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 Current agricultural education teachers can have a major
influence on the decisions of beginning teachers to stay in the
profession. In the earlier article, Ideas for Keeping Beginning
Agricultural Education Teachers in the Profession (see News
& Views, August/September 2001), I suggested a number of
actions we can each take to make beginning teachers feel more welcome and
have a more successful first year experience. In this article we will take
a look at the stages in the changes in attitudes experienced by beginning
teachers along with recommended actions for experienced agricultural
education teachers.
The first year of teaching agricultural education is,
indeed, an adventure! I think we all still have vivid memories and
emotions concerning our students, community and school, parents, and our
initial classroom, FFA, and SAE teaching and advising experiences. The
first year—a benchmark year—provides an additional foundation upon
which to develop our professional and personal growth. During the first
year, beginning teachers are faced with learning how to teach, advise the
FFA chapter, and conduct effective Supervised Agricultural Experience
Programs without the support of college classmates and instructors. At the
same time, most are learning how to conduct themselves in their first
permanent job in a community that is often distant and different from
their home community and school. Many beginning teachers enter marriage
and purchase homes and make many other adult decisions during this time of
their lives. All of these concurrent changes create a lot of stress and
anxiety that often have an affect on teaching attitudes and performance!
Becoming a competent teacher takes many years of practice,
study, and refinement. The first year has many highs and lows as most of
us can recall. Keeping a positive attitude and an eye for the future is
especially important for beginning teachers during their first year of
teaching.
Ellen Moir from the Santa Cruz, California New Teacher
Project developed a model in 1990 that reflects the stages of changing
attitudes a beginning teacher experiences during their first year in the
public school classroom (see the figure below). I believe our understanding of the
phases and features of the Moir model can and should lead to informed
activities and communications that can alleviate some of the anxiety and
stress of our beginning agricultural education teachers.
 The initial
anticipation phase of the Moir Model begins
during the student teaching experience. The beginning teacher has a
tendency to romanticize the role and position of the teacher. Beginning
teachers enter their jobs with a tremendous commitment to making a
difference and a somewhat idealistic view of how to accomplish their
goals. Feelings of excitement carry the new teachers through the first few
weeks of school. They believe they are going to be the best agricultural
education teacher and FFA advisor that ever walked!
The second phase is entitled survival. After the
anticipation experience ceases, reality strikes and the following month is
often perceived as overwhelmingly difficult. The new teachers are learning
a lot and at a rapid pace. Beginning teachers are instantly bombarded with
a variety of teaching, student, and school system problems and situations
they had not anticipated. In sum they are simply caught off guard by the
realities of teaching. They struggle to keep their heads above water and
become very focused on the day-to-day routine of teaching, with little
time available for reflection! They are not sure which instructional
materials and strategies will work and many expend considerable effort
thinking about and developing their lesson plans for the first time.
During this time they will experience the negative consequences of poorly
prepared lessons. Beginning teachers in this phase are surprised by the
amount of work involved in being a teacher. They often report spending up
to 70 hours per week on schoolwork. In addition, they are overwhelmed by
the constant need to develop curriculum and instructional materials. The
teachers usually are able to maintain a high level of energy through this
phase. They report being hopeful the stress and strain will subside and
maintain belief in a ‘light at the end of the tunnel.’ It is important
that everyone is aware and responds to their feeling of isolation and
loneliness and need for contact and support from other teachers and the
profession!
The disillusionment phase occurs after six to eight weeks
on the job as a beginning teacher. The beginning teachers realize things
are not going as smoothly as earlier envisioned. Low morale leads to
disenchantment with the job. They question their competence and
commitment. The level of stress and worry often leads to periods of
illness. The situation is compounded by new events including
back-to-school nights, parent-teacher conferences, and initial evaluations
by the administrator. Many of the beginning teachers find that classroom
management is more stressful than anticipated. The unexpectedly large time
commitment brings complaints from family members and friends. Teachers in
this phase express self-doubt, have lower self-esteem, and question their
professional commitment. This is the toughest phase for many new teachers.
The rejuvenation phase follows the disillusionment phase.
During this phase, beginning teachers experience a gradual improvement in
their attitude toward teaching. This phase usually occurs after the winter
holiday break, when new teachers find time to reflect and invest more time
in planning curriculum and instruction. They make an effort to prepare new
and better instructional materials, and are ready to acknowledge their
accomplishments while putting past problems behind. Better understanding
of the school system occurs along with an acceptance of the realities of
teaching. Experience has taught them coping strategies and skills to
prevent, reduce, or manage many problems they are likely to encounter in
the second half of the year. The teachers experience some sense of relief
as they realize only half of the year remains before they can take a
break. During the rejuvenation stage, novice teachers focus more on
curriculum and instructional materials development, long-term planning and
teaching strategies. This phase often lasts into spring. As the phase
starts to come to a close, the beginning teachers become more concerned
about getting everything (i.e., units, tests, competency exams) completed
by year’s end as well as student performance and levels of achievement
on various assessments.
The reflection phase is next, and usually begins in late
April or early May. This is a somewhat invigorating time. Comments and
feelings expressed in Moir’s study reflected the personal assurance and
satisfaction of completing the first year of teaching. During this phase
the novice teacher can think back over the year and highlight what did and
didn’t work in teaching and advising the FFA. The teachers begin to
think more about what they will do differently next year with regard to
management, curricula, teaching strategies, evaluation, professional
development, instructional resources, and the FFA. They start to
anticipate what it will be like with all of the changes they are
envisioning. Summer conferences and inservice activities are further used
to make new ideas a reality.
The final phase of the change in attitudes is anticipation. As they finish out the first year and prepare for and enter
the second year, beginning teachers express a heightened sense of what
they hope to accomplish in the classroom and laboratory settings during
the upcoming year. They have less concern for survival. They focus more on
their impact on students, and less on themselves. They have greater
concerns with quality instructional materials and teaching strategies than
they did during the initial time of anticipation that occurred before and
during the first couple of weeks of school.
It is our role as experienced and concerned agricultural
education teachers to be empathetic, understanding, and helpful to the
beginning teachers. Though some may not ask, most beginning teachers need
guidance and help in selecting and obtaining quality instructional
materials. We need to be accessible and ready to offer encouragement,
guidance, open and ongoing communications. When possible and appropriate,
we need to champion their efforts and be their advocates!
Teaching agricultural education is a profession that can
span several decades of a productive agricultural educator’s life. In
the next article we will take a look at the phases of the career of an
agricultural educator, and then a closer look at more of the experiences
and needs of beginning agricultural educators. |