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1 – 10 of over 5000Benjamin Kutsyuruba, Lorraine Godden and John Bosica
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that mentoring has on Canadian early career teachers’ (ECTs’) well-being. The authors describe findings from a pan-Canadian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that mentoring has on Canadian early career teachers’ (ECTs’) well-being. The authors describe findings from a pan-Canadian Teacher Induction Survey (n=1,343) that examined perceptions and experiences of ECTs within K–12 publicly funded schools, with particular interest in retention, career interests and the impact of mentoring on well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was used to examine perceptions and experiences of ECTs within publicly funded K–12 schools across Canada. For this paper, the authors selectively analyzed 35 survey questions that pertained to mentorship and well-being of ECTs, using quantitative and qualitative procedures.
Findings
The findings revealed a strong correlation between the mentoring experiences and well-being of the participating Canadian ECTs. The teachers who did not receive mentorship indicated significantly lower feelings of well-being, and conversely, teachers who participated in some kind of mentorship demonstrated much higher levels of well-being.
Research limitations/implications
This paper draws on the selective analysis of the data from a larger study to elicit the connections between the mentoring support and perceived well-being. Due to inconsistencies in terminology and multifaceted offerings of induction and mentoring supports for ECTs across Canada, there might have been some ambiguity regarding the formal and informal mentorship supports. A longitudinal study that is designed to specifically examine the connection between the mentorship and well-being of ECTs could yield deeper understandings. A comparative study in different international contexts is commended.
Practical implications
The findings showed that the ECTs who did not receive any mentorship scored significantly lower feelings of well-being from external, structural, and internal well-being sources, and conversely, the ECTs who participated in some kind of mentorship scored much higher levels of feelings of well-being. Policy-makers should therefore continue to confidently include mentorship as an intentional strategy to support and help ECTs to flourish. However, inconsistent scoring between individuals and their levels of external, structural and internal well-being suggest that more research on the connection between mentoring and well-being of the ECTs.
Social implications
Work-life imbalance seems to be more challenging for ECTs than policymakers who provide these expectations are aware. Therefore, excessive work demands and intensive workloads need to be given proper attention for their potential negative effects (such as stress, burnout and absence) on the beginning teachers’ health and well-being. Likewise, purposeful strength-based approaches should be undertaken to establish generative and pro-social efforts to enhance the connectedness, collaboration, collegiality and resilience-building opportunities for novice professionals within flourishing learning communities.
Originality/value
In this paper, the authors have undertaken the first steps in exploring the impact that mentoring has on Canadian ECTs’ well-being. The study increases the understanding of how mentoring can be used as a purposeful strategy to support the well-being of ECTs and retain them in the teaching profession in Canada and potentially in different international contexts.
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Tomas Jungert, Rickard Östergren, Nathalie Houlfort and Richard Koestner
Perceived support from co-workers and managers is important for many organizational outcomes. However, the benefit of competence support from colleagues and school management on…
Abstract
Purpose
Perceived support from co-workers and managers is important for many organizational outcomes. However, the benefit of competence support from colleagues and school management on personal teacher efficacy has not been investigated. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the impact of competence support from colleagues and the school management on growth in teacher efficacy and second, to investigate cultural differences (Canada and Sweden).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors administered an inventory measuring support for competence and personal teacher efficacy to over 400 teachers in Canada and Sweden at 27 schools, at two times. Time 1 took place at the first week of a fall semester and Time 2 at the end of the same semester.
Findings
Structural equation modeling revealed that competence support from colleagues predicted growth in teacher efficacy, whereas competence support from school management did not. No differences in these relations emerged between Canadian and Swedish teachers.
Practical implications
The findings have implications for how schools organize teachers in teacher teams so that competence support from co-workers is promoted.
Originality/value
This study is the first cross-cultural study to empirically show that teachers’ self-efficacy is significantly benefitted by competence support from their teacher peers.
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The purpose of this exploratory article is to address the questions of teacher attrition and retention by examining the policies supporting beginning teachers in different…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this exploratory article is to address the questions of teacher attrition and retention by examining the policies supporting beginning teachers in different jurisdictions (provinces and territories) in Canada through teacher induction and mentorship programs.
Design/methodology/approach
This research study relied on the collection of documents as the primary method of data collection. Both policy documents as means of external communication and the informal responses to formal policies by various stakeholders were analyzed in a complementary fashion in this study. The study examined numerous government documents, websites, program/policy memoranda, newsletters, as well as academic reviews pertaining to beginning teacher induction programs across Canada.
