Welcoming new teachers begins, if not during the interview process, as soon as they are hired. It is the responsibility of the entire school community to do everything possible to support a smooth, seamless transition for teachers into a new school and community. This effort begins with administration as they provide many opportunities for support and lead by example. This blog series on Welcoming New Teachers will provide practical steps and advice for schools as they either look to improve or begin a quality, meaningful teacher induction program. After all, the first few days in a new school and country are critical for new teachers and can shape a school’s overall reputation and attrition.

This initial blog post will discuss first steps in creating a lasting, effective program for supporting new teachers.

1. Clarity of Mission and Goals – The very first thing that needs to happen is to create clear mission, vision, and goal statements for the program. Begin by asking these questions as a committee: What is the purpose of having a teacher induction program? What do we hope to get out of this program? In what ways will this program support new teachers (and students)? Who will be involved in the program? How does this program align with the overall school mission, vision, and goals? It is extremely important to start with the big picture in order to create a solid foundation for a successful program. Here are some overarching program goals to help your committee get started:

a. to facilitate a seamless transition into the profession and/or school
b. to retain quality teachers
c. to guide professional learning and growth
d. to create a welcoming, nurturing environment
e. to support teacher morale and communication
f. to introduce/socialize new teachers to the staff and community

2. Organize a Committee – I am a strong believer in the intelligence of team and creating a culture of collaboration. Whether or not you are an administrator or teacher leader looking to begin or improve your school’s teacher induction program, it is extremely important to gather a team together that are all passionate about the same initiative. Teachers are an essential piece of the committee as they will be able to recall first hand the strengths of the program as well as suggestions for improvement. Also consider including parents and students at certain times during meetings as they will also be able to support and provide insights to the team (although this will probably come later when the program is more established). At this point, it is important to have a committee chair that will follow-up and hold the committee and program accountable to goals and discussions. This would be a great opportunity for an aspiring administrator to take on a leadership role and to gain valuable experience.

3. Communicate – As soon as new teachers are hired, be sure to communicate early and often. All teachers are a little anxious, nervous, and excited to move to a new school, especially if the change is to a new country. Take advantage of this stage of excitement and begin opening dialogue and answering questions. Inevitably this will calm down a bit as teachers finish their current job and then pick right back up again during the summer and their last few weeks before moving to the new school. Here are a few suggestions for effective communication:

a. Introduce current staff to new teachers, via email, and encourage them to reach out and welcome them to the school and community (especially within the same grade level team)
b. answer any and all questions (consider setting up a forum and place for new teachers to ask questions, where representative from the committee are checking and answering these questions on a daily basis. New teachers often have the same questions and providing this forum will not only limit the amount of time spent answering the same questions, but will also allow new teachers to see a variety of questions that they may not think to ask.)
c. assign a current teacher “buddy” to each new teacher
d. be sure that the visa/travel/contract process in clear from the beginning (although the process may be difficult in some countries, a clear process will relieve teacher stress and show your strength as a school and organization)

4. Orientation Schedule – It is never too early to begin drafting the orientation schedule for new teachers. Much time and effort should be spent going through various drafts of the schedule that best meet the needs of new teachers. As you begin making the schedule there will be many questions and observations that come up to be discussed within the committee. Later in this blog series I will specifically address the ins and outs of making an effective schedule and certain activities and events that should not be missed when creating the orientation schedule.

Whether or not you are looking to start or improve your new teacher induction program, my suggestion would be to jump right in and get started! Mistakes along the way will happen and that’s okay. The goal of the program is to improve year after year in providing a positive experience and seamless transition for new teachers.

Be on the look out for more blog posts in this series!