Beginning Teachers Programme

MASSEY HIGH SCHOOL BEGINNING TEACHERS’ (Y1 AND Y2) PROGRAMME

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

ll teachers new to Massey High School participate in an Induction/Orientation Programme which takes place in the first week of the school year. The programme Aincludes a powhiri, a series of five meetings where, amongst other things, senior management staff are introduced and their roles outlined, various key aspects of the Staff Manual are highlighted and reviewed, the school’s culture is explained, our various operational systems are examined and finally, the school’s vision is discussed.

In 2002, due to the rapidly increasing number of beginning teachers that Massey High School began to employ, it was decided to appoint a teacher to the position ‘Staff Support’. The newly created position had three key foci which where support for beginning teachers, support for all staff and involvement in professional development. The writer has held the position of ‘Staff Support’ since its inception and is largely responsible for its current iteration. The school has generously resourced the position in terms of funding, time allocation (which has steadily increased from a ‘part time’ role to currently full time in 2007) and office facilities. The role enjoys a large degree of autonomy and independence; John Tinling, Deputy Principal, is the senior manager who oversees the position and to whom I report annually.

As a result of a joint PPTA and Ministry of Education initiative in 2006 the trial position of Specialist Classroom (SCT) Teacher was created throughout New Zealand secondary schools with the direct aim of providing targeted support for beginning teachers during their first two years of teaching during which they are entitled to on-going support and guidance leading towards full teacher registration. This position is now official and carries a time allocation and additional pay. Interestingly, Massey High School has from the very beginning allocated far more time to the position of staff support than the official time allocation the SCT position attracts. We are probably unique in this area, allocating a full time position to the role; however, we also have an equally high (and probably unique!) number of beginning teachers (Y1 and Y2) reaching a peak this year of 47. As of this year, a shade under a third of our present staff is a graduate of our in-house beginning teachers’ programme.

With the large numbers of beginning teachers we worked with over the past six years it is important to note that while the writer holds the position of staff support many, many staff are actively involved in the programme at any given time. This year, for example, 25 HODs and 22 buddy teachers were directly involved in the beginning teachers’ programme. The writer had systematically up-skilled staff that work with our new teachers and it is heartening to see how many past beginning teachers now volunteer to be buddies to each subsequent group of new beginning teachers.

Massey High School’s beginning teachers’ programme had attracted favourable comment from ERO, Auckland University School of Education, several researchers and other schools who have come to see what we do in this area. However, having one of our own graduates comment that Massey High School “is a beginning teacher friendly school” is the sort of accolade that we have all worked hard to achieve.

THE BEGINNING TEACHERS’ PROGRAMME (BTP): FIRST YEAR TEACHERS 1 The BTP follows straight on from the Induction/Orientation Programme outlined above. In week 2 of the school year Y1 teachers (and those new to secondary schools or new to New Zealand) embark on a programme initially based around a further set of 10 weekly meetings lasting approximately 90 minutes, held after school. These meetings cover items of particular interest to beginning teachers. The first meeting aims to establish a group identity for the cohort (based around the ‘Lessons from Geese’ video) as the learning curve for beginning teachers is almost vertical and collegiality is critical when pressure points appear, which they invariably do!

The author firmly believes that beginning teachers have one basic goal in mind – survival, consequently the remaining series of 9 weekly meetings is targeted at ‘day to day’ survival strategies and cover such topics as running form sessions, the various school ‘systems’, the school culture, an introduction to key personnel, meet the Y2 teachers, the school’s demographics, focussed learning, student support systems, handling discipline issues and at the end of term one and finally, the ever popular ‘survivors meeting’ (actually an end-of- term party) which involves the senior management team, the beginning teachers and their HODs and buddy teachers. Time is set aside at the other meetings to provide a forum for new teachers to ask questions, discuss problem situations and scenarios for possible solutions and gain clarification of procedures where needed. Most of these meetings continue well over their allotted time…

Two ‘special meetings’ are scheduled to specifically address classroom management and discipline issues. Deans and senior management are on hand at these meetings to outline their expectations and experiences. We cover lesson structure design (management) and present an extensive variety of behaviour modification/disciplinary techniques both traditional and modern such as the Restorative Justice Programme.

