Novice Teachers' Views on the Effectiveness of the Novice Teacher Training Program

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to determine the opinions of novice teachers about the effectiveness of the novice teacher training program. In line with this purpose, the opinions of novice teachers on the effectiveness of the sub-steps of the process (lesson planning/preparation/evaluation, lesson practice, lesson monitoring, in-school observation and practices, out-of-school activities, in-service trainings, forms, reading books and watching movies, evaluation process) and the contributions of mentor teachers and school administrations to their personal and professional development were taken. The research was designed according to the phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research designs. The study group of the research consists of 18 novice teachers working in Gaziantep province. Criterion sampling method, which is one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used to determine the sample of the study. The sample of the study consisted of 18 novice teachers from 7 different branches, 13 of whom were female and 5 of whom were male. The data were obtained using voice recording and video recording techniques. The research was conducted as focus group interviews. Content analysis, one of the qualitative data analysis techniques, was used to analyze the data obtained in the study. As a result of the interviews, the data were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis and categorized around four main themes and codes were extracted. The data obtained as a result of the research were tried to be conveyed directly through quotations from the participants' answers. As a result of the research, novice teachers stated that the practices employed in the process remained on paper, that they had no effect on their professional development, that the school administration and mentor teachers did not contribute positively to their professional development, that the system had a negative effect in the form of distancing them from the profession rather than facilitating their adaptation to the profession in general, and that the practice should be abolished.