We are failing to support new teachers in education today.
There are many new teachers entering schools. Some come from traditional education programs. But many come from previous careers, or are emergency hires who have no teaching or education experience. We cannot continue to fail to support new teachers.
Historically, we teachers fail to support new teachers through their first year… I’d argue that we need to support all teachers more, but I already spoke about that on a previous blog post. I won’t go down that rabbit hole today. If you want to know how we can support the seasoned teachers, check out Teachers Are Superheroes.
Why does the teaching profession fail to support new teachers?
The first reason is that, while we may assign mentor teachers to our new babies, the mentor teachers still have their own classrooms they are responsible for. We choose great teachers to be mentor teachers, because they are so good at what they do. Then we give them an additional assignment without taking away anything from their plates. These wonderful teachers are willing to mentor new teachers, but they are going to prioritize their own students over mentoring. Why is this? Teachers bond with their students, and when resources are scarce (time is always scarce for teachers) their students will be prioritized over everything else.
This happens more often when mentor teachers are assigned mentees who are in a different subject area, or grade level. It is especially true of differences such as general education versus special education. If you’ve never assigned a new special education teacher a general ed mentor, you are in the minority, believe me. That difference makes mentoring a new teacher very difficult.
Choosing a Mentor Teacher
In addition to needing to have a mentor who teaches the same student type, something that many don’t think about when assigning a mentor teacher is how great these teachers are at starting new. Yes, we always choose mentor teachers who are good at what they do, but we forget that they are great at what they do NOW….after years of teaching the same grade level or subject area. They have established what works well for them after years of honing their craft. This doesn’t mean that they are good at starting fresh, new without a framework to fall back on.
I have started over, fresh over and over again in 5, now 6 states thanks to being a military spouse. I am here to tell you that starting a classroom from scratch is a skill set all by itself. If you want your mentor teacher to be good at supporting that new teacher, don’t look for at who is the most established in the grade level or subject area…. Look at the teacher who is most open to change, THAT is the teacher who will make the best mentor teacher. The teacher who is fantastic at teaching because she’s been in the same grade for 5 years is not the teacher to help that new teacher establish her classroom. For mentor teachers, flexibility and adaptability is way more important than amazing. Amazing will come. New teachers need to be able to be ok and then good first.
This leads me right into the next reason our profession continues to fail to support new teachers. We always assign new teachers the best, most amazing, impressive mentor teachers…. You know, the ones that the new teachers have no hope of emulating. Again, going to be brutally honest here, because that is what the education system needs…. New teachers cannot be perfect and amazing their first year. THEY’VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE!
New Teachers can’t be perfect, they are too busy surviving!
Giving new teachers an amazing and wonderful mentor teacher sounds great, but think about it from the new teacher’s perspective. They don’t know anything. They don’t know where the restroom is, or where the kids get dropped off, what the detention procedures are, or how to use the copier without breaking it. Then, we match them with “she who knows all and is amazing” and they are intimidated. Sure, some new teachers are good at asking questions, but I promise you there are a lot of questions that go unasked because that new teacher is embarrassed about all the things they don’t know and feel bad about taking too much of the other teacher’s time. That new teacher knows their mentor has their own classroom to prepare, and every minute they are asking questions is a minute the other teacher isn’t doing work for themselves.
New teachers don’t know what questions they need to ask. You don’t know what you don’t know when you’re doing something new. Most mentor teachers are so experienced, all the things are second nature to them. They don’t think about the things from a brand new perspective.
For example, something that is so stupid, so innate in what we do as teachers…. But every single new school I have gone to, I have had to hunt down and ask how to take attendance. Yeah, it’s something teachers do daily but no school ever gave me a cheat sheet or told me how. A friend of mine’s school district just changed systems, and no one told the faculty how to take attendance until the first day of school. Why? Because it’s just something that everyone knows how to do….right? Yeah, no.
Teaching is a science, and an art.
There are many philosophies about teaching and best practices, but teachers and kids are individuals. We have to find what works best for us and our students. New teachers don’t know what works best for them. They don’t know what organization system will work for them or how to efficiently lesson plan or prepare materials. New teachers don’t know what level of connection works best for them with their students and their teacher friends. They don’t know so much more than they do about their own teaching styles…. Let alone know what their students will need from them.
Add to that, every student is different and every group of students is different. When you have 5 periods a day, every single one of those groups of students can be very different, needing different things from the teacher…even if the subject is the same. By the way, even when teachers get accustomed to a group of students, one additional student can completely change the dynamic of the classroom. (For the record, that is why teachers don’t like having kids added to their roster…. It isn’t so much about the additional number, it’s that the new students change the classroom dynamic…the culture, and now what was working and comfortable may need to be changed in the middle of a session. It’s stressful, it adds more work….and they worry how it will impact the students they’ve already bonded with).
If we continue to fail to support new teachers, we are going to find ourselves in an even more desperate space educationally. Let’s work together to find ways to help and support these teachers so that they stick around! Next, check out my blog post (click below) for ways to support new teachers!