A brand new teacher is ready to begin the school year. They are excited to change the lives of their students. By the end of September, they are the ones who have changed, gone is the excitement, and they seemed to have aged by 10 years. Chances are good, 40 % in fact, that left unsupported, this teacher will leave the profession within their first five years (Aguilar, 2018). Now, some may believe that this is alright, that education systems need to “weed” out weaker teachers and those that make it through this will be better for having such an experience. However, if we are to believe Wiliam (2016) that teacher quality continues to improve for ten or more years, then teachers are leaving the profession before reaching their potential and making their greatest impact. This is not conducive in assisting the UN reach its Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all.
One possibility in addressing this lies in understanding what happened in the example and considering solutions through the lens of self-efficacy theory. First, when teachers come into the profession, they may hold strong feelings of optimism and overestimate their ability because their efficacy has not been sufficiently challenged (Wheatley, 2002). On top of that, leaders often overestimate what teachers learn from their experiences and thus do not provide the support needed for teachers to increase their learning (Southworth, 2009). But as Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2007) note, early career teachers do not possess extensive mastery experience and require vicarious experiences and verbal persuasion in order for their efficacy to increase. That is to say, young teachers need to watch, collaborate with, and receive feedback in order to become more efficacious. A more efficacious teacher is a more resilient teacher (Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy, 2007).
2025 is the UN’s International Year of the Cooperatives, and school leaders, this is your call to action: provide feedback and open up dialogue with teachers, mentor and introduce them to mentors, encourage and provide space and time for them to watch other teachers, and promote collaboration. These processes will make schools great places for teachers to work and inclusive and equitable environments for students to learn.
References
Aguilar, E. (2018). Onward: Cultivating emotional resilience in educators. Jossey-Bass.
Southworth, G. (2009). Learning-centered leadership. In B. Davies (Ed.). The essentials of school leadership (pp. 91-111). Sage.
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 944-956.
Wheatley, K. (2002). The potential benefits of teacher efficacy doubts for educational reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 5–22.
Wiliam, D. (2016). Leadership for teacher learning: Creating a culture where all teachers improve so that all students succeed. Learning Sciences International.
0 comments