth to occur, mentors should balance support and challenge in their work with beginning teachers. This descriptive study employed multiple cases to examine the relationship of two junior high school mentors with their mentees. The mentors in this study work in a school district with an established and …

Learning From Mentoring Relationships Within And Between Higher Education Institute Staff, Sinead Mccann

Staff Articles and Research Papers

As part of the PERARES project, staff on the Programme for Students Learning with Communities (SLWC) in DIT have been formally mentored by staff at Queen’s University Belfast, with over 20 years experience fostering community-based research (CBR) projects. This paper shares both experiences of the invaluable support, insight and practical guidance emerging from this mentoring relationship, and considers early outcomes from a pilot of informal mentoring relationships in DIT between academic staff experienced in CBR and staff starting CBR projects with students for the first time.

Components Of Effective Teacher Induction Programs And The Impact Of Experienced Mentors, Craig P. Mcbride

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Based on data from the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), 2008-09 Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) and 2009-10 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS) datasets, this study examined a prediction model for new teacher retention that combined variables from both the presence of induction program components and mentoring traits. New teacher retention was selected as an important criterion because attrition causes a large financial burden on already budget-limited districts, and teacher turnover impacts teacher effectiveness and student learning. Results of a logistic regression analysis indicated that the presence of an induction program (W1T0220), the presence of a mentor (W2MNTYN), the use …

Teachers' Sense Of Professional Practices As A Result Of Mentoring, Leadriane L. Roby

Dissertations

Formal mentoring programs focus on the probationary period of new teachers. Providing teachers with mentoring support during the initial years of teaching requires significant commitment and investment from school districts, mentors, and new teachers. Numerous studies argue the merits of mentoring programs, yet the research has been less clear about what happens once mentoring support has ended. The purpose of this study was to explore how mentored teachers, those beyond the formal mentoring experience, created sense and meaning of their teaching roles and developed professional practices after participation in a mentoring program.

There is an assumption that there is a …

A Hermeneutical Phenomenological Study Of The Role Of New Secondary School Assistant Principals, David Stanton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study followed five secondary school assistant principals during the 2010-2011 school year. The participants range in age from their early 30s to early 50s, three of the participants serving as assistant principals in high schools; and two as assistant principals in middle schools. All five participants work in two school districts in Oakland County, Michigan, a suburban county northwest of Detroit and were promoted to administrative work within the past three years. The participants provided monthly calendars and journals along with discipline reports to demonstrate through their schedules, duties, and, most importantly, their own words, the experiences of …

Through The Eyes Of The Novice Teacher: Perceptions Of Mentoring Support, Sarah K. Clark, D. Byrnes

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the perceptions of elementary school beginning teachers (n = 136) across a Rocky Mountain state in the US regarding the mentoring support they received during their first year teaching. Beginning teachers were asked to report the types of mentoring support they received and to rate the helpfulness of this support on the Mentoring Support Survey. Individual item scores and scale scores are reported. An analysis of variance was then used to compare the scale scores of teachers with the administrator-facilitated mentoring supports of common planning time with their mentors and/or release time to observe other teachers. …

Mentors And New Teachers: A Qualitative Study Examining An East Tennessee School Systems Mentoring Program., Nikki Lynn Manning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With almost half of all new teachers leaving the profession in the first few years, it is imperative that school systems find ways to support and retain these new teachers. Formal mentoring is a growing necessity. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the effectiveness of one school system's mentoring program.

This study included 4 sets of mentor and mentee teachers. Each set consisted of a beginning teacher in her 1st year of teaching and an experienced teacher trained by the school system to serve as a mentor. This study was conducted in a rural East Tennessee School …

The Reported Needs Of A Teacher Mentoring Program, Kimberly Myers Tillman

Dissertations

The following study was conducted in four public school districts in south Mississippi and involved a combination of 167 administrators, mentors, and novice teachers. The purpose of this study was to measure the reported needs of a teacher mentoring program as perceived by novice teachers, mentor teachers, and administrators. An additional purpose of the study was to examine administrators’ perceptions of how alternate route and traditional route teachers differ in their needs of a teacher mentoring program.

