Mat nýliða á gagnsemi leiðsagnar í starfi kennara

Abstract

It is believed that the first year of teaching has a gradual impact on teachers’ efficiency, satisfaction and intention to stay at work (Bartell, 2005; Darling-Hammond, 2003; Feiman-Nemser, 2003; Ingersoll and Strong, 2011). It is also believed that insufficient support for the first year teachers can reduce their ability to fulfil students’ various needs (Ingersoll, 2012 There is a clear link between a good support system for first-time-teachers, improved teaching methods and student learning outcomes, which underlines the importance of providing teachers with good support in their first year of teaching (Ingersoll and Strong, 2011).

The article discusses the Icelandic data of the Nordic research project NORDMENT, on new qualified teachers’ attitude towards work, and on how well they are doing in teaching in compulsory and upper secondary schools. The research was conducted in collaboration with scholars from the universities of Oslo, Gothenburg, Aarhus and Turku. The goal was to study how school support, school management and school structure influence the way new qualified teachers adapt to teaching, how they assess their own skills and the circumstances that schools offer them.

Participants were teachers during the first three years of teaching or those who had completed three years of work. The study was quantitative. A uniform questionnaire was used, translated and localized, in all of the participating countries. The questionnaire was sent electronically to 280 teachers in Iceland, one third of whom were in upper secondary schools and two thirds in compulsory schools. The results are based on answers from 239 teachers (response rate was 85.4%).

The main objective of this article is to provide insight into the data that deals with formal and informal support for new qualified teachers at work. The article focuses on answers to questions about school support, school management and synergies with their work, as well as their perception of how far their school and colleagues are concerned about their well-being at work. It looks at how formal the guidance is for recruits in primary and secondary schools in their first year of work, whether there is a link between formal guidance, professional background of the mentor, frequency of formal meetings with the mentor and the newcomers’ evaluation of practical guidance regarding various aspects of the participants’ work.

The main results indicate that newcomers usually experience good support from the school and its administrators, as well as their colleagues. The support did not depend on whether they received formal mentoring in their first year of work. However, those who received formal mentoring and had formal meetings with their mentor once a week or more, often experienced significantly more informal support within the school than those who did not. Evaluation of the utility of mentoring also relates to the frequency of formal meetings between newcomers and their mentors.

Nearly half of the newcomers received mentoring during their first year of teaching. There was no significant difference between the responses in the study as to whether newcomers received mentoring in the first year or not, but when the guidance was examined further, such relationships were revealed. Mentoring seemed to affect the practice and well-being of newcomers if it was provided by teachers who had a similar professional basis as the newcomer, and if they met regularly during the mentoring period. The findings indicate that there is a gap in formal communication between newcomers and mentors during the first year of employment. About one third of the newcomers only met formally with their mentor once a month or less, of whom about one-fifth never met formally. About half, however, had formal meetings with their mentor once a week or more often, and their answers were often different from those who had fewer formal meetings. The frequency of formal meetings and the professional background of the mentors were the variables that had the strongest connection with job satisfaction and experience of support for school work.

The new teachers were asked whether they had thought about or intended to quit work, and whether there was a link between these thoughts and the formal and informal support they received. About a third of the participants had thought about quitting, but only one tenth had made a real effort to seek another job. However, there was no appreciable link between these thoughts and the support they received.