Newly qualified teachers’ support needs in developing professional competences: the principal’s viewpoint

ABSTRACT

This study investigates principals’ viewpoints on the support needs of newly qualified teachers. As pedagogic leaders, principals play a central role in organizing support activities for new teachers at local level and can offer insights into new teachers’ situation and support needs. On that basis, the authors investigated how Finnish principals (N = 104) prioritized and described the support needs of newly qualified teachers. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire that included both closed and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and principal component analysis, and responses to open-ended question were analyzed using deductive content analysis. The study revealed that new teachers need particular support in working outside the classroom, cooperating with parents and colleagues and enhancing holistic support for students. The results contribute to knowledge of salient issues in planning and organizing school-based support for new teachers, as well as in initial teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Newly qualified teachers
• principals
• professional development
• teacher competences
• lifelong learning

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union for funding the ONTP project. In addition, the authors thank all the members of the ONTP team.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study was part of the ‘Outstanding Newly Qualified Teacher Program’ (ONTP) for 2015–2017, the European Commission Erasmus+ KA2 project [grant number 2014-1-BE02-KA201-000474].

Notes on contributors

Vilhelmiina Harju

Vilhelmiina Harju, MA (Ed.) is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki. Her main research interests are lifelong learning, teachers’ professional development, non-formal learning environments, and learning and teaching with digital technologies.

Hannele Niemi

Hannele Niemi, PhD, Professor, is Research Director (2017–) at the University of Helsinki. Previously, she was Professor of Education (1998–2016), Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (2003–09) and Dean of the Faculty of Education (2001–03). Niemi has been a scientific leader of several large national and international research projects and served as a keynote lecturer at dozens of international forums. Her main research interest areas are teachers’ professional development, quality of teaching and learning, and teacher education and learning with digital tools and environments.