Creating Teacher Leaders Through Early Teacher Support

Introduction

When teachers feel supported, they can become strong leaders within the school culture. Pre-service teacher programs do their best to prepare future teachers for the classrooms. Teacher educators provide multiple examples of modeled pedagogical approaches, guided practicum experiences, and feedback at every step. Yet, when new educators enter their classrooms, they are on their own. Support in the early stages of teachers' careers can help empower them to become leaders within their schools. This chapter will cover how to create a culture of mentorship through technology integration. In the 21^st Century, authentic technology integration has become increasingly important. Through a dual mentorship model, new and veteran teachers can support each other to meet the needs of today’s tech-savvy learners.

Authentic and effective technology integration in the classroom has never been more critical than today. The pandemic has shed light on how ill-prepared we were to provide authentic online education to students (Ferdig et al., 2020; König et al. 2020). In 2020, 56% of teachers reported not being prepared to facilitate remote learning, and 42% stated they were alone in deciding what tools to use to get the job done (Newton, 2020). The disparity of teachers' Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) varied considerably. Learning and growing from this experience will help us meet diverse students' needs more effectively. We have learned that integrating technology into classroom instruction in meaningful ways is not as easy as simply taking what we do in the classroom and putting it online. Instead, it requires thoughtful instructional design. The careful selection of pedagogies aligned with appropriate technologies requires practice and support. Understanding the TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge) framework guides educators to think about and understand effective technology integration. While also considering the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) Model can bring context to how someone might be using technology in their lessons. This chapter will create a teacher support model by fusing technology guidance using TPACK and SAMR through professional development for beginning teachers. This model will build teacher leadership capacities within a school culture.