This summer, I’ve hired two new teachers for positions in our school, while interviewing many others who were applying for their first teaching position. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a new teacher, walking through the door for the first time. I’ve been particularly interested in how different it is now for a new teacher versus twenty years ago when I started my teaching career.
The two biggest changes that I can see are in the hiring process and with students. Brand new teachers are certainly more careful in how they approach the hiring process. They are being very thoughtful in making sure that a position they are accepting is the right fit for them. Recognizing that a school may not offer everything you want in a position is an important step for new teachers who are looking to build a long career in education.
The second big change (since I started) is with students. Students are different. They learn differently, are engaged in different ways, and find different thing outside of school that interest them. While a handful of students may have had a cellphone twenty years ago, virtually all students are able to utilize the smartphone in their pocket for things that we couldn’t even imagine twenty years ago. New teachers are teaching (and trying to impact) a very different group of learners.
The one thing that has remained constant with new teachers is that support is an absolute must. Over the past twenty years, and even more true today, novice teachers want (and NEED) support. While we may see school administrators employing a sink or swim approach, the fact remains that we need to provide support to our newest teachers to ensure that they are growing as professionals, and developing skills that will help them to become experienced teachers.
When I was hired for my first job, I was one of fourteen first year teachers in my building. I’m not sure how the two administrators even got to any of us on a regular basis, but they did. They provided support that helped build a foundation for success.
What does a new teacher want? What do they need?
Both the same.
Just a little bit of S-U-P-P-O-R-T!
Rich
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