ABSTRACT

Novice teachers’ need for support and induction is widely recognized, and so is the role of principals in that process. Accountability-driven reforms in education have compelled principals to increasingly focus on managerial responsibilities, whereas teachers are subjected to external assessment of their professional qualities and their students’ learning outcomes. This role division can undermine the principals’ readiness for instructional leadership and can affect their perceptions of novice teachers’ needs, knowledge, skills, and attitudes, which in turn potentially inhibits adequate support given to novice teachers. Therefore, it is important to know how principals and novice teachers assess novice teachers’ professional qualities. In this study, we investigated the Estonian preschool principals’ and novice preschool teachers’ assessments of the professional skills of novice teachers. Fifty-seven principals and 61 first-year teachers responded to a written questionnaire. We first found that, in almost all aspects, the novice teachers assessed their professional skills higher than did the preschool principals. Second, we found that when combining the assessments of both groups of respondents, the lowest ratings were given on novice teachers’ skills in working with children with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds and with children with special needs. We discuss relevant implications for early childhood teacher education.

摘要

新手教师需要支持和上岗已得到广泛认可，校长在这一过程中的作用也得到了广泛认可。以问责制为导向的教育改革迫使校长越来越关注管理责任，而教师则要接受对其专业素质和学生学习成果的外部评估。这种角色划分会破坏校长对教学领导的准备，并会影响他们对新手教师的需求、知识、技能和态度的看法，这反过来又可能阻碍对新手教师的充分支持。因此，了解校长和新手教师如何评价新手教师的专业素质非常重要。在这项研究中，我们调查了爱沙尼亚幼儿园校长和幼儿园新手教师对新手教师专业技能的评估。57 名校长和 61 名一年级教师回答了书面问卷。我们首先发现，在几乎所有方面，新手教师对自己的专业技能的评估都高于幼儿园校长。其次，我们发现，当结合两组受访者的评估时，新手教师与不同语言和文化背景的儿童以及有特殊需要的儿童一起工作的技能的评分最低。我们讨论了对幼儿教师教育的相关影响。在几乎所有方面，新手教师对他们的专业技能的评估都高于幼儿园校长。其次，我们发现，当结合两组受访者的评估时，新手教师与不同语言和文化背景的儿童以及有特殊需要的儿童一起工作的技能的评分最低。我们讨论了对幼儿教师教育的相关影响。在几乎所有方面，新手教师对他们的专业技能的评估都高于幼儿园校长。其次，我们发现，当结合两组受访者的评估时，新手教师与不同语言和文化背景的儿童以及有特殊需要的儿童一起工作的技能的评分最低。我们讨论了对幼儿教师教育的相关影响。