Supporting New Early Childhood Education Teachers in Public Schools

Year 2014, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 35 - 48, 22.05.2014

Zeynep Akdağ

https://izlik.org/JA39SG44CB

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine beginning early childhood education teachers’ perceived needs and received supports in public schools. Recently, supporting new teachers has been emphasized more to empower them in teaching profession. First year of teaching is considered as an induction program in Turkey as well, and this study attempts to examine effectiveness of mentoring program in public schools in Turkey. Sixteen beginning early childhood education (ECE) teachers were interviewed at the end of the first and second semester of their first year of teaching. Audio-recorded interviews were analyzed through qualitative research methodologies. Findings revealed that new teachers struggled most to find out their ways in complex legislation and paperwork in public schools. It appeared that the induction program was not implemented properly and it was not helpful for new teachers. Beginning teachers’ expressions about their perceived needs in their first year was essentially a mentor.

Keywords

New early childhood education teachers , mentoring , induction program.

Devlet Okullarında Göreve Yeni Başlayan Okulöncesi Eğitim Öğretmenlerinin Desteklenmesi

https://izlik.org/JA39SG44CB

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine beginning early childhood education teachers’ perceived needs and received supports in public schools. Recently, supporting new teachers have been emphasized more to empower them in teaching profession. First year of teaching is considered as an induction program in Turkey as well and this study attempt to examine effectiveness of mentoring and guiding program in public schools in Turkey. Sixteen beginning early childhood education (ECE) teachers were interviewed at the end of the   first and second semester of their first year of teaching. Audio-recorded interviews were analyzed through qualitative research methodologies. Findings revealed that new teachers struggled most to find out their ways in complex legislation and paper work in public schools. It appeared that induction program was not run as it supposed to be, and it was not helpful for new teachers. Beginning teachers’ expressions about their perceived needs in their first year addressed another person, generally in the position of a mentor or a friend.

Keywords

-

References

• Akbaba, S. (2002). Öğretmen yetiştirmede mesleki rehberliğin yeri ve önemi. Milli Eğitim Dergisi, 1551
• Anthony, G., & Ord, K. (2008). Change of career secondary teachers: Motivations, expectations and intentions. Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher education, 36(4), 359-376.
• Balcı, A.(2000). Örgütsel sosyalleşme: kuram, strateji ve taktikler. Ankara: Pegem A Yayıncılık
• Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative Research for education: An introduction to theories and methods (5th edt.). Boston: Pearson
• Calderhead, J., & Shorrock, S. B. (1997). Understanding Teacher Education: Case Studies in the Professional Development of Beginning Teachers. London: Falmer Press.
• Feiman-Nemser, S. (2003). What new teachers to learn. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 25-29.
• Fottland, H. (2004). Memories of a fledgling teacher: A beginning teacher's autobiography. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 10(6), 639-662.
• Ganser, T. (1999, April) Reconsidering the relevance of Veenman’s (1984) meta-analysis of the perceived problems of beginning teachers. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Quebec.
• Giorgi, A. (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press
• Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-606. Retrieved April 01, 2010, from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR84/golafshani.pdf
• Haser, Ç., Star, J., 2009. Change in beliefs after first-year of teaching: the case of Turkish national curriculum context. International Journal of Educational Development 29(3), 293–302.
• Hawley, W., & Rosenholtz, S. (1984). Good schools: What research says about improving student achievement. Peabody Journal of Education. 62(4), 3.
• Holsti, O. (1969). Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities. Don Mills: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
• Husserl, E. (1970). The crisis of European sciences and transcendental phenomenology. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
• Ingersoll, R. M. (2001). Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 499–534.
• Johnson, S., Birkeland, S., Kardos, S., Kaufman, D., Liu, E., & Peske, H. (2001). Retaining the next generation of teachers: The importance of school-based support. Harward Education Letter Research Online. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/natsci/faculty/zitzewitz/curie/TeacherPrep/99.pdf
• King, D. M. (2004). National board certified teachers' perceptions of new teacher needs. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of New Orleans, New Orleans.
• King, N, & Horrocks, C. (2010). Interviews in Qualitative Research. London: Sage
• King, G., Keohane, R. O., & Verba, S. (1996). Designing social inquiry: Scientific inference in qualitative research. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.
• Kirk, J., & Miller, M. L. (1986). Reliability and validity in qualitative research. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
• Latimer, M. (2009). An analysis of new teachers’ initial and developing concerns: A deeper look. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University, Arizona. (UMI No: 3354458). Lindgren, U. (2005). Experiences of beginning teachers in a school-based mentoring program in Sweden. Educational Studies, 31(3), 251–263.
• Lucas, K. F. (2001) The social construction of mentoring roles. Mentoring & Tutoring, 9(1), 23–47.
• Lundeen, C. A. (2004). Teacher development: the struggle of beginning teachers in creating moral (caring) classroom environments. Early Child Development and Care, 174(6), 549-564.
• McGee, C. D. (2001) Calming fears and building confidence: a mentoring process that Works. Mentoring & Tutoring, 9(3), 202–209.
• Merriam, S.B. (1998). Qualitative research and case studies applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publications.
• Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı Aday Memurlarının Yetiştirilmelerine İlişkin Yönetmelik (1995). MEB Tebliğler Dergisi, 2423. Retrieved Nowember, 13, 2009, from http://mevzuat.meb.gov.tr/html/42.html Mishler, E.G. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
• Moffett, K. L., John, J. S., & Isken, J. A. (2002). Training and coaching beginning teachers: An antitode to reality shock. Educational Leadership, 34-36.
• Mooij, A (2010). Intentionality, desire, responsibility: A study in phenomenology, psychoanalysis and law. Boston: Brill.
• Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
• Nemser, S. F. (2003). What new teachers need to learn. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 25-29.
• Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Polkinghorne, D. E. (1989), Phenomenological research methods. In R. S. Valle & S. Halling (Eds.), Existential-phenomenological perspectives in psychology: Exploring the breadth of human existence (pp. 41-62). New York: Plenum.
• Roehrig, A. D., Pressley, M., & Talotta, D. A. (2002). Stories of beginning teachers: First year challenges and beyond. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame Press.
• Rourke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, D. R., & Archer, W. (2001). Methodological issues in the content analysis of computer conference transcripts. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 12. Available online at: http://cbl.leeds.ac.uk/ijaied
• Runyan, C. K. (1991, November) Empowering beginning teachers through developmental induction. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Council of States on Inservice Education, Houston, TX.
• Saban, B. (2002). Mentored teaching as (more than) a powerful means of recruiting newcomers. Education, 122(4), 828- 840.
• Seidman, I. (1991). Interviewing as qualitative research. New York: Teachers College Press.
• Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22, 63-75.
• Smethem, L. (2007). Retention and intention in teaching careers: Will the new generation stay? Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 13(5), 465–480.
• Smith, J. K. (1983). Quantitative versus qualitative research: An attempt to clarify the issue. Educational Researcher, 12(3), 6-13.
• Smith, J.A. & Osborn, M. (2003) Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J.A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Methods. London: Sage.
• Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experiences: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Wiesman, L. D., Coover, D. D., & Knight, L.S. (1999). Becoming a Teacher in a Field- Based Setting: An Introduction to Education and Classrooms. USA,Wadsworth Publishing Company.