Date of Award

2009

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Elaine M. Walker

Committee Member

Charles M. Achilles

Committee Member

Heather Wetzel

Committee Member

Jianxiang Chen

Keywords

Teachers, Training, China, Education, Elementary school

Abstract

It is urgent to study teacher induction programs to generate data-rich results that improve current practice and ultimately help beginning teachers become competent teachers and face the challenges in their profession in the 2lS century. The purpose for this study was to explore how beginning teachers at three elementary schools in Baoding, Hebei province, China were inducted The design of this study was non-experimental and descriptive. The researcher conducted this study primarily using qualitative research methods. Information on the three participating schools' profiles and 15 teachers were presented and discussed to help readers understand the context and conditions in which the induction programs took place. The 15 participating teachers' responses to interview questions were coded and put into categories in tables corresponding with the three induction components: new teacher orientation, beginning teacher in-service training and mentoring, The teacher induction activities at the three schools were analyzed and synthesized to answer the research question: "How were beginning teachers inducted at three elementary schools in China?" The study concluded the three common characteristics of teacher induction programs at the three elementary schools in China' a) Novice teachers learned how to teach through two main activities: observing other teachers' lessons and being observed by other teachers. b) Beginning teachers were engaged in interacting and collaborating with faculty members constantly. c) New teachers were trained to develop, refine and master the professional knowledge and skills in a specific subject that they were teaching. The results of the study also indicated that the induction programs at the three schools are comprehensive, coherent and sustained to different extents because of their differences in history, status and culture. Recommendations for future research were made to conduct quantitative and comparative studies, as well as to explore teacher induction effect on job satisfaction and students' performance. Recommendations were made for improving current practices to enable teachers to observe one another and interact frequently to develop profound skills and knowledge. Current policies changes were also recommended to provide sufficient time, space and strong leaderships so that the teacher induction programs can be adopted and succeed in the United States.

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