The Professional in the Classroom
Mentoring Leadership of First Year Teachers
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kelly M. Kitchens
With an estimated 40 to 50% of teachers leaving the classroom within their first 5 years (Arnett, 2017; Haynes, Maddock, & Goldrick, 2014; Ingersoll, 2012; Neason, 2014; Phillips, 2015; Riggs, 2013), some have espoused that a well-conceived and well-implemented teacher induction program with a strong emphasis on mentoring will not only increase teacher efficacy (Barrera, Braley, & Slate, 2010), job satisfaction, and retention of new educators (Darling-Hammond, 2003; Ingersoll & Smith, 2004) but also combat the flight from the classroom. Hand-in-hand with an effective teacher induction program, Steinbeck (2009) suggested administrators should consider the existence of servant leadership factors within prospective mentor teachers as a prerequisite for selection to serve as a mentor. This study partially replicated and further supported Steinbeck’s claims through exploring the relationship between mentoring functions and servant leadership factors with a careful examination of the effectiveness of mentoring relationships in a K-12 public education school setting. Using the Mentoring Experience Questionnaire and similar to Steinbeck’s study in metro Atlanta, a sampling frame of teachers mentored during their inaugural year within one southeastern Virginia school division were surveyed. As a result of statistical analysis, all mentoring functions were statistically significant and had positive to strong positive correlations with each servant leadership factor listed as evidenced by the Pearson r scores ranging from .579 to .924. Relationship emphasis, the foundation of mentoring built on a climate of trust (Cohen, 2003), had a strong relationship with all servant leadership factors. These findings should encourage school leadership to carefully examine the selection of mentors and select those who demonstrate mentoring functions and servant leadership factors to provide an effective mentoring experience and ultimately extend the mentee’s tenure in teaching.
The Effectiveness of Web-based versus Face-to-face Psychoeducational Support Program for Educators Who Teach Students with Learning Disabilities
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Dimitra Kagkara, Sotiria Tzivinikou
Progress in web-based technology have brought to the surface challenges and opportunities to education and training, in particular through online instruction and support. Online instruction is associated with a major invention in teaching and learning because it accommodates the exchange of information and ongoing support for all types of learners in distant or disadvantaged locations. Research findings proposed that the online instruction could be designed as effective as traditional face-to-face instruction. Despite the fact that online instruction and mainly the psychological and psychoeducational support programs are popular nowadays, the efficacy of such programs is not yet fully investigated. For these reasons, the present study aimed to compare two programs, one web-based and one face-to-face program for psychoeducational support for educators who teach students with learning disabilities. The study was based on a single-subject design, using both qualitative and qualitative methods for data collection. Two psychoeducational support programs took place for supporting two special educators in order to improve their teaching skills regarding to their learning-disabled students. The one program was designed and implemented virtually, via skype for business and the other one was designed and implemented face-to-face. The effectiveness of the programs was evaluated through the improvement of special educators’ self-efficacy. The results showed that both programs are equally effective. These findings were in consistency with the corresponding findings of literature and will be used for the development of a more integrated web-based program for the psychoeducational support of educators who teach students with learning disabilities in rural schools.
Teacher Professional Narratives: A US Case Study
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Eugenia Arvanitis
Life histories offer rich narratives, reflections and recollections about diversity and the way their own assumptions/prejudices impact on teaching practice. Life history is a well-documented approach, which enhances retrospective and reflexive thinking through narrative, reflection and contextualization (Goodson, 2014). This is of particular importance for teachers and their professional learning as their life experiences and background affect what they believe, and consequently, how they teach. Life history is relevant and powerful as a method of researching teacher philosophy and practice (Goodson and Hargreaves, 1996). This paper revolves around professional narratives of selected American teachers with emphasis on their understanding and valuing of culturally responsive teaching practice during their careers.
