Stakeholders' perspectives on induction for new teachers

Induction programs have been advocated by many as a way to convey essential knowledge to new teachers in different contexts (Cho & Kwon, 2004; Kennedy & Burnstein, 2004). Yet one needs to inquire into the nature of induction programs, criteria and procedures. This research project began in response to the introduction of Ontario's "teacher testing program," the Ontario Teacher Qualifying Test (OTQT). During the early stages of research, the OTQT was eliminated, and thus our focus shifted to the investigation of models of teacher induction with an emphasis on mentoring relating to Ontario's New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP). Our findings are based on the perspectives educational stakeholders gathered through 141 survey responses and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 37 new teachers (NTs), 47 teacher educators (TEs), and 41 school administrators (SAs). In this way, our research provides three very different yet important perspectives, while offering insight into potential induction design features.