ABSTRACT
This chapter on teacher induction considers the planned professional support provided for new teachers during their first teaching year. The provisions made by various educational authorities are discussed under the three headings of provisions during entry, school-based activities and system-based activities. It is noted that although there are a variety of provisions for new teachers they are not always as well served as might be expected. Also, as induction is a complex process it is not possible to argue for the superiority of any one induction practice; all those reported have a place.
However, in order to improve the quality of induction it is suggested that those persons responsible for induction programmes and policies could well explore certain directions with some profit. Included in these are an extension of the purposes of induction as presently conceived, the training in counselling skills of those experienced teachers who have special responsibilities for induction, basing induction practices in the school where the new teacher is a staff member, altering the teaching conditions under which beginning teachers start their career, and changing expectations regarding induction on the part of schools, training institutions and beginning teachers. It is also argued that any proposals for the better induction of teachers need to take cognizance of the dual aspect of teacher development – the professional and the personal.