Throughout the year all beginning staff are visited in their classrooms and monitored on a regular and on-going basis. In term 1 2007, for example, all 19 Y1 beginning teachers were visited by me, on average for 3 entire lessons. During term 2 classroom observations again averaged 3 per teacher. In term 3 one observation was undertaken and in term 4 a further observation is scheduled; time permitting a second observation may happen.

Several teachers in term 1 required more than double the average number of lesson observations as they were experiencing problems with their class. Our programme generally allows for this degree of flexibility. But this year, with the numbers of Y1 and Y2 teachers peaking at 47, the average number of observation carried out by the writer were fewer than in recent years. This situation was eventually remedied when the writer relinquished his last remaining class in order to focus on staff support full time.

Every lesson observation is followed up with a written report that catalogues what the teacher is doing successfully, highlights progress and offers suggestions ‘for consideration’ in areas that need development. Initial observations lean heavily towards the positive while later observations, especially those that take place in term 4, are based on the ‘Snapshot Lesson Observation’ form which is extensive in its scope and quickly identifies areas for future development. These later observations not only require the teacher to write up a full lesson plan of the observed lesson but also include pupil evaluations of the lesson, a teacher review and my own feedback. The allocation of extra time this year has largely gone into providing unrushed in-depth reviews of observed lessons and looking at areas of development. The rest has gone into ‘crisis management’ often of the personal variety.

2 While lesson observations are an immediate window into how the teacher is performing and the term 1 meetings provide a forum within which all the Y1 teachers can discuss matters of immediate interest, we also actively encourage beginning teachers to take responsibility for their own professional development. All beginning teachers are encouraged to observe at least four other staff of their choice teaching. We recommend that the teacher observe their departmental colleagues teaching. Other options include watching a subject being taught outside the teacher’s own subject area, or following their own class around.

Another strategy to encourage our beginning teachers to think about their own practice involves set ‘reflections’. Currently some 17 reflections have been written and trialled with out Y1 teachers, and a similar number with our Y2 teachers. These reflections challenge our teachers to review where they are at, to try new strategies, to seek feedback from students and provide feedback on our programmes.

Complementing lesson observations and reflections is an regular series of in-house publications called JUNK MAIL written and complied by the writer on topics of immediate relevance, such as ‘set pieces’ like parents meetings, report writing, safety and a range of teaching and management ideas. In 2007 first year teachers received 20 editions (Y2 teachers received 17 editions) of JUNK MAIL ranging from four to 34 pages. Attached to most editions of JUNK MAIL is a photocopied article from a professional magazine or book. These articles add to the teachers’ professional development and generally have a pedagogical theme.

The writer, on a ‘no agenda’ basis, interviews all beginning teachers twice a year to see how things are progressing. The writer is available for a confidential ‘chat’ in private in his office or elsewhere if privacy is not an issue. Such discussions form a major problem- solving forum. Increasingly the writer has been involved in ‘relationship mending’ as the stresses of being a beginning teacher (workloads, lesson planning well into the night and exhaustion) take their toll both at school and at home.

The first year programme is one geared towards survival and then the ‘P’ word, progress. Progress largely centres on getting the teacher to sensibly structure their lessons to minimise potential management and behaviour issues while simultaneously developing the necessary skills to deal with the issues as they arise.

