Supporting New Teachers: A professional responsibility

Supporting New Teachers: A professional responsibility

Week 4 - Guest Post written by Brooks Cooper

Being a first year teacher presents itself with many unique challenges. First off, first year teachers are expected to perform with the skills, knowledge, and performance of a veteran teacher. Being a first year teacher is not an excuse for poor performance, however with that said there is the reality of a lack of experience. Very few first year teachers subscribe to the idea that they are held to a different standard because they are new. Most want to provide the highest quality of instruction regardless of the years behind their name. Like a freshman in high school new teachers are faced with learning a new and larger system and are not afforded the freedom to simply focus on teaching. They are responsible for learning their evaluation tool, understanding the school climate, learning how to communicate with parents, how to do grades, how to take attendance, how and when to be involved in school activities, how to collaborate with their peers and this list goes on.

The old adage "You don't know what you don't know" is an appropriate statement for why we need  to support our new teachers.  For this reason my experience has led to me conclude that supporting teachers through their first year is not only professional responsibility we bear as educators but one that is so complex, not one form of support is sufficient. New teachers need support from their teacher peers, building administrators, and the district office. Each group has a different lens and one that is important and valid to the performance of teachers. Our teacher mentor programs should be consistent, relevant, and provided with a variety of lenses to offer new teachers with the support and knowledge of the larger system they are now a part of.

Brooks Cooper is a High School Assistant Principal in Longview, WA.