In this discussion on the development of expertise in teaching, a theory of skill learning is first presented. The characteristics of five stages of skill development in teachers are described: (1) novice; (2) advanced beginner; (3) competent teacher; (4) proficient teacher; and (5) expert teacher. A review of data collected by studies on the…

An effective induction assistance program is necessary to prepare beginning vocational education teachers. A structured approach should be based on research, educational theory, experience, and the best thinking that can be found. To be successful, an induction assistance program must be a collaborative effort, accepted and supported by local…

The application and selection processes involved in filling a full-time assistant professor position at a small liberal arts college are discussed, as are the results of a survey returned by 64 undergraduate departments that undertook a search for a similar position during the 1995-1996 academic year. The survey involved departments that offered…

The changing marketplace for foreign language college faculty necessitates carefully devised faculty development programs to help new and younger faculty to launch ("fire") their careers. Foreign language departments must develop effective faculty recruitment and retention strategies to maintain program quality, size, and missions. (CB)

Presents a fictional look at engineering curricula and hiring practices to suggest ways that mathematics teacher educators can learn from experiences of other professions in preparing teachers and providing beginning teachers with appropriate experiences. (MDH)

The author reflects on his first teaching experience 20 years ago at a residential outdoor and environmental education school in Ontario (Canada). He stresses the importance of documenting outdoor experiences through personal narratives as a means of bringing attention to the value of outdoor learning and connecting learners with their natural…

An interview with Wilbert McKeachie, a leading figure in college teaching and learning, focuses on advice for beginning faculty, including the importance of effective testing, mid-term student evaluations of teaching performance, discussion and questioning techniques, cooperative learning, and peer review strategies to improve college students'…

This article reflects on the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program, a program that provides first-year early childhood educators support and assistance from a team of resource teachers, principals, and teacher educators through a year-long supervised internship. It discusses teacher attrition and the need to address issues of teachers' pay and…

This book is a memoir of one-room school life in 1929. In his day, Cratis D. Williams (1911-85) was America's foremost scholar on the Appalachian experience. This book is the story of his first teaching assignment at age 18 in a one-room K-8 school on Caines Creek in Lawrence County, Kentucky. Williams details his classroom practices and…

In struggling to come to grips with essential skills for beginning educators, it helps to think of the requirements of teaching. Four basic requirements of teaching are: (1) curriculum planning and implementation; (2) instruction; (3) grouping of students; and (4) evaluation. For each of the four requirements of teaching, the teacher must…

Iowa has implemented educational reform by providing state financing without state mandates. This paper describes the achievements of Iowa's decentralized educational reform effort. Phase I of the reform effort provided salary relief to the beginning teacher, Phase II provided salary relief for the experienced teacher, and Phase III linked future…

In a reminiscence of his first year of teaching (in 1946), a teacher notes: (1) his complete unpreparedness for the task of teaching 11th grade English to 35 teenagers; (2) that his activities were a crude form of testing, and certainly not teaching; (3) that the goodwill and helpful suggestions of the English department chairman were decisive in…

Since the brain is generally thought to be the "center of learning," having a working knowledge of its functions is essential to effective teaching. In light of this, the "neuroeducator," as defined by researchers, provides a framework for reviewing areas of teacher education in need of observation, remediation, and reconstruction. To support…

Research has shown that the induction period is the most crucial time of a teacher's career. Characteristics of teachers who demonstrate an open, lively, and continuous desire to learn are quite different from those of teachers who remain static after their beginning years. In interviews, four experienced teachers were asked about initial…

The civil service standard that is the basis for most public school employment decisions conflicts with the assumption of tenure statutes that no teacher should be reappointed or given tenure if a better teacher can be hired. Schools have a legal responsibility to hire the best available teacher. (Author/MLF)