What teachers express as professional development needs of beginning teachers: Voices from the profession

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Jeff Thomas
Jennifer Hicks
Deb Vannatter

Abstract

In an effort to retain beginning teachers, the [Blind State] Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (X-STEM) Resource Network coordinated a statewide effort to identify and cultivate 59 mentor and 90 mentee (beginning) teachers. Two summer professional development workshops (summer 2016 and summer 2017) buttressed the school year (2016-17) aimed to mentor beginning teachers in teaching science and mathematics. New teachers (mentees) video recorded lessons and mentors provided feedback through a secure online platform. The area of focus for recorded videos were determined by the mentee and represent areas for desired feedback for future practice. Voices of mentor teachers were captured about the specifics of the observations and are offered as the types of professional development experiences needed by new teachers. These findings are presented based on this successful model where 89 out of 90 mentees remained in the profession.

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