ABSTRACT
The HMI report The New Teacher in School published in 1982, reached the conclusion that the majority of the 294 probationer teachers in their sample had been well trained, but that many were dissatisfied with some aspects of their training, and that nearly one in four were in some respects poorly equipped with the skills needed for teaching. This last assertion does not accord with the ratings of heads of schools who felt nearly 90 per cent were competent, and, since it was based on only two observations of each new teacher, must be regarded with some scepticism (Wragg, 1983). Nevertheless, whether there is general satisfaction or not, it is essential that teacher training should be conceived in such a way as to nurture the talents of new recruits. Then they may develop into highly skilled professional people with sharp insight into classroom life and a sustained appetite for improving their own teaching and their pupils' learning.
