Induction glossary
Novice Teacher is in his or her first three years of teaching.
New to the Profession Teacher is just entering the profession of teaching.
Induction is a comprehensive, coherent, and multi-year professional development process consisting of a carefully crafted array of people and activities designed to acculturate and train a new teacher to the goals and visions of a school or the school district. The goal of induction is to teach a new teacher effective teaching strategies and techniques that will improve student learning, growth, and achievement.
Instructional Coaches are part of a comprehensive induction program. They are qualified teachers who have been trained by a district to function as a team and to provide classrooms assistance with teachers and the students. Coaches have well-defined, goal-oriented responsibilities to improve teacher instructional skills and student learning on a sustained basis. The work they do is job-embedded in the classroom, which is how teachers learn best to become skilled and effective.
Mentoring is what a mentor does to provide guidance, support, and feedback to a new teacher. It is typically a one-on-one relationship that is frequently not monitored or assessed. Mentors can be fully trained by a school district or, more often than not, is an experienced teacher who has been appointed to provide survival assistance with no academic goal in mind. If mentoring is a part of the induction process, it may be of value, but if mentors operate in sporadic isolation and have “reflective conversations,” there is no research to support this process.
Orientation is one or multiple sessions before the start of school that novice teachers who are new to the district attend. The sessions often orient new teachers to the district policies and procedures.
Teacher Leadership is mobilizing the still largely untapped attributes of teachers to strengthen student performance at ground level and working toward real collaboration, a locally tailored kind of shared leadership, in the daily life of the school.
New to the Profession Teacher is just entering the profession of teaching.
Induction is a comprehensive, coherent, and multi-year professional development process consisting of a carefully crafted array of people and activities designed to acculturate and train a new teacher to the goals and visions of a school or the school district. The goal of induction is to teach a new teacher effective teaching strategies and techniques that will improve student learning, growth, and achievement.
Instructional Coaches are part of a comprehensive induction program. They are qualified teachers who have been trained by a district to function as a team and to provide classrooms assistance with teachers and the students. Coaches have well-defined, goal-oriented responsibilities to improve teacher instructional skills and student learning on a sustained basis. The work they do is job-embedded in the classroom, which is how teachers learn best to become skilled and effective.
Mentoring is what a mentor does to provide guidance, support, and feedback to a new teacher. It is typically a one-on-one relationship that is frequently not monitored or assessed. Mentors can be fully trained by a school district or, more often than not, is an experienced teacher who has been appointed to provide survival assistance with no academic goal in mind. If mentoring is a part of the induction process, it may be of value, but if mentors operate in sporadic isolation and have “reflective conversations,” there is no research to support this process.
Orientation is one or multiple sessions before the start of school that novice teachers who are new to the district attend. The sessions often orient new teachers to the district policies and procedures.
Teacher Leadership is mobilizing the still largely untapped attributes of teachers to strengthen student performance at ground level and working toward real collaboration, a locally tailored kind of shared leadership, in the daily life of the school.