Educators’ experiences of the induction process by principals

Abstract

This research focused on how school principals in the Limpopo Province apply induction to the newly appointed teachers. The school principals, SMTs and senior teachers are responsible for inducting and mentoring newly appointed teachers with the purpose of developing them professionally and to help them adjust to the school environment. Principals play a major role in seeing to it that newly appointed educators do not feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the teaching profession and the practice of teaching learners. The study aims at exploring the educator experiences of the induction process as well as to explore the process followed by principals in inducting educators. The research methodology used in this study is a qualitative case study which is explorative and descriptive by nature. Data was collected through one-on-one interviews, which involved principals and newly appointed teachers. The collected data was analysed and categorised into specific themes. The findings from data revealed numerous challenges that principals and newly appointed teachers experience during the induction process. Findings revealed that the induction process was not adequate and that the time allocated for induction was very little. There were neither standardised and continuous induction programmes nor educational support mechanisms to support newly appointed educators. Recommendations were that schools should be provided with the opportunity to review the induction process in line with the systemic changes in education in order to develop educators professionally.