A DESCRIPTION OF THE NATURE AND IMPACT OF TEACHING EVENTS AND FORMS OF BEGINNING TEACHER ASSISTANCE AS EXPERIENCED BY MINNESOTA AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Abstract

This study examined the nature and impact of teaching events and selected forms of assistance provided by local school district personnel to beginning agricultural education teachers. The initial five forms of assistance that had a major impact on the beginning teachers included: parental support of students for their program; adequate supply of materials, textbooks, and workbooks are provided; planning time was available before school started; curriculum guides are available for the program area; and principals provide helpful evaluation and feedback. Initial events or experiences that had a major or critical impact, and occurred often or always were: feeling in control of their program, students are respectful toward the beginning teacher, beginning teacher has self-confidence in their teaching, satisfaction is experienced after successful activities, and they see their students succeeding in their classes. The beginning teachers were experiencing elevated levels of stress and moderate amounts of job satisfaction during the early weeks of the school year. Less than 40% of the teachers were participating in district-sponsored teacher induction programs. It was concluded the initial teaching experiences of beginning teachers were, indeed, impacted by selected forms of assistance and events. Additional research was recommended to determine how the nature and impact of the measures change with teaching experience.