This study focuses on the induction of novice teachers in Community Junior Secondary Schools (CJSS) in Gaborone, Botswana. The point of departure is that induction is an important factor that is essential to the success of every beginner teacher. It is the responsibility of the school management to provide comprehensive induction programmes that will support beginner teachers and retain them in the teaching profession. This problem was investigated by means of a literature study and an empirical investigation using a qualitative approach. A small sample of beginner teachers in six selected schools in Gaborone formed the sample for this study. Findings indicated that the extent to which novice teachers are given professional guidance and support in schools is not enough. It is recommended that induction programmes receive more priority in schools since the first year of teaching is the most important determiner in the teaching career of an individual. / Education management / M.Ed. (Education Management)

The focus of this study was to investigate the experiences of novice teachers of induction in three selected schools in Oshana region, Namibia. The point of departure is that the experiences of novice teachers of induction and support are not known. The problem was investigated by means of a literature study and empirical investigation, using a qualitative, phenomenological approach. Findings revealed that novice teachers do not have the same needs and do not have similar experiences of support. Key findings reveal that novice teachers’ problems can be solved better if support is given timeously and over a longer period, with all the stakeholders’ equal involvement in the induction process. Novice teachers are capable of making meaningful contributions to schools, and schools can benefit from them. The study recommends that novice teachers’ voices be heard and their views be incorporated when planning future induction programmes, to suit their individual and contextual needs. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The body of literature clearly articulates the unique needs of newly qualified teachers and the challenges they experience during their early career years. In addition, literature advocates for implementation of induction programmes to enable a smooth transition of the beginners into the profession. This empirical phenomenological study explored the induction experiences of newly qualified primary school teachers in Zimbabwe in an attempt to gain insights into the everyday issues they contend with. Purposive sampling was employed to select twenty participants who comprised of ten newly qualified teachers, five beginners whose experience in the field ranged from one to three years and five mentors. Data were collected mainly through three semi-structured interviews with newly qualified teachers and mentors, reflective essays written by beginners who were not so new in the profession and a focus group discussion with selected beginners. The protocol used for data explication was a simplified version of Hycner’s (1985) framework for phenomenological analysis suggested by Groenewald (2004). The findings yielded six themes and revealed that: new teachers experienced adaptation challenges relating to forging of new relationships, location of schools and nature of host communities; induction was largely informal and incidental, and the induction supports experienced by the new teachers were limited; the beginners had various teaching and social concerns that needed to be addressed; and, while the new teachers had derived some lessons from their first year of teaching, these were outweighed by their concerns and might not have made a significant impact on their classroom practices. The data also revealed that the partnership between teacher education institutions and schools in providing for teacher professional development was weak. The study concluded that the absence of a policy on induction in the country has resulted in lack of appreciation of the centrality of induction on the teacher development continuum and the haphazard manner in which issues of induction are being handled. The main recommendations from the study were that a policy on induction should be put in place, that schools are empowered to provide induction and induction supports that are amenable to the country’s context be fully exploited. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Induction for teacher development is important for quality teaching and learning to take place in schools. The process of induction should be well-structured so that it is not mistaken as just an orientation to school procedures; it should be well-planned and implemented for the purposes of professional development and support (Rolley, 2001). The main aim of this study was to investigate beginner educators’ experiences of the induction process for professional development in the Bochum East Circuit of Limpopo Province. The assumption was that if schools are held accountable for learner performance, then support measures in terms of induction should be provided to newly appointed educators. Poor performance or educator turnover can sometimes be ascribed to inadequate interventions or the design of educator induction programmes. Although educators may have received the best training at university or training college, they still need to adjust to the realities of classrooms. To achieve the aim of the study, a qualitative research approach was followed to collect data through semi-structured interviews. The study is ensconced in the Educator Development Theory which acknowledges that educator preparation is rarely sufficient to provide all the knowledge and skills necessary for successful teaching. A great deal of knowledge and many skills are, mostly, acquired while on the job and principals should, therefore, adequately induct newly appointed educators. Four beginner educators and two principals from average performing primary schools were purposively sampled in the Bochum East Circuit of the Limpopo Province. A thematic analysis was carried out to generate themes that addressed the problem of the study. The findings from participant responses revealed differences in an understanding of the induction process. Support from the principal, HoDs and fellow colleagues were considered to be part of induction. Recommendations include that educators should be given continuous professional development through standardised induction programmes which could be adjusted to the needs of the school. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The body of literature clearly articulates the unique needs of newly qualified teachers and the challenges they experience during their early career years. In addition, literature advocates for implementation of induction programmes to enable a smooth transition of the beginners into the profession. This empirical phenomenological study explored the induction experiences of newly qualified primary school teachers in Zimbabwe in an attempt to gain insights into the everyday issues they contend with. Purposive sampling was employed to select twenty participants who comprised of ten newly qualified teachers, five beginners whose experience in the field ranged from one to three years and five mentors. Data were collected mainly through three semi-structured interviews with newly qualified teachers and mentors, reflective essays written by beginners who were not so new in the profession and a focus group discussion with selected beginners. The protocol used for data explication was a simplified version of Hycner’s (1985) framework for phenomenological analysis suggested by Groenewald (2004). The findings yielded six themes and revealed that: new teachers experienced adaptation challenges relating to forging of new relationships, location of schools and nature of host communities; induction was largely informal and incidental, and the induction supports experienced by the new teachers were limited; the beginners had various teaching and social concerns that needed to be addressed; and, while the new teachers had derived some lessons from their first year of teaching, these were outweighed by their concerns and might not have made a significant impact on their classroom practices. The data also revealed that the partnership between teacher education institutions and schools in providing for teacher professional development was weak. The study concluded that the absence of a policy on induction in the country has resulted in lack of appreciation of the centrality of induction on the teacher development continuum and the haphazard manner in which issues of induction are being handled. The main recommendations from the study were that a policy on induction should be put in place, that schools are empowered to provide induction and induction supports that are amenable to the country’s context be fully exploited. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

