Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the issues surrounding the transition
into the teaching profession by specifically focusing on teacher induction and mentoring
issues while explicitly addressing matters of concern by secondary music teachers in a
large suburban school board in southern Ontario. Participants included beginning
teachers with fewer than 5 years of teaching, mid career teachers with between 6 and 15
years of instruction, and experienced teachers with more than 16 years of practice. The '
processes of mentoring and inducting new teachers within the board were examined,
along with their relationships between proteges, mentors, and administrators. Further,
internal and external programs specifically designed and implemented for newer music
teachers were scrutinized and discussed. An analysis of key documents and literature on
the subject was performed, and data were collected through 16 personal interviews. The
findings suggest that although the necessity of mentoring and induction processes has
begun to be recognized, there exists a fundamental relationship between mentoring and
induction and the effect of the professional attachments to mentoring; the institutional
and administrative supports that are enabled; and essential processes and practices
between mentors and proteges. Together these three arms combine to support successfiil
induction and mentoring initiatives that will help ease the transition into teaching.
