Investigating the Impacts of Coaching and Mentoring Through Induction on the Experienced Teachers

Comprehensive Induction as a Professional Development Activity

During the early 2000s, there was a move toward a “multi-faceted, multi-year system of planned and structured learning experiences” in induction programs with the recognition that teachers “grow along a developmental continuum and deepen their knowledge and skill over time” (Paliokas & Killion, 2013, p. 9). This views induction as a program which is far more than the mere orientation of beginning teachers at the start of the school year. Britton, Paine, Raizen and Pimm (2003) claim that if induction programs do not go beyond immediate teacher support or training, they are “limited” and the effective induction programs should be “comprehensive” (p. 2). Kearney (2014) asserts that comprehensive induction is a process that does not simply involve orientation to the workplace since successful acculturation involves a comprehensive program of professional development. Having examined nine international programs that were identified as successful and effective induction programs based on their levels of support and/or retention figures, Kearney (2014) identified nine elements that have been identified as characteristics of effective comprehensive induction programs:

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  the one- to two-year mandated program that focused on teacher learning and evaluation;

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  the provision of a mentor;

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  the opportunity for collaboration;

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  structured observations;

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  reduced teaching and/or release time;

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  intensive workplace learning;

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  beginning teacher seminars and/or meetings;

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  professional support and/or professional networking;

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  part of a program of professional development (p.7).

Comprehensive induction plays a crucial role in the development of teachers by contributing to the experience of becoming a teacher through “sophisticated and systematic efforts to initiate, shape, and sustain the first work experiences of prospective career teachers” (DeBolt, 1992, p. 13). However, comprehensive induction programs for experienced teachers are rare and their impacts on the non-novice teachers are not so widely researched. However, induction can also help these teachers to achieve a sense of personal and social well-being because professional, emotional and personal development is a continuum and might be affected by different situational factors.