You've finally finished the all of the college coursework and student teaching. You've got a diploma and a résumé. Eventually, you land a job. Now what? Many new teachers find themselves adrift when they first walk on campus. There are new rules and expectations, a manual, names and building hierarchy to memorize. Pro-active school districts realize that a teacher who acclimates to the new job quickly is a more productive employee; many districts have established mentoring programs to help new teachers make the transition.
A Mentoring Program is Vital
Every school is culture-specific and a mentor serves as a guide through the ins and outs of that culture. While nuts and bolts issues such as how to maneuver the hallways and the locations of various offices is important, a mentoring program is about more than helping a new teacher find the mailbox and get a network login. New teachers need to become familiar with a new curriculum. First time teachers, especially, need help managing materials and a mentor can provide or recommend supplemental unit materials, and help the new teacher adapt to the work load. Mentoring creates a line of communication between the new teacher and the new workplace's administration and departments. A mentor is also a sounding board for new teachers as they work to improve their methods and reflect on their teaching.
New teachers encounter plenty of unforeseen problems during the year. Many of the following issues can be handled with the help of an experienced mentor:
- classroom management
- motivating students
- dealing with a diverse population
- assessing student work
- working with parents
- working with colleagues
- organizing time and classroom space
- lesson planning
- integrating a variety of materials
Attrition rates among teachers is very high. However, studies have shown that teachers who participated in an induction program, where they worked with a trained mentor, were far more likely to stay in the profession. What's more, a new teacher's status, with the help of a mentor, effectively evolves from that of an emerging teacher to a contributing professional.
Mentoring Improves teaching
According to the State of Illinois program, "Induction for the 21st Century Educator," mentoring improves the quality of teaching tremendously. Nearly all would-be teachers understand conceptually the theories and strategies taught in education programs. But the implementation of theories and the nuances of teaching cannot necessarily be "taught" in a college classroom. Mentoring bridges the gap between the theoretical and the applied.
A lot of factors go into determining the quality of a school. One of those factors is the quality of the teaching staff. Providing a new teacher with an informed, supportive, professional mentor is one of the best investments a school can make.
Catherine Aubrecht - I've taught high school students about writing (and literature) for 17 years, so now it's time to turn the tables a bit, practice what I ...
