I now turn to the New Zealand literature. There is a dearth of literature on beginning teachers’ use of ICT amongst the relatively few published studies in this area
of beginning teaching. While a number of studies purport to investigate beginning teaching, they are in reality concerned with the preservice period. I begin this section by explaining the policy context for teacher registration and how the policy is reported to work in practice as far as induction is concerned. I then move to studies on learning to be a teacher.
Teacher registration and induction policy and practice in New Zealand
The New Zealand Teachers Council is responsible for approving teacher education programmes and the registration of teachers. Graduates from a Council- approved programme are provisionally registered as teachers for a period of two years. During the period of initial employment, beginning teachers are required to undergo a programme of mentoring, also called ‘advice and guidance programme’ (Teachers Council, 2002). An experienced mentor teacher, usually referred to as the ‘tutor teacher’, supervises the programme. The beginning teacher and tutor teacher jointly plan a suitable programme of intensive professional learning that will lead to full registration. The beginning teacher and tutor teacher maintain a written record of this programme, to be used as evidence when the beginning teacher applies for full teacher registration. The beginning teacher’s professional learning is also linked to the school’s general teacher appraisal system. The principal recommends the beginning teacher for full registration based on the written evidence and the appraisal, confirming that the beginning teacher meets the “Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions” (Appendix B) as well as the “Fit to be a Teacher” criteria (Appendix C).
A beginning teacher’s employing school is entitled to additional funding of a 0.2 time allowance in the first year of provisional registration and 0.1 in the second. This is intended to free up time for the beginning and tutor teacher to implement the required advice and guidance programme. The time allowance may be used for a variety of purposes, for example meeting other beginning teachers, observing another teacher or
being observed with follow-up feedback, and participating in professional development courses and meetings (Teacher Registration Board, 1997).
Grudnoff and Tuck (2002) observed that preservice teachers abruptly terminate ties with preservice programmes once they graduate. This is despite initial teacher education being conceptualised as a five-year continuum from beginning preservice education to the end of the two years of provisional registration. The Ministry of Education-funded School Support Services, based in the university and attached to colleges or faculties of education, are funded to support beginning teachers. However, typically no prior relationship exists between a preservice programme and School Support Services. Without this continuity, it is difficult to see how the School Support Services can effectively provide for the needs of new teachers. This view is supported by Lang (2001) in her study of seven beginning teachers and their survival experiences over the first year of teaching. She argues that induction courses for beginning teachers held by School Support Services are based on trial and error and do not adequately take into account what is known about the struggles of beginning teachers as reported in the literature. Renwick (2001) similarly suggests that preservice teacher education and schools could work more closely to provide a continuation in the preparation of teachers.
A national study on the quality of induction of beginning teachers in their second year of teaching was carried out by Education Review Office (ERO) (2004). They posited that the level of subject knowledge necessary to teach effectively, the degree to which students were engaged in their learning, and how well the school facilitated the beginning teachers’ professional development, would demonstrate the effectiveness of the induction. The study’s sample consisted of 119 beginning teachers from 79 primary schools and 79 from 32 secondary schools. The participants all taught in the same school as they did in their first year of teaching. A survey was distributed to the
participants in advance to collect demographic data and reflections on their first year of teaching. Data gathering, which took place in conjunction with ERO’s school reviews, consisted of: classroom observations; reviewing documentation; information from the school review; and interviews with the beginning teacher, tutor teacher and principal or senior manager. The findings were that 65% of the primary teachers met or exceeded ERO’s expectations for effectiveness, while 71% of the beginning teachers’ advice and guidance programmes exceeded the expected effectiveness. Fewer than 20% of primary schools were found to be less than effective in regard to the beginning teachers’
teaching and the schools’ induction support. ERO made three particular observations of schools where the beginning teachers were doing well: they had strong school support from colleagues; the relationship between the beginning teacher and tutor teacher was positive; and schools with several beginning teachers did better. Recommendations included providing professional development for tutor teachers, increasing professional development opportunities for the beginning teacher, and establishing a beginning teacher support network.
ERO’s findings may be critiqued on several points. First, ‘effectiveness’ and ‘quality’ are contested terms. Nash argues, for example, “The belief that effective teaching can raise the performance of students to a marked extent seems to have
become fixed in the contemporary discourse of educational policymakers” (Nash, 2004, p. 42). Second, in relation to beginning teacher induction, Tickle comments that the quest for ways to define teaching standards and assess professional competence have escalated in recent times to a search for a “holy standards grail” (Tickle, 2001, p. 53). Notwithstanding these and other criticisms, the literature overwhelmingly stresses the importance of beginning teacher induction and the need to improve the advice and guidance induction programme in some New Zealand schools.
