Successful Induction for New Teachers

A Guide for NQTs & Induction Tutors, Coordinators and Mentors

Sara Bubb, Author

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781446293980, 9781446293973
• eBook ISBN: 9781473905153
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The first year in teaching will be rewarding and stimulating, but it will also be hard and stressful for most NQTs. A good induction program benefits not only NQTs but also those who support and assess them. Good teachers make good schools - but good schools also make good teachers. In this book, NQT  development expert Dr Sara Bubb, explains clearly, accessibly and concisely how to have a successful induction year. It?s written both for new teachers themselves and those who support, monitor and assess them: headteachers, induction tutors, coordinators and mentors. 

It covers key areas including:

• induction regulations
• what NQTs are entitled to
• meeting the teachers? standards
• building relationships
• managing work load
• emotional resilience
• professional development

This is the essential guide on how to successfully complete the NQT year!

1

Looking after yourself

Stages you might go through

Looking after yourself

Your voice

Managing your time

Staying strong

Coping with difficult people

Keeping happy

Your first year in teaching will be rewarding and stimulating, but will undoubtedly be hard and very stressful. In this chapter I will look at ways to make it easier on a very practical level by explaining the stages you might go through; how to look after yourself and your voice in particular; how to manage your time and cope with difficult colleagues; and most importantly, how to keep happy.

I have so much fun and feel so comfortable and well suited to my job. I feel well supported and have met such amazing people! I feel a great deal of satisfaction and no day is the same! (NQT, Term 3)

Stages you might go through

There’s a common perception that people should be able to teach well if they’re qualified. Certainly, the pupils taught by a newly qualified teacher have as much right to a good education as those taught by someone with 20 years’ experience. However, there’s a huge difference between novice and experienced teachers. Like any skill or craft, learning to teach is a developmental process characterised by devastating disasters and spectacular successes. Teaching is a job that can never be done perfectly – one can always improve. Depressing, isn’t it? Well, see teaching as acting: each lesson is a performance, and if one goes badly, the next can go better. Separate the performance from the real you. This will stop you feeling too wretched about lessons that don’t go well. Remember that few people are natural-born teachers – everyone has to work at it and everyone can get better. The more you know about teaching and learning, the more you’ll realise there is to know. That’s what makes it such a great job!

Some days I love it (when the lessons are good), some days I hate it (when it turns to madness). (NQT, Term 2)

How you feel about teaching will probably change daily at first. One day will be great and leave you feeling positive and idealistic, but the next will be diabolical. As time goes by, good days will outnumber the bad ones, and you will realise that you are actually enjoying the job. There are recognised stages that teachers go through. Appreciating them will help keep you going and help you realise that you will need different levels and types of support at different times during your induction year. Figure 1.1 shows a trajectory of teachers’ typical feelings during their first year. They start on a high in September but then reality strikes and they live from day to day, needing quick fixes and tips for survival. It’s hard to solve problems because there are so many of them. Behaviour management is of particular concern, but they’re too stressed and busy to reflect. Colds and sore throats seem permanent. Getting through all the Christmas activities is exhausting. In January, pupils return calmer and ready to work. Teachers can identify difficulties and think of solutions because there is some space in their life. Then they feel that they’re mastering teaching, begin to enjoy it but don’t want to tackle anything different or take on any radical new initiatives. Eventually, people will be ready for further challenges, want to try out different styles of teaching, new age groups, and take on more responsibilities.

Figure 1.1 NQTs’ feelings during the year (Bubb 2005, p. 8)

Activity 1.1

Induction tutors: what can you do to help new teachers pace themselves?

Looking after yourself

Unless you’re very lucky, illness will plague you during your first year of teaching like it has never done before. It won’t be anything serious, I hope, but the rounds of sore throats, coughs and colds will leave you forgetting what it feels like to be well. Large numbers of children mean a lot of germs! When you’re busy the easiest thing to do is to forget to look after yourself. Everyone knows that they function better with good nutrition and rest, but these seem to be the first things to be neglected.

People experience stress when they feel that the demands of their work are greater than their ability to cope. Stress affects different people in different ways, but you need to cope with its results and handle the causes. Given that there is no one cause of stress, there’s no simple solution. Teaching is a stressful job and when you’re new it’s even worse, so you need to learn to manage stress. Look out for behaviour, mental health and physical symptoms. Are you getting irritable, tired, anxious, depressed, forgetful or accident-prone? Do you have aches and pains, headaches, digestive problems or seem to succumb to every germ that’s doing the rounds? Are you eating more chocolate or drinking more? These are signals to you from your body that should not be ignored for long.

