Endings and Beginnings: Experiences in Building a New Teacher Induction and Support Model through a Higher Education Program of Teacher Preparation

Presenters: Barbara Stern, Ira Lit, and Jon Snyder
Bank Street College of Education

“Learning to find professional resources and establish professional relationships are key tasks of new educators, and building...and growing a professional community of colleagues outside of the graduate school setting is an essential facet of success for our graduates.”

• Bank Street College of Education – awarded a Teachers for a New Era grant in 2002
• describes design and inception of an Induction Model; shares issues and challenges; looks at next steps and suggestions to the field
• experimental model of support and induction for graduates of their teacher education program in 2003; based on the following guiding principles:

• induction options based on strengths, interests, and needs (SINS) of the graduates
• SINS are determined using multiple lines of evidence
• induction options are based on a notion of a continuum of teacher development (i.e., teacher preparation moving toward induction)
• every community has resources and expertise - consistent with the idea that induction is context-specific
• induction structure and offerings are designed so they can be enacted in other teacher education institutions

• a “menu” of induction offerings was provided to graduates – eventually grew to become the “Professional Growth Opportunities (PGOs) for Graduates Program”
• issues and challenges:

• building an audience: understanding the strengths, needs, contexts, and constraints of graduates; discovering incentives for participation; outreach and marketing
• clarifying the nature of faculty relationships with graduates and the role of faculty in the induction model
• collaborating with other programs internal and external to the institution

1. Stern, B., Lit, I., & Snyder, J. (2006, November). Endings and beginnings:
         Experiences in building a new teacher induction and support model through a
         higher education program of teacher preparation. In J. Kitchen (Ed.), Teacher
         Induction, Mentoring and Renewal: Selected Conference Papers (pp. 13-36).
         Toronto, ON: Centre for Teacher Development, OISE/University of Toronto.
2. Bank Street College of Education [external web site]