Two multivariate of analysis (MANOVA) tests were conducted to measure the differences among novice teachers, mentors, and administrators in their perception of what …

Job Stress, Mentoring, Psychological Empowerment, And Job Satisfaction Among Nursing Faculty, Catherine Emily Ebersole Chung

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The National League for Nursing (NLN) endorses mentoring throughout the nursing faculty career trajectory as the method to recruit nurses into academia and improve retention of nursing faculty within the academy (NLN, 2006). One way mentoring assists faculty is by easing socialization to the culture of the employing institution and decreasing faculty stress (Lewallen, Crane, Letvak, Jones, & Hu, 2003). Mentoring can also be a facilitating factor of an individual's psychological empowerment. Academia is an environment able to foster psychological empowerment, a state in which faculty may be self-directed, highly productive, confident, and find a meaningful connection to their work …

A Sociocultural-Theory-Based Study Of The Impact Of Mediation During Post-Observation Conferences On Language Teacher Learning, Jane Harvey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The post-observation conference offers a potentially fecund context for promoting language teacher learning, but very little research has been conducted into how this actually happens. Taking Vygotskian sociocultural theory as its theoretical framework, this study examined the mediational discourse of a series of post-observation conferences between a mentor and two practicing English language teachers to investigate the nature of the discourse and the relationship between the mediational discourse and the language teachers` learning. Features of mediational discourse identified a priori (such as intersubjectivity, graduated and contingent help, and externalization of reasoning) were present in the data, but were found to …

Early Career Teaching: Learning To Be A Teacher And Staying In The Job, Dawn Joseph

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article provides insights into the ways that teacher education programs might equip early career teachers beginning their professional identity. Situated in Melbourne (Australia), it discusses tertiary music education preparation for the profession and recognises the value and importance of having critical friends and mentors as a beginner teacher. By using narrative reflection both lecturer and graduate allow their voices to be heard as they make a contribution to understand the challenges new teachers face when building their professional identity and ‘staying in the job’. The discussion provided by the graduate, outlines her experience and engagement regarding the ‘positives’ and …

Developing Teacher Leaders In Math And Science: Content Coaches Mentoring Teacher Leaders, Andrea Kent, Andre Green, Phillip Feldman

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The AMSTI (Alabama Math Science Technology Initiative)-USA Fellows program, a collaboration between a university College of Education and Arts & Sciences, State Department of Education, and local school district, was created to develop Teacher Leaders in AMSTI Mathematics and Science. The specific focus of this research was to examine the mentoring provided to the Teacher Leaders Fellows, and to determine if the professional development provided to the teacher leaders helped them develop mentoring skills to mentor and coach the AMSTI teachers with whom they worked. At the completion of their Fellowship, these AMSTI-USA Fellows returned to become teacher leaders at …

The “Glass-Ceiling” In The Church Organization: Can E-Mentoring Be A Panacea To Women Desiring Leadership Positions?, John Ekukndayo

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

In leadership studies, mentoring has been in practice for a long time be it in local and national governance, organizational development (especially as part of a systematic leadership succession plan) or even for personal/professional development of individuals or groups. It seems that in organizations today many desire to be mentored but unfortunately not all are finding appropriate mentors that will cater for their personal and professional needs especially in meeting with their psychosocial needs (Kram, 1983). This is the case with many women in many male-dominated workplaces known for the preserving of “male prejudices, male values and creations” (Woodd, 1997), …

Teacher Collaboration: Implications For New Mathematics Teachers, Laura M. Gellert, Lidia Gonzalez

Publications and Research

One increasingly popular way of supporting new teachers is through the use of mentoring. New teachers are often paired with mentors as one of a number of supports meant to aid new teachers as they begin their career. The various types of mentoring range from school based mentors assigned by the school to specialty mentors, such as math coaches. Examples of other types of supports that are thought of as separate from formal mentoring are lesson studies, professional development schools, professional development workshops supported by local universities, teacher networks and sponsored professional development. Given the popularity of policies promoting support …

An Analysis On The Experience Of Mentoring Support In A College Alternative Teacher Certification Program, Debra Voutsinas Kilgore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore how college alternative teacher certification (ATC) participants experience mentoring support. The goal was to obtain a rich and deep understanding of the nature of the mentoring experience in a college ATC program through the perspectives of mentees and their mentors. The ATC program was the Educator Preparation Institute (EPI).

Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Eight individuals participated in the study, four were mentors and four were EPI students. A triangulated set of research methods for data collection and analysis was used, including member checks, validation forms, and peer reviews. All the interviews …

Through The Eyes Of Student Teachers: Successes And Challenges In Field Teaching Experiences, Tyler Ferber, Leah Nillas

Scholarly Publications

“The most important aspect in the learning to teach process is the field experience, i.e., the opportunity to stand face to face with the challenges and demands of the teaching profession” (Caires & Almeida, 2007). This study presents the successes and challenges encountered by preservice teachers while conducting a semester long student teaching experience. This is a qualitative study with data collected using anonymous questionnaires and case-study interviews involving elementary and secondary preservice teachers. Challenges regarding classroom management, cooperating teacher interactions, and university demands emerged from the questionnaire and interview data. The interview data revealed a more in-depth perspective of …

The Relationships Among Caregiver Training, Mentoring, And Turn-Taking Between Caregiver And Child In Family Child Care, Carrie L. Ota

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Basic communication skills are foundational for children's success in school and are dependent largely on their language experiences early in life. The purpose of this study was to examine two professional development models and family child care providers' use of turn-taking strategies that promote language in young children. The first professional development model consisted of a 10-hour nonformal training focused on supporting early language development. The second included the nonformal training and on-site mentoring. The 48 family child care programs were randomly assigned to one of the professional development models or a control group. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to …

Mentoring In Teacher Education: Building Nurturing Contexts And Teaching Communities For Rural Primary School Teachers In Sindh, Pakistan, Nilofar Vazir, Rakhshinda Meher

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper examines how mentoring can improve the performance and level of teacher education in Pakistan, especially in rural areas. It presents a qualitative case study that focuses on two teachers from rural Sindh; one male and the other female. These teachers were participants in the Mentoring Program at the Aga Khan University – Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED). Data was collected through participant observations, from structured and unstructured interviews, in the classroom and the field, and from reflective journals. The program focused on reconceptualizing the role of these teachers as mentors, developing relevant skills through critical thinking and reflective …

Perceptions Of Mentors And New Teachers: A Case Study Of A Mentoring Program In Northeast Tennessee., Gregory Scott Wallace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study included 9 new teachers all of whom were assigned master teachers as mentors. The study also included 11 mentor teachers who participated in this study. There were 20 participants in this case study. The study was conducted in the Johnson City School System.

This qualitative case study was conducted by interviewing 20 participants in the mentoring program. Eleven mentor teachers and 9 new teachers were chosen through purposeful sampling. A list of possible participants was obtained from the Johnson City Schools Central Office and an email was sent to possible participants explaining the nature of the study. Participants …

Continuing Change In A Virtual World: Training And Recruiting Instructors, Michael K. Barbour, Jim Kinsella, Matthew Wicks, Sacip Toker

Education Faculty Publications

The process of teacher identification, selection, initial training, and on-going professional development that has developed at the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) over the past seven years is described and discussed in this article. Validation was based upon existing practices and research. To provide background the creation and initial development of the IVHS is described. Some of the issues within the hiring process and professional development that the IVHS continues to struggle are examined including teacher certification and the changing nature of technology. The paper concludes with a recommendation that teacher education programs assist in addressing these challenges to support …

School-Based Mentoring: A Nurturing Approach To Improve The Educational Outcomes Of Students At-Risk, Paul Caldarella, Shauna Valentine, Drew Daniels, Barbara Quackenbush

Faculty Publications

Advantages of School-based Mentoring: Less costly; Identify more children; School resources, staff, administration; More convenient; Time commitment; Safety; Community support. Dubois & Karcher (2005)

Using Web-Based Tools To Mentor Novice Teachers In Literacy Instruction, Teresa Moore Jordan

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the virtual interactions between novice teachers and their mentor using web-based tools such as blogging and instant messaging. The purpose of the study was to determine the nature of online communication and how web-based tools function in the mentoring process. The mentor/researcher created an online website where novice teachers and their mentor interacted by blogging, instant messaging, and virtually sharing digital resources and ideas for teaching literacy. As the novice teachers interacted on the website, the mentor/researcher conducted an online survey and kept digital records of all blogs and instant message sessions. Later, participants were interviewed and …

A Manual For Improving The Working Relationship Of Teachers Through The Implementation Of A Peer Coaching Model, Mitchell Bennett Richards

All Graduate Projects

The challenges that teachers face today with educational standards are daunting. Many teaching practices have evolved over the last several years due to the constraints of standardized testing. These constraints require students and teachers to be held accountable for their performance. Teachers are now required to do more than simply educate students based on their beliefs of best practices. Teacher professional development is paramount to provide teachers with the tools needed to face the challenges in education today. This project presents a peer coaching model to foster teacher development, reviews the related research in the field of peer coaching, and …