Sometimes being a new teacher can feel like leaving the nest before you've learned how to fly. Even when their pre-service teaching trainings have gone well, many new teachers find that those experiences didn't fully prepare them for the realities of running their own classroom full-time.
In addition, novice educators are often afraid to ask questions of their advisors or more experienced colleagues for fear of seeming incompetent, so they may struggle in isolation. This leads many to flee the teaching profession in short order.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, alongside school-based colleagues in nearby Durham County, want to fix this problem. They created the Partnership for Authentic Communities of Educators (PACE) program to help bridge the gap between pre-service teacher learning and beginning teacher experiences. In 2018, these colleagues created a pilot program that placed pre-service teacher cohorts in elementary schools in Durham Public Schools with high populations of beginning teachers. Their aim was to give pre-service teachers a more realistic understanding of what their first year will be like "before it's real," while giving new teachers an opportunity to be mentors, to share frustrations and ask for help with their challenges, and to grow in confidence.
"We essentially sought a way to extend the cocoon of support to keep new teachers teaching," says Jocelyn Glazier, associate professor in the School of Education at UNC Chapel Hill.
Within the PACE program, a cohort of pre-service teachers and new teachers observe one another's classrooms, which provides low-stakes opportunities for advice, feedback, and professional learning. The group also meets monthly to problem-solve teaching dilemmas, share their struggles and successes, and develop relationships and a support network with their peers.
"We hope this model helps pre-service teachers step into the first years of teaching through the eyes, ears, and experiences of the beginning teachers," says Glazier. Her colleague Jennifer Petty, a full-release mentor in Durham Public Schools, says: "For beginning teachers, we hope the varied support model will enable learning, leading, and a lessening of isolation." The goal in all cases is to keep teachers teaching.
The first cohort of PACE has shown promising results. Both the beginning teachers and pre-service teachers said they felt more prepared and confident in their roles. A pre-service teacher in the program said that the authentic glimpse into beginning teachers' classrooms was extremely helpful. "It's been beneficial to hear about how to overcome obstacles that beginning teachers face as they learn how to acclimate to a new school environment," she said.
The program leaders have plans to extend the program and are eager to collect long-term results, such as whether the pre-service teachers will have a smoother transition to their first job.
