Abstract:

There is a problem in special education today: school districts, across the nation, are facing chronic shortages and high attrition rates of special education teachers (Amos, 2005; Donne & Lin, 2013). To solve this problem, many districts have implemented induction and mentoring support programs (Donne& Lin, 2013; Irinaga-Bistolas, Schalock, Marvin, & Beck, 2007).

Unfortunately, these programs tend to yield mixed results, and the problem continues to be unresolved (Amos, 2005). Although research is available in the induction and mentoring process of novice special education teachers (Correa & Wagner, 2011; DeMik, 2008; Donne & Lin, 2013), it is limited to the cold nature of numbers and statistical analysis exploring only the technical components of induction in relation to special education teachers, such as job retention and statistical analysis of job satisfaction. (Pohl, 2013). More importantly, our investigation determined the literature lacked a personal narrative that explored the teacher’s experiences, especially from the teacher’s perspective, which we believe it is important because a narrative can provide a valuable window into the emotional realities that novice teachers experience (Boyer, 2005; Schlichte, Yssel, & Merbler, 2005), which cannot be uncovered by numbers and statistics.

This study examines the mentoring and induction experiences of first-year teachers in special education. Using their personal narratives, we investigated what these novice teachers encountered and valued most in their induction programs. Participants had the chance to discuss what support they had and the roadblocks they had to face during their initial teaching experience. Therefore, our focus was on exploring the voices of the novice teachers in the field of special education during of first-year mentoring and induction.

Although each case was very different, and each teacher’s experiences were unique, our findings found three emerging themes: 1) the importance of mentorship, 2) the value of proper training, and 3) the significance of the working environment. In addition this study did yield some interesting observations that can be helpful to administrators, professors, novice teachers, and mentors in the effort to support more successfully the induction of teachers into profession.

Implications for future practice and research are discussed.

Keywords:

Induction, Special Education, Narrative, Mentoring.