ABSTRACT
Rewarding and stimulating as it can be, teaching is an extremely complex career requiring high-level expertise in many skills areas. It is also a profession in which the nation is permanently interested, and of which seemingly increasing levels of accountability are demanded. Newly qualified teachers (NQT) only have to glance at a newspaper or listen to the news to see how frequently education issues are, sometimes inaccurately, discussed. Add to this the pace of change in education, and they could easily find themselves confused, however satisfying their job is. Working as a teacher requires that they must be familiar with a wide variety of laws, circulars and guidance, strategies and initiatives, not to mention the latest curriculum and requirements of Qualified Teacher Status. Some teachers experience teaching as a relatively lonely career, with many NQTs feeling that they must cope with the job alone.
