In The ClassroomIn the NewsTop Story
Study finds beginning teachers perform ‘as well or better’ than more experienced colleagues
New research has found that no concrete evidence exists to suggest that new teachers are less competent than their experienced counterparts, despite reforms and recommendations in recent years to improve the quality of teaching graduates.
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… Then I would seriously consider the validity of the research design!
Having supervised many prac and beginning teachers in classrooms, after 35 years of “experience”, across two states and all three education systems (Government, Catholic and Independent) – including several years as a system level teaching curriculum consultant, I know first hand that the findings of this study do not align with my personal experience of beginning teachers.
I have also lectured undergrad student teachers at a major teaching university in WA and this experience confirms what I know of working with early career teachers in the classroom – this includes behaviour management, content/domain expertise and pedagogy.
Whilst there is obviously a continuum of quality/capability amongst graduate teachers, in my experience, even the best only begin to learn most of what the job of teaching really involves to become “effective” once they begin doing it full time.
Interesting, to understand what “quality/competent/effective” means in this study…
Dear Brett, I can understand how this study would displease you and will be giving a full reply on Monday.
Regards, Education Review
Dear Brett,
The link to the research design is embedded in the article, so you can take a look. Although this is just one study, and others may contradict it, it was definitely newsworthy and was also covered in the Sydney Morning Herald. I was a teacher for a short amount of time (5 years) and know how passionate and contested the profession can be, so I applaud you for 35 years of sticking with it! Kind regards, Education Review.