Investigation of Beginning Teachers', Mentor Teachers' and School Administrators' Opinions About Teacher Induction Program

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the opinions of beginning teachers', mentor teachers' and school administrators' opinions about induction program. The study designed as a case study as one of the qualitative research methods was conducted with 15 beginning teachers, 15 mentor teachers and 10 school administrators working in Van province. Research data were collected with semi-structured interview forms. Content analysis technique was used for data analysis. As a result of the research, according to the participant's opinions, it was found that teacher induction program has some positive aspects for beginning teachers such as preparing them for the teaching profession by gaining them experience, providing them to have experience in administrative affairs and learn school's functioning, learning how to communicate with students, parents, and other school personnel, recognizing relevant institutions, having knowledge about the functions of the institutions and thus knowing which institution they should contact when they need. However, beginning teachers emphasized some negative aspects of induction program such as having to fill too many forms/reports; beginning teachers', mentor teachers' and school administrators' not adequately being informed about the program, beginning teachers' not spending the first six months of the program in the schools where they were appointed, having problems in practice despite being good in theory, etc. In this case, it may be suggested to make the current induction program more effective and functional by completing the deficiencies of the program, and to inform the target stakeholders thoroughly before the implementation process.