Induction and Mentoring Pilot Programme Outline
New Zealand Teachers Council Induction and Mentoring Pilot Programme
Outline of the four pilots
1. Early Childhood Education - New Zealand Kindergartens' Regional Networks
2. Primary - Auckland University and UniServices’ Educative Mentoring and Induction Programme
3. Secondary - Massey University's Professional Learning Community
4. Māori Medium - Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi's Connected Approach
Evaluation of the Induction and Mentoring Pilot Programme – Martin Jenkins and Associates
Next Steps for the Induction and Mentoring Pilot Programme
Since 1985, induction programmes for beginning teachers have been extensively resourced by the government with funding, dedicated time, guidelines and resources. The Teachers Council has played a significant part in this support and requires a two year programme of ‘advice and guidance’ before a provisionally registered teacher (PRT) can apply for full registration.
However there has been growing awareness, through both anecdote and formal research that the practice often fell short of the policy. This led the Council to develop a research programme and then an ambitiously scoped national pilot programme, to gain more consistency and more mileage from the input into beginning teachers.
The research highlighted the important role mentor teachers can take, if they are given appropriate professional development, to act as intensive teacher educators supporting the critical learning of new teachers when they begin teaching in a fully responsible position. In the pilot programme, this has led to a shift away from a view of induction as ‘advice and guidance’ to one of skilled facilitation of ‘learning conversations’ focussing on evidence of teachers’ practice. Rather than providing ‘advice’ and emotional support, the mentor teachers co-construct professional learning, where often the learning is reciprocal. This approach is called ‘educative mentoring’.
The Council’s Induction and Mentoring Pilot Programme is comprised of four sector specific pilots and an evaluation. The overall aims of the pilot programme are:
1. To trial the Council’s Draft Guidelines for Induction and Mentoring Programmes and for Mentor Teacher Development in Aotearoa New Zealand.
2. To trial models of training and support for mentor teachers and induction of PRTs.
The findings from the Council’s Learning to Teach research programme (2007-2008) contributed to the development of the Draft Guidelines. These guidelines are designed to shift school and centre policy and practices towards an educative mentoring approach. The guidelines include key principles for effective induction and mentoring in New Zealand, essential components of a programme of support for PRTs and key skills, knowledge and attributes required by mentor teachers.
Outline of the four pilots
1. Early Childhood Education - New Zealand Kindergartens' Regional Networks
The workshops focused on unpacking the Draft Guidelines, especially the dispositions and skills of mentor teachers, the Registered Teacher Criteria, goal setting and documentation. The content of each workshop reflected feedback from the previous workshop, providing skill development in critical areas such as observing teacher practice and giving feedback, evidence-informed reflective practice, making professional judgments, managing difficult conversations, and listening skills.
The pilot drew on the experience and expertise of the professional senior teacher teams in kindergarten associations. Between workshops, senior teachers provided follow-up in their regions, drawing on the workshop content to focus on both the PRTs and the mentor teacher’s practice.
Participants. The pilot involved 60 PRTs and 51 mentor teachers from five kindergarten associations clustered into three regions across New Zealand (Wellington / Ruahine, Nelson, and Dunedin / Southland). Mentors from Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa / New Zealand Childcare Association were part of the Wellington / Ruahine regional group, and provisionally registered teachers from education and care centres participated in Nelson. Kindergarten senior teachers in the pilot regions attended the workshops and supported the focus group process. An advisory group was also formed to guide the establishment of action learning cycles from each phase of the pilot and its members were active participants in the research process.
2. Primary - Auckland University and UniServices’ Educative Mentoring and Induction Programme
Principals and leaders have been engaged in reviewing site-specific induction policy and programmes against a theoretical model of effective induction; setting goals and developing action plans; and working collaboratively to further school-specific induction and mentoring models and vision statements, drawing on the Council’s Draft Guidelines. Principals and leaders have worked with teaching staff to build knowledge and understanding of their role in PRT induction and mentoring.
Across the two years, mentors have participated in a programme which focuses on a conceptual understanding of educative mentoring. Participants carried out classroom observations and provided feedback and feed-forward through taped learning conversations with PRTs.
Participants. Six schools were purposively selected, four from low and two from high socio-economic communities. Of the six schools, four are suburban and two rural. A total of six principals, 17 mentors, 23 PRTs and up to 145 teaching staff were involved.
3. Secondary - Massey University's Professional Learning Community
A key feature of this pilot is the focus on building mentoring capacity and capability. This has involved a mixture of workshops, facilitator visits, an online wiki and mini-conferences at the end of each year bringing all participants together. In addition, those mentors participating in the first year of the pilot were paired with a new mentor in the second year, building capacity by increasing the number of trained mentor teachers in the schools.
Participants have developed induction and mentoring plans in each school which have been shared across the participating schools, particularly between the partner schools. As part of these plans, schools have focused on strategies to train future mentors and help build sustainability. The wiki has enabled all participants to share progress and resources across the regions. The participants have also developed a self-assessment tool to chart a PRT’s progress against the Registered Teacher Criteria.
