Most teachers look back on their first year (or years) of teaching with humility, many with some regret. The author stresses that teachers are always learners, especially so in their first years. At the beginning of each year, they start over again with new students. A learning teacher takes risks and makes mistakes but derives new information,…

As new teachers navigate the challenging first years of work, they need positive support providers (Villani, 2002). The impact of support providers on novice educators' beliefs about teaching efficacy previously went unexplored. This study examined novice English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) teachers' perceptions of social support and…

There are eight components that Teacher Candidates the University of Nebraska at Kearney, College of Education, must demonstrate their understanding of and proficiency in, to complete their student teaching successfully. Are this components relative when the Teacher Candidate interviews for his/her first teaching position; and if so, to what…

Teacher efficacy represents a powerful influence on the behaviors of teachers due to its impact on instructional choice, effort, and persistence. Yet few studies have been conducted examining differences in efficacy among groups of teachers with varying levels of experience, including those still engaged in teacher preparation programs. This study…

This leadership framework, based on practices employed by some the nation's most successful principals, can be used to diagnose and address school needs. The framework is excerpted from "Breakthrough Principals" © 2016 by Jean Desravines, Jaime Aquino, Benjamin Fenton, and New Leaders, published by Jossey-Bass, a Wiley brand. The…

Unlike many other countries, Norway has no induction programme or reduction of teaching load for newly qualified teachers. However, an interesting model has been developed through the "New Teachers in Norway" project. This project involves teacher education institutions and schools, novice and experienced teachers as well as teacher…

This article explores the talk among novice teachers who participated in an inquiry project designed to rethink the instruction for their struggling students by drawing upon competence rather than deficiencies. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) based on theories of systemic functional linguistics and CDA provided tools to explore how their use…

Many educators suggest that novice teachers lack the preparation necessary to be successful in today's urban classrooms, particularly when the experiences of those novices are vastly different from their students. However, it can also be suggested that culturally responsive practices have the potential to counteract the "cultural disequilibrium"…

This case is told from the perspective of Rebecca, a highly skilled mentor teacher, who struggles to work effectively with Ramon, the school principal. This case focuses on the supports and resources that instructional teacher leaders can provide to their school administrators. As the case suggests, the presence of well-trained mentors presents…

This dissertation focuses on beginning mathematics teachers from alternative certification programs and their perceptions of what is required to be successful. A mixed-methods research study was completed with several goals in mind: (1) identifying how beginning mathematics teachers define success in the classroom during their earliest years, (2)…

While it is generally acknowledged that the first years of teaching are the most difficult, little is known about the development of subject matter specialists during this period. In order to add to the knowledge in this area, the present study explores the first year of 114 secondary science teachers as they participate in one of four different…

A first-year teacher thrust mid-term into a mixed-grade geometry class in a tough high school struggles to sort out what works and does not work to engage the 120 students in meaningful learning. The students are largely from low-income urban families and demonstrate a broad range of abilities and motivation. The purpose of this study is to…

Given the focus on developing highly-qualified teachers to improve education, teacher education programs face increasing responsibility to prepare new teachers who can effectively enhance learning in all students. Standards and assessment criteria developed by national organizations in the United States address the qualifications of beginning as…

Stage-based views of teacher development hold that novice teachers are unable to attend to students' thinking until they have begun to identify themselves as teachers and mastered classroom routines, and so the first emphases in learning to teach should be on forming routines and identity. The authors challenge those views, as others have done,…

Often, for preservice students, teacher education programs consist of a series of disjointed experiences that fail to make a connection with their fieldwork and student teaching. For example, preservice teachers typically read about how to incorporate specific teaching methods, classroom management strategies, and assessment tools into their…