Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education

[Pages:22]Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education

Quality Assurance Department

Induction for Newly Qualified Teachers

Handbook

9 September 2013 (links updated on 15 September 2014)

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations The Ethos of the Induction Programme The General Framework

The Induction Programme parameters Main categories of NQTs The Induction Programme structure

The appraisal process The mentoring process The role of the QAD in the Induction Programme Glossary References

p. 2 p. 3 p. 5

p. 5 p. 5 p. 7

p. 8 p. 14 p. 17

p. 18 p. 20

1

List of Abbreviations

CAAB DCM CTP DES DQSE

EO HOD HoS IC MUT NCF NQT PMPDP

PSMC QAD SDP

Confirmation of Appointment Advisory Board Department of Curriculum Management Council for the Teaching Profession Directorate for Educational Services Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education Education Officer Head of Department Head of School Induction Coordinator Malta Union of Teachers National Curriculum Framework Newly Qualified Teacher Performance Management and Professional Development Plan Public Service Management Code Quality Assurance Department School Development Plan

2

The Ethos of the Induction Programme

"The quality of a teacher's experience in the initial years of teaching is critical to developing and applying the knowledge and skills acquired during initial teacher training and to forming positive attitudes to teaching as a career."

(Bezzina, 2008, p.17)

Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) may face a daunting task as they seek to establish themselves in their chosen career path. The Education Directorates recognise the need for support required by NQTs at this stage. Hence, an Induction Programme has been developed consisting of two distinct yet mutually supportive components: mentoring and appraisal. Mentoring provides professional support, while appraisal provides professional guidance and leads to the confirmation of permanent employment after the first year of service as NQT.

NQTs benefit greatly from the structured support by more experienced and specifically trained peers as they face new roles, challenges and responsibilities. The Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (DQSE) provides training courses for prospective Teacher Mentors as well as for Induction Coordinators (ICs), who help to coordinate the whole process at a school level. The Directorate for Educational Services (DES) is thus providing the support of an experienced and trained colleague, who helps the NQT to settle down in the classroom, at school and into the teaching profession.

INDUCTION PROGRAMME

3

MENTORING

APPRAISAL

Figure 1

For the purposes of this Induction Programme, the term NQT refers also to fully qualified and experienced teachers who have been newly recruited or reinstated into the public service.

Facing the change!

The first years of any profession are crucial. They involve:

transition from theory to practice;

transition from a student's world to the world of work;

transition from `rehearsal' to responsibility;

becoming a professional practitioner;

embracing the concept of lifelong learning;

becoming part of a team, a learning community of reflective practitioners, and a College;

owning the ethos of the school and the College.

Appraisal is carried out through the Performance Management and Professional Development Plan (PMPDP), which is intended as a tool that "allows its user to identify the targets of one's professional practice at the beginning of one's career, as well as the professional development requirements to improve further." (QAD, 2012, p.1)

Indeed, induction is rooted in the teacher's need for ongoing professional development. Mentoring and appraisal, as the two pillars of the induction programme, are both meant, each in its own way, to stimulate and sustain professional development. In turn, this will uphold and boost the school's self-evaluation and improvement.

The benefits of induction

Successful schools and effective school leaders have always provided informal induction, mentoring and support.

The Induction Programme provides the NQT with the opportunities to:

discuss one's professional and personal development with the mentor and the appraiser;

come in touch with one's aspirations, concerns and fears;

learn about new contexts, roles and responsibilities;

reflect on practice and lessons learnt, aimed at continuous professional growth;

learn to work collegially

Induction is there for me!!!

4

The General Framework

The Induction Programme parameters

First year NQTs will be deemed to have fulfilled their induction requirements and will be eligible for confirmation in the public service once they fulfil the following five (5) obligations:

i. attend the three-day Induction Seminar organised by the QAD, normally held in September prior to the beginning of the scholastic year;

ii. receive and/or participate in a minimum of four mentoring classroom observation visits, two in the first term of employment and one in each of the subsequent terms;

iii. participate in a minimum of three formal meetings with their mentor, one per term;

iv. attend the final Evaluative Seminar, normally held in July; v. compile their first-year PMPDP.

Main categories of NQTs

NQTs with the DES fall within one of the following three main categories:

1. Teachers with no prior experience in the teaching grade and with no permanent warrant in hand.

Probation period and induction programme last one year. Probation is concluded with the College Principal's positive final recommendation in the first year PMPDP document, following the Head of School's recommendation, and the confirmation of fulfilment of the induction requirements.

One may apply with the Council for the Teaching Profession (CTP) for a permanent warrant on presentation of proof of: i. fulfilment of induction requirements, and ii. two years of supervised practice in a registered school.

Induction/Probation, PMPDP for 1st yr NQTs

1st year

Confirmation of appointment

5

PMPDP for 2nd yr NQTs

2nd year

Conferment of warrant. Confirmation of professional

status

Figure 2

The legal perspective

2006 Education (Amendments) Act Cap. 327, part III, para. 24 (2e) requires two years of supervised experience in a registered school.

The 2010 agreement between the Government and the Malta Union of Teachers, para. 21 (1) states that all employees shall be expected to follow an induction process, not necessarily during school hours.

"A distinction shall be made between mentoring and appraisal duties. Appraisal duties shall include confirmation of newly qualified teachers and duties related to the PMPDP. Mentoring shall include support, coaching and facilitation of self-evaluation during induction and at any other time as determined from time to time by the Head of School, in consultation with the College Principal, subject to the provisions of clause 20 (2)."

(Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family, 2010,

para. 22, n. 1)

2. Teachers with a permanent warrant in hand, irrespective of prior experience in the teaching grade.

The probation period and induction programme last one year. Probation is concluded with the College Principal's positive final recommendation in the first year PMPDP document, following the Head of School's recommendation, and the confirmation of fulfilment of the induction requirements.

3. Teachers with at least one full scholastic year, or equivalent, of prior experience in the teaching grade and with no permanent warrant in hand.

The probation period and induction programme last one year. Probation is concluded with the College Principal's positive final recommendation in the first year PMPDP document, following the Head of School's recommendation, and the confirmation of fulfilment of the induction requirements.

After one year of employment with the DES, these teachers may apply for a permanent warrant on presentation of proof of: i. fulfilment of induction requirements, and ii. two years of supervised practice in a registered school, one of which being the professional practice prior to employment as teachers with the DES.

Important note:

The conditions for each category hold unless specified otherwise in the conditions of employment of the particular NQT.

All persons on teaching duties who are not in possession of the Teacher's Warrant are to apply for a temporary warrant with the Council for the Teaching Profession. The temporary warrant is valid for one calendar year.

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The Induction Programme structure

Primary Schools

QUALITY ASSURANCE

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITY

APPRAISAL

COORDINATION

MENTORS

HoS

QAD

College Principal

EO

Teacher Mentor

IC

HOD

Assistant Head*

* trained in mentoring, when possible not the Induction Coordinator

Figure 3

Secondary Schools

QUALITY ASSURANCE

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITY

APPRAISAL

COORDINATION

MENTORS

HoS

QAD

College Principal

EO

HOD

IC Teacher Mentor

Figure 4

7

"The PMPDP gave the NQT

chance to talk about concerns

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