Supporting Newly Qualified Teachers in Post-Primary Schools in Northern Ireland

Author(s): John Dallat, Anne Moran and Lesley Abbot
Commissioned by: Department of Education, Northern Ireland
Document Type: Research Paper
Year: 1999
Title of Publication: DENI Research Report Series No 14
Publisher: Department of Education, Northern Ireland
Place of Publication: Bangor
ISBN: 1897592752
Subject Area(s): Education
Client Group(s): Employees

Abbreviations: CEP - Career Entry Profile, DENI - Department of Education for Northern Ireland, ELB - Education and Library Board, HoD - Head of Department, ITE - Initial Teacher Education, NQT - Newly Qualified Teacher

Background to the Research

  • The reform of teacher education in Northern Ireland which began in 1990 resulted in a competence model being designed to accommodate initial training, induction and early professional development. The new competence model included the issuing of a CEP to all student teachers at the end of their initial teacher education. If newly qualified teachers are to develop both professionally and personally, then an effective induction programme must be provided by ELBs and by the schools themselves.
  • This is a summary of the findings of research commissioned by the DENI into existing support provided for NQTs in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland.

Research Approach

  • The project started in June 1997 and data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The study began with an analysis of a questionnaire sent to NQTs awarded qualified teacher status in 1996, the last to experience the probationary year, and a sample was interviewed. A second questionnaire was sent to NQTs qualifying in 1997 and follow-up interviews were carried out with a small sample. Questionnaires were also sent to the HoDs and teacher tutors, and interviews were carried out with a sample of each group. Lastly, detailed interviews were carried out with the induction officers from the five ELBs.

Main Findings

  • ITE was considered to prepare student teachers well for teaching and the vast majority taught in schools which had a teacher tutor with specific responsibility for induction. The HoD was identified as the best source of support during the first year of teaching.
  • Improvements to support suggested by NQTs included more monitoring and regular feedback in school, and earlier and more relevant courses form the ELBs, including subject-specific advice.
  • The kind of support provided by teacher tutors was described as largely pastoral, whilst HoDs contributed all the support which arose from the NQTs' work within the department. Both groups complained of a lack of time to carry out these responsibilities. Support from ELBs was predominantly short in-service courses, and a need was identified to negotiate and provide a standardised programme of support across all ELBs.
  • The ELB induction officers identified best practice in school-based support for NQTs as a well thought out induction policy, regular meetings between the NQT and senior staff, target setting and action planning, and the opportunity for self-reflection; worst practice was exemplified by teacher tutors who did not have enough time for NQT or who failed to recognise the requirements of the role, not all NQTs in school being permitted to attend in-service courses, and NQTs having too heavy a workload.
  • There was a high level of consensus amongst HoDs and teacher tutors as to what constituted the principal needs of the NQTs, for example, classroom and behaviour management, familiarisation with the school's ethos, pastoral system and whole school policies, reaching examination classes and communicating with parents.
  • Most HoDs surveyed were not familiar with the competence framework for teacher education, although most teacher tutors were.
  • The majority of HoDs and teacher tutors surveyed disagreed with the abolition of the probationary year; they believed NQTs should be assessed within their schools at the end of induction. There was a strong preference for HoDs to carry out such assessment with teacher tutors contributing a more independent perspective. The NQTs themselves wanted more observation of their teaching and better feedback on progress.
  • About two-fifths of NQTs surveyed did not make their CEP available to anyone in the school, those who did were most likely to show it to the teacher tutor. Most teacher tutors and HoDs had not seen a completed CEP and admitted to having little knowledge of its use and application.
  • Most teacher tutors had not received training for their role with NQTs, with half expressing a wish for training compared to almost all HoDs.
  • Most teacher tutors were in favour of accreditation for their work with NQTs, whereas most HoDs were not.
 

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