This study focuses on the induction of novice teachers in Community Junior Secondary Schools (CJSS) in Gaborone, Botswana. The point of departure is that induction is an important factor that is essential to the success of every beginner teacher. It is the responsibility of the school management to provide comprehensive induction programmes that will support beginner teachers and retain them in the teaching profession. This problem was investigated by means of a literature study and an empirical investigation using a qualitative approach. A small sample of beginner teachers in six selected schools in Gaborone formed the sample for this study. Findings indicated that the extent to which novice teachers are given professional guidance and support in schools is not enough. It is recommended that induction programmes receive more priority in schools since the first year of teaching is the most important determiner in the teaching career of an individual. / Education management / M.Ed. (Education Management)

The focus of this study was to investigate the experiences of novice teachers of induction in three selected schools in Oshana region, Namibia. The point of departure is that the experiences of novice teachers of induction and support are not known. The problem was investigated by means of a literature study and empirical investigation, using a qualitative, phenomenological approach. Findings revealed that novice teachers do not have the same needs and do not have similar experiences of support. Key findings reveal that novice teachers’ problems can be solved better if support is given timeously and over a longer period, with all the stakeholders’ equal involvement in the induction process. Novice teachers are capable of making meaningful contributions to schools, and schools can benefit from them. The study recommends that novice teachers’ voices be heard and their views be incorporated when planning future induction programmes, to suit their individual and contextual needs. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Induction for teacher development is important for quality teaching and learning to take place in schools. The process of induction should be well-structured so that it is not mistaken as just an orientation to school procedures; it should be well-planned and implemented for the purposes of professional development and support (Rolley, 2001). The main aim of this study was to investigate beginner educators’ experiences of the induction process for professional development in the Bochum East Circuit of Limpopo Province. The assumption was that if schools are held accountable for learner performance, then support measures in terms of induction should be provided to newly appointed educators. Poor performance or educator turnover can sometimes be ascribed to inadequate interventions or the design of educator induction programmes. Although educators may have received the best training at university or training college, they still need to adjust to the realities of classrooms. To achieve the aim of the study, a qualitative research approach was followed to collect data through semi-structured interviews. The study is ensconced in the Educator Development Theory which acknowledges that educator preparation is rarely sufficient to provide all the knowledge and skills necessary for successful teaching. A great deal of knowledge and many skills are, mostly, acquired while on the job and principals should, therefore, adequately induct newly appointed educators. Four beginner educators and two principals from average performing primary schools were purposively sampled in the Bochum East Circuit of the Limpopo Province. A thematic analysis was carried out to generate themes that addressed the problem of the study. The findings from participant responses revealed differences in an understanding of the induction process. Support from the principal, HoDs and fellow colleagues were considered to be part of induction. Recommendations include that educators should be given continuous professional development through standardised induction programmes which could be adjusted to the needs of the school. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

