New teachers need to learn their letters

A major study on how best to ease graduate teachers into the workforce recommends providing a list of acronyms - and their meanings - to new high school staff.

The new Teachers Council report calls for more time and funds to help induct teachers into the profession.

The report also recommends that new teachers be allowed more time to observe other teachers at work.

Council director Dr Peter Lind said the recommendation on providing a list of acronyms for high school staff came through from case studies.

"We do have a lot of acronyms in the system at the moment. "When I go to any meeting currently around ICT [information and communications technology] developments - and ICT is an acronym itself - it's a couple of pages of acronyms that you've got to get your head around."

The quality of some new teachers has been criticised in several past reports. A parliamentary select committee inquiry suggested in February that full registration be held back until graduates proved able to consistently raise students' achievement levels.

Dr Lind, defending new teachers, said they underwent a mentoring and development programme for at least two years before becoming fully registered.

But these varied in quality, with some participants feeling they were left to "sink or swim".

The new report analysing exemplary practice identified a lack of time as a major problem for those involved.

It highlighted an issue around a lack of specific training for mentors to fulfil their role successfully.

It said it was important the mentor teacher and newly qualified teacher made time to meet on a regular basis to discuss progress and observe teacher practice.

The report is the last of the council's three-part series of documents on the issue and is to be released at a seminar today. A pilot programme to test findings is likely to follow.