Helping New Teachers Survive

New teachers continue to leave the field of education at an alarming rate and with them go the future of our profession. If we are ever going to change the current course of public education then we are going to have to retain our most qualified novice teachers. As we all can attest to from our own experience, being a new teacher is no day at the park. Yet year after year we continue to throw these young educators into the deep end of the pool without the proper support and wonder why they leave the profession in droves.

As Principal, I have always made it a point to try and provide an extensive safety net for my new teachers beginning prior to the first day of school. As soon as a new hire is approved by the Board of Education I ask the appropriate department supervisor to set up a meeting with the novice teacher. During this meeting the new teacher will receive copies of the curriculum & text. They will also be shown their room or rooms as the case may be. A brief discussion of lesson planning and first day of school activities will take place. Next, the new teacher will meet with the Assistant Principal. This may take place on an individual or small group basis. The Assistant Principal will discuss the mundane but very important attendance and referral procedures. The neophyte will also have an opportunity to review the new teacher handbook.

The handbook was our attempt to provide the teachers new to our school with a reference guide. It contains an explanation of all the day to day procedures that are followed in our school. It also has a directory and map (very important) of who's responsible for a particular activity. The directory also contains copies of all the forms that are used as well as the student discipline code. This meeting concludes with a tour of the entire school campus. We don't want our new hires getting lost on their first day.

Once the school year begins, regular weekly meetings are scheduled with department supervisors. Neophytes are teamed up with senior teachers for mentoring as required by state law. In my meetings with the department supervisors I'm constantly inquiring about the progress of our new teachers and also reminding my supervisors to be supportive. After approximately 4 weeks of school I schedule my first informal meeting with each new teacher. As the Principal I want to begin the process of establishing a dialogue with the new teachers and initiate them into the team building process.


In addition, during the first semester, voluntary New Teacher Workshops are held after school. In the beginning of the year they are held every two weeks and during the second semester they are held monthly. The purpose for these meetings is to give the new teacher an opportunity to meet with one another and to share their experiences during this very stressful time in their new career. By design, I don't attend these meetings in the hope that the new teachers will feel more comfortable expressing their concerns, fears, and early successes. The meetings are run by the Assistant Principal who is very supportive and knowledgeable in our program.


Within the confines of the curriculum and with full knowledge of the exit examinations looming on the horizon, we encourage all our teachers to creative and inventive in their teaching. We do this knowing full well that not every lesson is going to be a smashing success nor that every piece of information will be understood the first time it is presented. It has been our experience that when new teachers are given the support that they need and the freedom to be creative then their ability to survive the rigors of their first year increases markedly.