The new teacher's compendium: strategies and tips from veteran technology education teachers for resolving problems during the first year

Abstract

First year technology education teachers, and teachers in general, often have a very difficult time during their first year in the classroom or laboratory. Research conducted for this project indicated that new teachers often entered the classroom with little experience, no supervision and lacked the skills necessary to succeed in the classroom or laboratory. Nationally, nearly one-third of teachers left their jobs within the first three years of service (Depaul, 2000; Kantrowitz, 2001). One of the primary reasons teachers vacated the job field was they often felt overwhelmed, unprepared and unsupported professionally. This study had two goals: (1) investigate the opinions of practicing technology education teachers to discover if they encountered problems during their first year and (2) to compile a list of suggestions and comments that might assist a new teacher resolve or reduce problems they encounter. The study focused on four areas that were revealed as common problem areas for new teachers, classroom/laboratory management, time management, student discipline, and student motivation. A survey was designed to question veteran technology education teachers about their perceptions of their first year of teaching. The sampled population for the study was drawn from technology education teachers that taught in the state of Wisconsin during the school year 2002-2003. The survey had four sections, each centering on one of the four problem areas; classroom/laboratory management, time management, student discipline, and student motivation. The survey asked if problems were encountered, how serious and frequent the problems were perceived, if the teacher sought help with the problem, and how quickly the problems were resolved. In addition, the teachers were asked to give one suggestion or comment that they believed was important to reducing or resolving problems in each of the four problem areas. The suggestions were analyzed for content and separated into “common theme” groups. The most numerous suggestions for each problem area were compiled into a master list and titled “The New Teachers’ Compendium: Strategies and Tips from Veteran Technology Education Teachers”. An analysis of the 108 returned surveys revealed that a majority of the respondents encountered problems during their first year of experience. Student discipline was viewed by the respondents as the most significant problem area, Problems were also encountered to a lesser extent in the other three areas, classroom/laboratory management, time management, and student motivation. The majority of the respondents indicated that they resolved problems themselves and that resolution time averaged approximately two weeks. Four hundred seven suggestions or comments were given as advice on how to deal with the four problem areas. The comments and suggestions, very diverse in length and in detail, were analyzed and separated into suggestion groups. Three of the problem areas ended with four suggestion groups, student discipline had three groups. The suggestion groups were condensed into common themes and compiled into the “New Teachers’ Compendium: Strategies and Tips from Veteran Technology Education Teachers” A conclusion could be drawn from this study that technology education teachers generally had a difficult first year and encountered many problems. In addition, because of the high number of respondents that resolved problems with out help, it be concluded that new technology education teachers could use, or need more support during their first year. The New Teachers’ Compendium: Strategies and Tips from Veteran Technology Education Teachers was designed to help support need.