Findings
Data analysis revealed significant policy variability across the provinces and localities, with comprehensive induction programs instituted only by the educational authorities in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Northwest Territories. A fundamental building‐block of the induction programs was the creation of a formal mentoring program that matched experienced teachers with teachers who were new to the profession and/or to the province/territory.
Research limitations/implications
Policy makers should consider the implementation of structured induction programs that successfully inculcate new teachers into school cultures and result in decreased teacher attrition and increased retention of beginning teachers. Mentoring is at the core of successful induction programs. Evident in all policy‐mandated induction programs under study was the importance of the school principal's role in effective functioning of mentoring programs. This aspect of the principal's role should be further examined and researched to understand the administrator role in the implementation and functioning of effective induction and mentoring programs for beginning teachers not only in Canada but worldwide.
Practical implications
In considering implementation of teacher induction programs, policymakers need to be aware that comprehensive, intensive support programs for new educators are both an effective and an efficient public investment. If mandated by policies at the macro levels as part of formal induction programs, mentoring programs have the potential to transform schools into collaborative places by establishing a culture of mentoring in schools.
Originality/value
Despite the perceived and actual benefits, government‐instituted induction programs for new teachers are not very common in Canada. While the discussions of such programs are certainly present in the educational literature, this exploratory pan‐Canadian review of induction and mentoring policies has the ability to inform provincial and territorial policymakers about the variability in institutionalizing those programs.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the extant literature with regard to the role of mentorship in promoting the well-being of early career teachers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the extant literature with regard to the role of mentorship in promoting the well-being of early career teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper was comprised of a review of the current literature. Key terms were used to identify initial sources. The search was narrowed further by using the Boolean operator AND to link key terms.
Findings
Much of the literature exploring mentorship and induction focuses on the formal structures and the targeted learning outcomes of the processes. However, the emotional and personal support afforded new teachers through the development of relationships with mentors is being recognized as contributing high value to the continued retention efforts. Although there are promising practices with regard to induction programs and formal mentorship arrangements in some schools, these practices are very scattered and may not even be equally well established within one school district.
Research limitations/implications
Implementation of models that are focused on personal and professional support of new teachers could provide an avenue of research examining teachers’ perceptions of well-being and resiliency. Longitudinal, pan-provincial and pan-national research is necessary for developing more support for systemic implementation of mentorship models.
Originality/value
While there is research identifying existing programs and induction models, this paper uses the lens of early career teacher well-being to point out promising practices and additional considerations for adopting a holistic approach to mentorship. This mentorship model may result in better personal and professional outcomes for new teachers.
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Rinat Arviv Elyashiv and Orit Avidov-Ungar
Large-scale assessment has been used in many education systems as an instrument to evaluate educational performance nationally. This practice is based on the concept of epistemic…
Abstract
Purpose
Large-scale assessment has been used in many education systems as an instrument to evaluate educational performance nationally. This practice is based on the concept of epistemic governance which encourages school accountability. This study aims to explore teachers' perspectives regarding the value and uses of national large-scale assessment (NLSA), highlighting its relevance across contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
Using qualitative data, this paper presents the case of the Israeli NLSA tests – the Meitzav, while examining the perceptions and actions in which teachers engage to follow-up on the test results, and the extent to which they implement pedagogical change in light of the test results.
Findings
The findings showed that teachers tend to use the NLSA test results as a pedagogical tool to improve learning processes to a limited extent. They concede that most activity involving the tests at the school and class levels is dedicated to preparation and not to pedagogical change. Some explanations are suggested.
Originality/value
This paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the NLSA testing regime for the school, curriculum and pedagogy.
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Chris Wilcoxen, Julie Bell and Amanda Steiner
The purpose of this paper is to explore ways teachers undergoing induction via the Career Advancement and Development of Recruits and Experienced (CADRE) Teachers Project felt…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore ways teachers undergoing induction via the Career Advancement and Development of Recruits and Experienced (CADRE) Teachers Project felt empowered and supported in their well-being through mentoring and coaching.
Design/methodology/approach
Surveys about CADRE Project impact were e-mailed to 675 current and former participants. Out of 438 surveys returned, researchers used homogeneous sampling to identify 341 teacher respondents. Researchers used qualitative thematic analysis to determine ways teachers felt supported.
