Mandel interviewed both new teachers and veteran educators who had mentored first-year teachers in Los Angeles schools to ascertain what kind of information new teachers want during their initial year in the classroom. He discovered that few first-year teachers felt they needed guidance related to state standards and standardized tests. New…

Building a repertoire of teaching skills means organizing instructional strategies in some meaningful way. In this brief essay, the author recommends that beginning teachers develop a repertoire comprised of a mix of strategies from each of Joyce, Weil, and Calhoun's (2004) categories: three strategies from the Cognitive Family (Concept…

Finding mentors who will both support and challenge a teacher to grow is key to that teacher's ability to claim his or her calling as one who teaches and empowers others to join in their faith journeys as life-long learners. The author believes that religious educators must continually hone their skills to read the contexts where they teach as…

Nearly half of all new teachers leave the job within five years. What is killing their spirit? How can they be convinced to stay? This article attempts to answer such questions in presenting one person's account of why she left the teaching profession. Statistical data relating to teacher employment and turnover; reasons for leaving among…

Details the experiences of a beginning English teacher and her mentor. Describes how the first-year teacher made the transition from college student to practicing professional. (HB)

Contends that beginning teachers must learn quickly to be passionate about teaching. Provides five pieces of advice for beginning English teachers. (HB)

Provides advice from 15 veteran English teachers for smoothing the transitional period of beginning teachers. (HB)

Addresses three concerns regarding beginning secondary English teachers: the shock of entering the real world of public schools; specific ways that postsecondary English departments can ease that transition; and weaknesses the new teachers often bring with them. (RS)

Discussion of the importance of induction and support programs for new special education teachers notes the substantial additional demands placed on new special educators in addition to the frustrations and stresses that all new teachers experience. The article notes the high numbers who leave teaching after the first year and identifies national,…

Depicts the experiences of representative new women and racial/ethnic faculty to illustrate the realities faced by these faculty in entering and managing the academic environment. Recommendations for enhancing the success of women and racial/ethnic faculty are divided into four levels of responsibility: university administrators, departmental…

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is now firmly on government agendas in many countries, including England, and the need to develop a professional workforce is generally agreed. The reform of the children's workforce in England acknowledges that increasing the skills and competence of this workforce is critical to its success. Two new…

Gives advice for first-year English teachers. Advocates keeping a journal of daily activities, meeting regularly with other teachers, and asking lots of questions. (HB)

Experienced English teachers can proactively help newcomers in their schools in different ways by relying on research and case studies that focus on the stated needs of new teachers. The efforts of a community of colleagues will serve to sustain newcomers so that they can gain confidence over time, refining their teaching proficiencies to…

There are enduring features to the human condition and to Christian faith, and thus to the challenge of integrating these two. In this article, the author shares learned wisdom with beginning religious educators. He emphasizes seven important aspects of religious education: (1) Attending to one's own growth toward holiness of life; (2) Being clear…

Considers the experiences of two beginning English teachers and how they made the transition from college students to practicing professionals. Gives detailed case studies of the process of becoming a professional educator. Provides recommendations for mentoring beginning teachers. (HB)