What is induction?

Induction is a coherent, comprehensive process that provides teachers in their first three years of teaching the support they need to become effective teachers. During those first three years, beginning teachers have serious learning needs. According to Feiman-Nemser (2001) beginning teachers need to:

• Gain local knowledge of students, curriculum and the school context;
• Design responsive curriculum and instruction;
• Enact and build their teaching repertoire in purposeful ways;
• Create a classroom learning community;
• Develop a professional identity;
• Learn in and from practice.

While mentoring is central to induction, induction is more than mentoring. The best induction programs include a full set of planned, purposeful efforts that district administrators, principals and teachers engage in to support beginning teachers’ development of effective instructional skills and strong commitments to their students’ learning.

Creating such programs requires that principals and teachers work together in their schools and with their districts to establish and sustain school cultures that support both their own and their students’ learning.

See Components of strong induction programs

References:

Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching. Teachers College Record, 103, 6, 1013-1055.

Ingersoll, R., & Kralik, J. (2003). A review of empirical research on the effects of teacher mentoring programs in elementary and secondary schools. Denver, CO: The Education Commission of the States.