Section archive - Beginning Teachers

The purpose of this case study was to document the development of a beginning elementary teacher identity for science teaching at the elementary school. In doing so, this study traces the experiences throughout her life in various contexts and examines how those impacted the development of her identity for science teaching. As revealed in the findings, the beginning teacher did not have a strong science identity as a young learner of science. She articulated no enthusiasm about science and was unable to share many critical experiences with science across her schooling years. A shift in her identity occurred when she went to university and gained an interest in science because she was provided with opportunities to think and do science in contemporary ways.

The concept of the Program for Excellence in Teaching (PET), formulated at colleges of education in Israel, was designed to train teachers who not only exhibit excellence but also have potential to influence the educational system and institute change therein. This study, focusing on 21 students and beginning teachers who participated in the PET at a certain college of education in Israel, examines their professional expectations and the disparity between intentions and implementations that happens as the beginning teachers encounter the reality in schools. This study assesses the dissonance between students’ and beginning teachers’ self-expectations in light of the PET context.

The purpose of this study was to examine beginning primary teachers’ perceptions of their induction and mentoring experiences in their first six months of teaching. Furthermore, the findings show that while all of the beginning teachers were allocated a mentor in line with New Zealand requirements, the majority received little or no evaluative feedback on their teaching. In this study less than one-half of the beginning teachers experienced induction that is anchored in a community of learners who are committed to effective teaching.

The purpose of this study is to examine the development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for two purposefully selected beginning mathematics teachers. The PCK development of these two individuals varied due to their focus on developing particular aspects of their PCK, with one individual focusing on assessment and student understanding, and the other individual focusing on curricular knowledge. The findings of this study demonstrate the differences that exist in the development of PCK for beginning mathematics teachers. These findings also demonstrate that PCK can develop in different ways for beginning teachers.