This investigation on teacher induction documents case studies of three beginning teachers in one target Woreda in Amhara Regional State of Ethiopia. It is organized into six chapters. In Ethiopia, the implementation of the teacher induction programme began in 2005 as part of a larger teacher education reform that is designed to promote the quality and effectiveness of teachers. Five years into the implementation process, it became essential to investigate how well the induction practices are organized and implemented, how beginning teachers were being integrated into the system, and whether the whole process has given beginning teachers better opportunities to learn in practice than by trial and error. The research design for the present investigation was the case study method. As teacher induction is a new venture in the Ethiopian education system, it was important to establish an in-depth understanding of this new phenomenon through case study than making generalizations. My literature readings convinced me about the use of the case study method to do an in-depth study of the situation. Interviews, observations and document analyses were the main tools used to collect the data needed in this research. The data suggests that the three case study teachers, with the support from their respective mentors, completed the formal aspects of the first year induction course as prescribed by the two first-year induction modules. The induction approach followed and applied the course module materials as is. However, in spite of following the prescriptions by the education authorities, variations were noticed in the quantity and quality of professional development activities, action research projects, classroom observations and reflections offered to and completed by the three beginning teachers. Furthermore, the changes observed as a result of the induction programme also varied largely due to personal and situational factors. On the whole, even though the induction guidelines set by the Ethiopian Ministry of Education contain most of the fundamental components of what the literature would consider to be effective for the induction programmes, its implementation in this context was constrained by the lack of some key elements and resources viz. the limited capacity of the mentors, absence of allocated time for induction and mentoring activities in the school programme, lack of subject-specific support in the schools and ineffective monitoring and evaluation of the entire programme, both in school and at the district levels. The present investigation offers policy makers a window into the practices and possible consequences of the induction programme in Ethiopia and presents possibilities for making informed decisions about how to assist practitioners to establish a successful induction programme for beginning teachers. Furthermore, the study offers an empirical test of the theoretical models suggested for setting up effective induction programmes for beginning teachers. The major conclusion that arises is that it is not so much whether the formal aspects of an induction programme are in place or not but more how the on-going support for and interpretations by all the role players that determines the success or otherwise of the programme. It is suggested that more research be done on the conditions that are necessary for the success of beginning teacher induction programme in different contexts in the country. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

School-based induction programmes largely focus on informing beginner teachers about the school culture and infrastructure, yet, the core business of education is teaching and learning. A consensus is, however, growing among educators and researchers that despite the positive experiences novice teachers experience during school-based induction programmes, they also experience challenges which affect their perceptions of school-based induction. Despite those challenges in the education sector, hope for the future, as guided by Vision 2030, still remains with one essential human resource: the teachers themselves. Therefore, if novice teachers are to impact profoundly on the learners’ academic achievement, then quality induction programmes must be in place in Namibian schools in order to support their instructional growth. A comprehensive nation-wide induction effort with high emphasise on mentoring will accelerate novice teacher efficacy and consequently learner learning. The purpose of this research study was to identify beginner teachers’ perceptions of school-based induction at selected primary schools in Windhoek and suggested a framework which may inform future research efforts and improve the application of school-based induction. To do this, a qualitative research methodology was preferred to assess the perceptions of novice teachers at the selected schools. Eight beginner teachers and four Heads of Departments participated in the study. The result draws attention to the professional enculturation of beginner teachers, but notably, compels practical reconsideration on how school-based induction is practised in light of beginner teacher growth and sustainability. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed. (Educational Management)