Underpinning this programme is the critical support network provided by each department through the HOD, an assigned ‘buddy teacher’ and the school’s middle and senior management teams. These people provide a ‘curriculum/department’ focus as opposed to the writer’s generic ‘teaching’ focus. The writer has put together some guidelines for both HODs and buddy teachers to strengthen that area of support. There is an expectation that HODs will visit each beginning teacher twice a term and provide written feedback and guidance. HODs receive a newsletter 5 times a year aimed to keep them in touch with the broader issues relating to beginning teachers. Timely emails notify HODs of the pressure points in the school year for beginning teachers and to provide reminders when specific administrative requirements need to be met.

THE BEGINNING TEACHERS’ PROGRAMME: SECOND YEAR TEACHERS

The programme for second year teachers is similar to the one outlined above. Only three scheduled meetings involving the whole group are held. Early on in term 1 the official requirements for full registration are explained. Also in term one the group gets to view a

3 video on discipline. Then in term 4 we hold a follow-up meeting to explain the ‘paper work’ involved for full registration.

Although classroom visits are fewer in Y2 tan Y1, they do have a sharper focus. Instead of the focus being on support for ‘transition and survival’, in the second year the focus is to imbed the basics of a sound lesson and then identify and develop strengths while supplying strategies to overcome any weaknesses that students might exploit thereby undermining the lesson. Our aim is to build on experiences in the first year and hone generic teaching skills and extend learning strategies. At least four Snapshot Lesson Observations are carried out during the second year although teachers will have been seen informally during the first third of the year. Teachers are expected to show progress and increasing competence with each subsequent observation. The ‘Snapshot’ observation forms are kept and become part of the registration documentation. Where a teacher needs extra support that is provided either from within the core team (HOD, buddy teacher and/or myself) or we involve other teachers on an ‘as needed’ basis.

Documented lesson observations by HODs and myself, together with appraisal documentation, form the basis for the school’s recommendation for a teacher’s full registration.

If any teacher appears not to be meeting the New Zealand Teachers’ Council requirements for full registration ‘the team’ (the teacher, their HOD, their buddy teacher and I) meet and organise an intensive programme of support and monitoring. The latest that an alert of this kind can be given is June in the second year so as to allow the team sufficient time to organise and implement a specific individualised support programme. We have only instigated this procedure once in the past 6 years where it proved to be successful.

Towards the end of Y2 the writer oversees the full registration process, distributing the full registration forms to eligible staff, collecting in the forms, checking them, photocopying them for our records and sending the applications off to the NZTC in Wellington.

By the end of the second year we (‘we’ being the whole school ‘village’) aim to have successfully helped beginning teachers make that critical transition from a college of education to the ‘whiteboard’; to have developed their skills to a point where they can significantly exceed the requirements for full registration; to have equipped each teacher with the necessary skills and experiences to make them effective educators so that they can really ‘make the difference’ and to have launched another life-long career in teaching.

HENRY KANIUK STAFF SUPPORT 20/10/2007

A BREAKDOWN OF WHERE THE HOURS WENT IN 2006 FOR STAFF SUPPORT

4 T L S S S S S A H N 2006 I R E N N R N C G O A I I O U O O R O N T T I I M I I

P A O A T T T A V P K I T E H A A A I R

T U N S T V V T H N C S U E I L

R R A I J A R F U

E E S T / S N F S L I L S S N O N I A N A A B B M K O

T M T I O M D O O

S E D T O

C R A 1 2

T T A A L S

O Y Y P C A F N E I M U

R S L O M R I E N W B E O T N O U T O H A I E L P T C I G L S A N O N T F U O N I M E T S M A E O C I R C N P / U N M O I M T O C C U D N I TERM 1 59 37 23 10 35 19 3 53 68 307 TERM 2 31 17 62 27 11 20 0 31 27 226 TERM 3 37 20 53 25 13 29 4 29 19 229 TERM 4 19 15 3 11 1 22 23 41 19 154 TOTALS 146 89 141 73 60 90 30 154 133 916 % 16% 10% 15% 8% 7% 10% 3% 17% 15% 100%

NOTES: In 2006 Y1 and Y2 teachers numbered 33 and the writer was on a .8 timetable for staff support