Teachers starting out in Northland have said practical tools and mentoring is key to ensuring their confidence. Photo / 123rf
Teachers starting out in Northland have said practical tools and mentoring is key to ensuring their confidence. Photo / 123rf
Teachers starting out in Northland say having support and real-world experience is key to ensuring they feel prepared when leading a classroom.
Their comments follow an Education Review Office (ERO) report called ‘Ready, set, teach: How prepared and supported are new teachers?’ which found that nearly half ofnew teachers felt unprepared.
The report highlighted a gap between training institutions and their graduates’ abilities and concerns about being classroom-ready.
Three areas were identified to ensure new teachers are set up to succeed:
Attracting new teachers most likely to have new skills;
Whangārei Intermediate School teacher Zac Anderson, who has been in the profession for one term, said he did not feel prepared for the classroom.
He felt his training lacked the tools required for a real classroom setting and instead worked off the opinions of tutors and their experiences.
Anderson said there was not enough practical time to understand what it is like in a classroom, and even then he was expected to be writing notes rather than teaching.
Training institutions need to rethink how they are teaching and consider what tools are helpful for real teaching, he said.
If a school is not providing support for graduates, it’s a “recipe for disaster”, Anderson said.
He has been helped by a mentor, but he believed he would be “severely struggling” without that extra hand.
Renata Ioane, a new teacher at Kamo Primary School, said that despite his nerves on the first day of term one this year, his expectations were met.
“I knew the workload I was taking on moving into this profession. I knew the demands and expectations of the role.”
However, Ioane said being in a supportive workplace has made all the difference.
“I’ve heard stories of some of my classmates who have gone to a school, and they’ve not wanted to do this profession because they’ve had no support. It means everything.”
He was not surprised to hear about teachers feeling unprepared for certain subjects because it was natural to have gaps in knowledge so early on.
“If you acknowledge those weaknesses and you do have a kura that’s supportive, whatever you’re lacking, the kura can definitely help you.”
He believed graduates who haven’t gained real-classroom experience would be shocked by the “full-on” nature of teaching.
“I think there needs to be room made for more placement and more work experience,” he said.
His training consisted of eight weeks of “back-to-back” placements, something other institutions spread out in blocks.
“I think giving those teachers a more realistic approach to learning how to teach will help with their confidence.”
Kamo Primary School principal Sally Wilson said she was not surprised by the ERO findings.
She said a similar report was released in 2017 which emphasised the same issues.
“We would have to question who was listening,” she said.
Wilson has noticed a lack of consistency from education training providers across the country and described the variation between graduates as “quite huge”.