The first step is to recognise that the problem exists and tell someone how you feel – almost all teachers are kind and caring, but they can’t help you unless they know what the problem is. The Teacher Support Network has an excellent online stress test you can use to identify your levels of stress (www.teachersupport.info). I’ve done it and it seemed spot on. It gives you a report, and there’s a facility for emailing it to anyone else who you think might benefit from knowing the result. It also contains suggestions for coping better. The Teacher Support Line is open every day and staffed by trained counsellors who can give support online, by email ([email protected]) or phone [phone] in England).

Analyse the causes of your stress. Try listing all your troubles, then dividing them into those over which you have some control, and those you haven’t. Work on practical solutions to those over which you have some influence. There are certain people and situations that increase one’s blood pressure, so avoid them as far as possible! Recovering from the ‘high alert’ positions that our bodies may have been in for long periods during the day is important, but hard to do. Do something that forces you to think about something other than work, something that needs your active involvement. A good quality and quantity of sleep is a must too. You need to be in tip-top form to teach, so invest in that body of yours.

Here are ten tips for looking after yourself:

1. Pace yourself. Don’t over-commit yourself. You can’t afford to burn out so plan some days to be less demanding.

2. Try to organise accommodation so that your journey is reasonable and that you feel comfortable when you get home.

3. Remember to eat well – don’t skip meals. Snack on nutritious, high-energy foods such as bananas rather than chocolate bars. Get organised at weekends so that you have enough suitable food to last the week.

4. Consider taking vitamin supplements to help your body fight off all the viruses that the pupils will bring into school.

5. Watch out for head lice – check your hair with a very fine comb and take immediate action if you find any.

6. Monitor your caffeine and biscuit intake. Although they’re the staple diet of many staffrooms, they really aren’t much good for you.

7. Take exercise and get some fresh air during the school day. Teaching makes you feel very tired but exercise will give you more energy, and you function better all round if you keep fit.

8. Plan some ‘me’ time. Do whatever makes you feel better. This might be soaking in a hot bath, reading novels or watching escapist films.

9. Keep talking to other new teachers (don’t forget email or online forums) – nobody can understand better than people at the same stage.

10. Invest some time and attention in friends, loved ones and family: they need you and you need them.

Your voice

Sounding a little husky? Is your throat feeling sore? Don’t just think it goes with the job; these ailments need to be taken seriously. How you’re feeling – depressed, sad, stressed, nervous – comes out in your voice and will affect your teaching unless you put on that jolly, smiley teacher voice. Your voice is your greatest asset, but not using it well can cause lasting damage. One patient in nine at voice clinics is a teacher, and some people are forced to leave the profession after suffering permanent damage to their vocal cords.

Teachers use their voices as much as the busiest professional actor, but do so hour after hour, day after day, and often without any training. When people understand how the voice works, they can use it better. Speech is produced when breath passes over your vocal cords, causing them to vibrate. The sound is amplified by the cavities in your chest, mouth and head, and your lips, teeth and tongue shape the sound into recognisable words.

When you’re stressed and dashing around, you just snatch shallow breaths into your mouth or chest and your tummy doesn’t move at all. This means there’s not enough power to project the voice, so you strain the weak muscles around your neck and put too much pressure on the vocal cords. Poor posture and tense shoulders and neck mean that the passage of air is blocked. Breathing is fundamental to powering the voice. Deep regular breathing from the diaphragm – in through the nose, out through the mouth – helps you stay calm and works wonders for the voice.

Tension restricts your voice and can cause lasting damage. The voice is a product of the muscular and breathing systems, both of which suffer when you are stressed, so the ability to relax is essential. Excessive or forceful coughing and throat clearing put great strain on your voice and are often habits rather than physical necess...

Table of contents

• Cover page
• Halftitle
• Education at SAGE
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• About the author
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Looking after yourself
• 2 Understanding induction
• 3 The standards
• 4 Key concepts to help development
• 5 Analysing needs, setting objectives and drawing up action plans
• 6 Professional development
• 7 Observation
• 8 Discussing teaching – verbally and in writing
• 9 Assessment
• 10 What next?
• Appendix: Templates
• References
• Index