Findings
Coaching and mentoring supported CADRE Project participants’ well-being through empowerment (theme). Sub-themes included: growth, collaboration, networking, improvement and resources.
Research limitations/implications
Possibilities for future research include exploring the role of mentors/coaches, tracking teachers’ leadership roles and investigating the link between induction and teacher retention in more detail.
Practical implications
Opportunities for growth and collaboration are cornerstones of first-year teacher support. These support systems can lead to a sense of belonging, develop a mindset for continuous improvement and create long-term networking opportunities. The support teachers need to empower them and maintain their well-being changes with each first-year teacher phase.
Originality/value
Few studies exist on induction programs with the longevity of the CADRE Project. The high survey response rate with overwhelmingly positive responses suggests that CADRE is unique in its support of beginning teachers’ well-being through the first-year teacher phases, specifically due to the combination of mentoring and coaching beginning teachers receive.
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This article employs a system analytic framework to categorize the available research literature on the politics of education in order to explain the inter‐relationship of private…
Abstract
This article employs a system analytic framework to categorize the available research literature on the politics of education in order to explain the inter‐relationship of private and public interests and of different levels in primary and secondary American schools. The objectives are several: to explain and develop the analytical framework of David Easton; to illustrate its heuristic utility by categorizing empirically‐based research within the components of that framework, and to suggest and encourage future research directions in the subject. Education has escaped application of traditional policy analysis in America because educators have convinced scholars and laymen that they are “non‐political,” a label which even most political scientists have accepted without challenge. However, during the 1960s, a few scholars in education and political science began to apply political analytical methods to public school conflict. This research has begun to change perceptions of education and to provide a beginning set of research projects whose data support tentative generalization about the policy‐making process and the total system of public schools. This orientation is bound to increase because of increasing national government intervention in local schools, both through integration and financial policies. These have provoked growing conflict locally over the proper direction of school policies. In this article, we see how such stress is transmitted in the form of “demands” and “supports” into the “political system”, that persistent social mechanism known in all societies in different forms provides an “authoritative allocation of values and resources”. The political system, in this case public school bodies, “converts” such “inputs” into “outputs” of public policy, which in their administration create outcomes which later cause a “feedback” into the political system as the material for new policy demands. For each component of this Eastonian system, this article examines relevant research, providing an extensive annotated bibliography. From this review, it is possible to suggest lines of needed research.
Barbie Clarke and Catherine Gardner
Interviews Cathy Loblaw and Diana Carradine, who established Concerned Children’s Advertisers in Canada 15 years ago; its aim is to inform children about social issues…
Abstract
Interviews Cathy Loblaw and Diana Carradine, who established Concerned Children’s Advertisers in Canada 15 years ago; its aim is to inform children about social issues, advertising and the media. Lists the four platforms in the CCA process: The Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children (television), the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (all media), media literacy education, and social messaging. Indicates interest in CCA from Singapore and the UK. Explains CCA’s success as due to consistent campaigns, the commitment of a group of companies to empowering children, and support from government and independent agencies. Outlines CCA’s latest campaign, which is “Long Live Kids” and focuses on children’s obesity; the target age is six to 12.
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Sung‐Shan Chang and Kuan‐nien Chen
The purpose of this paper is to discuss three recent changes in higher education – the addition of technology to every aspect of the curriculum, the increase in the availability…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss three recent changes in higher education – the addition of technology to every aspect of the curriculum, the increase in the availability of electronic resources, and the introduction of constructivist pedagogy. In light of these changes, the authors aim to explore what university libraries and librarians should reinforce in terms of their concepts and competency and adjust the ways that they serve students.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze the related literature and identified technology, electronic resources, and constructivist pedagogy that interact with the new curriculum of universities in a broader way than in the past.
Findings
The three dimensions, separately and in combination, require considerable adjustments by librarians, teachers, students, and the school/university community in general. Collaboration among all members of staff, particularly between librarians and teachers, is essential. The emerging paradigm, still firmly based in constructivist principles, recognizes that there is a need for staff guidance of students though they are expected to become increasingly independent as they progress through the system. Meanwhile, two new core competencies have emerged for university librarians: information literacy and problem‐based learning (PBL).
Originality/value
The emergence of the two competencies has reminded librarians to learn, change and grow constantly to serve PBL students effectively.
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