The literature suggests that the character of the advice and guidance programme may be as critical to beginning teacher induction as are school culture and organisation. Lovett and Sinclair’s (2004) case study described the induction experiences of two beginning teachers, whose experiences contrasted starkly as a result of contextual differences. One teacher was employed in a large school with an integrated professional culture, while the other was teaching in a smaller school which had experienced many staff changes and a number of temporary appointments. The larger school provided guidelines for the beginning teacher induction programme and had a practice of strongly supporting professional learning and socialisation. The induction programme and the professional learning experiences at the smaller school were fragmented and fragile. The beginning teacher in the larger school grew in her knowledge and confidence through the guidance she received, while the beginning teacher in the smaller school struggled through the lack of advice and guidance. Lovett and Sinclair recommend that all schools have a written policy and guidelines for the mandatory advice and guidance programme for beginning teachers, and that tutor teachers attend professional
development to enable them to provide the necessary support. Lovett and Sinclair go so far as to recommend that a registration system for tutor teachers be set up, to be based on an appraisal of the quality of support they provide for beginning teachers.
Learning to be a teacher in New Zealand
As reported in the international literature, the transition from preservice
education to teaching independently is a stressful time for beginning teachers. In New Zealand, Grudnoff and Tuck (2002; 2003) conducted a longitudinal study of a cohort of 400 preservice teachers in their first two years of teaching. To gather the data, they surveyed the entire cohort. The survey was followed by interviews with twenty
beginning teachers and their tutor teachers in the study’s first year and 16 of these pairs in the following year. While all the participants interviewed went through a stressful
period in their initial year of teaching, they reported feeling reasonably confident as teachers towards the end of their second year. They had acquired a better understanding of the politics and ‘systems’ of the school. Grudnoff and Tuck (2002) found that tutor teachers and the professional culture of the school were critical to this development. However, they did not report on the varying types of professional cultures that existed in the participants’ schools. We are therefore not made aware how particular
professional cultures may have supported or constrained the beginning teachers in their professional learning.
In their feedback to the research team, the beginning teachers in Grudnoff and Tuck’s (2002) study wished they had learnt more ‘craft knowledge’ during their teacher preparation. Craft knowledge has been defined as the practical knowledge teachers use in the everyday experiences as a classroom teacher in meeting the students’ needs (Snook, 2000). Grudnoff and Tuck (2003) argue that while teacher educators must ensure that preservice students develop a knowledge of teachers’ work at the practical knowledge level, they must also ensure new teachers have the ability to reflect critically on educational issues from different points of view. Snook likewise argues that teachers need strategic knowledge about schooling from a historical, philosophical and political perspective to understand the complexity in teaching.
Beginning teachers’ feedback on the value of their preservice education can be distorted if they forget that preservice teacher education is but the first stage on a continuum of initial teacher education (Lang, 2001). They may not fully realise that the purpose of the advice and guidance programme with the support of a tutor teacher is a continuation of their initial teacher education, the end point of which leads to full registration. Lang stresses that preservice teacher educators should nevertheless consider the merit of issues identified by beginning teachers so as to inform their understanding of how best to meet preservice teachers’ actual needs.
Surprisingly, none of the New Zealand studies discussed in this section mentions ICT. There could be several reasons for this. Firstly, ICT is not a curriculum area in itself but is seen as an integrating resource: “All learners will use ICT confidently and creatively to help develop the skills and knowledge they need to achieve personal goals and to be full participants in the global community” (Ministry of Education, 2002, p. 6). Secondly, ICT is also the name given to one of the areas for learning in the technology curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1995). Thirdly, ICT use is only mentioned as a suggestion in the “Satisfactory Teacher Dimension,” the set of criteria that lead to full teacher registration. For example, ‘professional knowledge’ requires that a teacher “demonstrates knowledge of appropriate technology and resources,” which could include “planning to use information technology in programmes” (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2002, pp. 19-20). The vagueness with which ICT use is being
suggested clearly implies that ICT is not considered very important in its own right. For these reasons, it is perhaps not surprising that researchers have not investigated ICT in the context of beginning teaching.
To conclude this section on the New Zealand literature about the context for beginning teaching, I have provided an overview of the policy and practice involved in becoming a registered teacher. Induction was identified as particularly important. The extant body of literature deals with beginning teachers and stress, their induction
experiences, and reflection on their preservice education. However, none discusses ICT. There is a clear gap in the literature. I therefore move to the New Zealand literature on ICT in preservice teacher education to understand what preservice teachers learn about technology as a preparation for their use of ICT as teachers.