A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF A LOCAL DISTRICT TEACHER INDUCTION PROGRAM AND ITS PERCEPTION BY YOUNG EDUCATORS

Abstract

ABSTRACT The findings in this study will add to the body of research regarding improving workplace support for urban educators. One of the major issues in public education today is that of teacher induction. In this study, the researcher explored, through first-hand accounts of early service educators, the perceived effect, in terms of performance in the classroom, readiness to teach, and relationship with the district, of the new-teacher induction process on teachers who have either remained employed in or left the urban district in question. The research focused on how the new-teacher induction program shaped teacher growth according to those who participated in it. This included determining how the induction program shaped teachers in their pedagogy, culture, and personal level of comfort in the profession and district. The research also determined what differences, if any, existed between the responses of those who left the district and those who stayed. The method of study was qualitative inquiry. The researcher asked for the stories of early career teachers and assessed the relative views and observances of these instructors regarding their experiences with a specific induction program. Teachers were not sure that the induction program in question had affected their teaching pedagogy. Culturally, the teachers were sure that the program helped them better understand children of poverty and those who grow up in an urban environment. The teachers universally expressed frustration at not being able to get accustomed to their individual schools. There was a slight difference in answers between those who had left and those who stayed. Subjects thought the induction process needed much revamping to meet its goals. The induction program is, in theory, supposed to help ease the transition from college or the business world to the classroom but, instead, it increases the level of tension and stress at the beginning of the teacher's career. All respondents expressed some frustration, and even confusion, about certain expectations that did not match between building and district, or that were not clearly spelled out to them. The researcher recommended that the district improve its communication between district and buildings through several steps, that it should implement a more specific and useful mentor program, and that it should work to tailor the induction process to the needs of a varied group of teachers.