Mentoring beginning high school mathematics and science teachers.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

New teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate, with mathematics and science teachers particularly at risk. Over the years, support programs, called teacher mentoring programs, were established to decrease the attrition of these new teachers. P.S. 6 High School adopted a teacher mentoring program in conjunction with the local teachers union to decrease the attrition of new teachers in the building. The unique element of this program is the role of the Teacher Mentoring Coordinator, who teaches a reduced load and spends the remaining time working with new and non-tenured teachers on classroom management, the development of pedagogical content knowledge and all other classroom and instructional issues. Six new teachers, experience ranging from six months to five years, were studied over a school year. Classroom observations and interviews were the primary data sources, though archival data was obtained from prior experiences in the Teacher Mentoring Program. The data was analyzed over four primary themes: the Teacher Mentoring Program and its elements, teacher mentoring and pedagogical content knowledge, teacher learning and the impact the Teacher Mentoring Program has on the school community.
The findings indicate new teachers learned using a blend of constructivism and the socio-cultural perspective, also known as the emergent or eclectic perspective. In order to learn, new teachers had to implement a new technique or strategy, reflect on the outcome and modify accordingly (try, think, tweak or T3). To increase the level of pedagogical content knowledge, new teachers used reflection as means for growth. This reflection was directed by mentor teachers to challenge the new teachers on their pedagogy. This practice is known as guided, forced reflection, or GFR. The impact on the school community was extensive. The atmosphere at P.S. 6 improved for teachers and a higher sense of collegiality was established. New teachers were retained as result of this program. Improved professional development programs for all teachers were a consequence of the Teacher Mentoring Program.
Implications from this research extend to teacher mentoring program for all schools, teacher mentoring program as the center of professional development in schools and Teacher Education Programs at Universities.