Faculty induction program for newly recruited teachers of higher education: a case study

ABSTRACT

Teaching is a profession in which the newly appointed teachers learn different methods of teaching skills, pedagogies of teaching and conducting research and should know the role and responsibilities of different academic leaders. The Faculty Induction Program (FIP) includes all these components. This article aims to study the perceptions of the newly appointed assistant professors or early-career faculty (ECF) regarding FIP, conducted by the Faculty Development Center (FDC) of Mizoram University, India. Out of 202 participants, 100 were selected by simple random sampling procedure. A self-constructed questionnaire was used for the collection of data. Focus group discussion was also conducted. The findings revealed that FIP conducted by the FDC was well organized. The participants benefitted by learning micro-teaching and its uses, the development of teaching-learning material, comprehensive and effective lesson planning, Bloom’s taxonomy, and the constructivist teaching approach.

KEYWORDS:

• faculty induction program
• teacher professional development
• focus group discussion
• early-career faculty

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all participating teaching faculty for conducting this research. The authors also acknowledge the FDC, Mizoram University, Aizawl for their full cooperation and the research staff of the Department of Education, Mizoram University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Lokanath Mishra

Prof. Lokanath Mishra is currently working as a Professor of Education at Mizoram University, Aizawl, India. He specializes in MOOC, educational research, teacher education, mathematics education, tribal education, and peace education.

Tushar Gupta

Dr. Tushar Gupta is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the School of Education, Adamas University, Kolkata, India. His area of interests are the economics of education, higher education, mixed-methods research, teacher education, and higher-order thinking skills.

Abha Shree

Dr. Abha Shree is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Education, Mizoram University, Aizawl, India. She specializes in educational psychology, inclusive education, curriculum studies, science education, and educational planning & management.