Participants. Six rural and provincial secondary schools are participating in the pilot. The facilitators work with a team of mentor teachers, PRT co-ordinators, specialist classroom teachers, and senior managers within and between pairs of schools. In some cases these roles overlap in individual people.
4. Māori Medium - Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi's Connected Approach
In developing a professional development intervention for mentors and PRTs, Awanuiārangi first reviewed the Council’s Draft Guidelines. The next step focused on developing a conceptual model appropriate for Māori medium settings, named Te Amorangi ki Mua, which is underpinned by the reciprocal concept of ako (the interaction between the teacher and the learner). Te pia (the PRT) is at the apex of the model, supported by te kaiako hapai (the mentor), who in turn is supported by te hapai o ki muri, (network of agencies). All are supported by the concept and practice of ako, which is informed by a number of foundation principles such as manaakitanga (caring and sharing). Each of these principles has, in turn, been referenced to various combinations of the Registered Teacher Criteria.
This pilot has evolved into a developmental project. In the first year, most of the professional development involved workshops focused on developing the Te Amorangi ki Mua model and the support material to be used by mentors (a mentoring handbook ‘Te Hapai o’). That work led to the development of a self-reflective tool, based on the Registered Teacher Criteria. In the second year a professional development programme for those providing the induction support to PRTs was implemented and the effect of this programme was evaluated.
Participants. The participants are teachers, professional leaders, mentors and PRTs from the Bay of Plenty region. A diverse range of institutions in early childhood education, primary and secondary schooling with a wide range of bilingual approaches to education are involved.
Evaluation of the Induction and Mentoring Pilot Programme – Martin Jenkins and Associates
A research component was required within each pilot to track the development of the individual pilot models and to explore their effectiveness. However, because the Council was seeking strong, credible evidence to inform future developments in national policy, it also commissioned an independent evaluation of the pilots.
The purpose of the evaluation, conducted by Martin Jenkins and Associates, is to test the viability of the Draft Guidelines across the pilots and to probe the ability of the pilots to deliver sustainable programmes that addressed the issues emerging from the research programme and other literature.
Martin Jenkins designed an evaluation that is both formative and outcomes-based. Formative phases have involved evaluating the design and implementation of the induction and mentoring models and assessing the needs of pilot participants. The outcomes phase is evaluating the overall effectiveness of the pilot’s approaches to induction and mentoring and the Draft Guidelines.
Data gathering has involved a survey of mentor teachers, interviews with pilot providers, school principals, mentors and PRTs, and reviewing findings from milestone reports submitted by providers.
In summary, the evaluation should identify factors in effective and sustainable induction and mentoring that the Council can use to enhance practices at a systems and policy level.
Next Steps for the Induction and Mentoring Pilot Programme
Once the final reports and evaluation have been considered, the Council will work with others in the education sector to build sustainable mechanisms to implement the important learning from the research and pilot programme. Discussions at this conference will contribute towards identifying what those mechanisms need to be.
Further Information about Induction and Mentoring
Information about induction and mentoring can be found on the Council website here: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/prt/index.stm.
For copies of the Learning to Teach research reports, contact the Council (research@teacherscouncil.govt.nz) or they can be downloaded here: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/prt/research/learntoteach.stm.
The Guidelines for Induction and Mentoring and Mentor Teachers can be found here: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/prt/guidelineshomepage.stm.
Other Readings on Induction and Mentoring
Achinstein, B. & Athanases, S. Z. (Eds.) (2006) Mentors in the making: Developing new leaders for new teachers. New York: Teachers College Press.
Anthony, G. & Kane, R. (2008). Making a difference: The role of initial teacher education and induction in the preparation of secondary teachers. Wellington: Teaching and Learning Research Initiative.
Cameron, M., Baker, R., & Lovett, S. (2006). Teachers of promise: Getting started in teaching. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching. Teachers College Record, 103(6), 1013-1055.
Fletcher, S., Strong, M., & Villar, A. (2008). An investigation of the effects of variations in mentor-based induction on the performance of students in California. Teachers College Record, 110(10).
Hanson, S., & Moir, E. (2007). Beyond mentoring: Influencing the professional practice and careers of experienced teachers. Phi Delta Kappan, 89(6), 453-458.
Langdon, F., Lind, P., Shaw, C. & Pilcher, E. (2010). Realising potential and recognising paradox: The national induction and mentoring project. New Zealand Annual Review of Education (in press).
OECD. (2005). Teachers matter: Attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers. Paris: OECD.
Robertson, J. (2005). Coaching Leadership: Building Educational Leadership Capacity Through Coaching Partnerships. Wellington: NZCER Press.
Strong, M. (2009). Effective teacher induction and mentoring: Assessing the evidence. New York: Teachers College Press.
Stucki, P., Kahu, A., Jenkins, H., Bruce-Ferguson, P., & Kane, R. (2006). Narratives of beginning
Further resources and readings on induction can be accessed at the New Teacher Centre website: http://www.newteachercenter.org/index.php.