Coaches' and New Urban Teachers' Perceptions of Induction Coaching: Time,Trust, and Accelerated Learning Curves |
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| Authors: | Wendy Gardiner |
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| Institution: | Elementary and Middle Level Teacher Education, National Louis University |
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| Abstract: | Approximately 80% of new teachers have mentors, yet mentoring typically fails to foster new teachers' professional learning—particularly in high-poverty schools. This qualitative study was situated within an urban teacher residency context and explored how six first-year urban teachers and the two induction mentors with whom they worked perceived and experienced induction coaching. This study also seeks to understand the characteristics of mentored induction (called coaching) that facilitate or impede learning. Results indicate that mentoring contributed to new teachers' professional learning and that (a) trusting relationships were foundational to the coaching process and developed over time; (b) coaching was aligned with new teachers' needs and context; and (c) coaching was a scaffolded process that enhanced new teachers' ability to respond to immediate needs, as well as identify and work toward long-term instructional goals. Insights and recommendations are provided to guide the development of or strengthen induction programs. As mentored induction in high-poverty schools is typically insufficiently enacted, this study depicts how mentored induction can be conceptualized and executed in order to make a difference in new teachers' professional learning. |
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