THE SUPPORT SERVICES BEING PROVIDED TO THE SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN THEIR FIRST YEAR

Derleme niteliğinde hazırlanan bu makalenin amacı, mesleklerinin ilk yılında karşılaştıkları zorluklar nedeniyle, mesleki yıpranma, stres ve tükenmişlik yaşayan ve gerekli destekler sağlanmadığında, iş verimleri düşen ya da bu nedenle işten ayrılabilen öğretmenler için geliştirilen destek programlarını tanıtmaktır. Bu programlar, işe uyum (induction programs) ve bu programların öğesi olan kılavuzluk (mentoring) programlarıdır. İşe uyum programları, yeni öğretmenlerin öğretmenlik becerilerini geliştirmek ve işten ayrılmalarını azaltmak amacıyla, öğretmenlere sürekli bir yardım sağlayan, resmi ve sistematik, değerlendirme ve destekleme programlarıdır. Mesleki kılavuzluk ise, aynı meslekten daha becerili ya da deneyimli bir kişinin, daha az becerili ya da deneyimli kişiye mesleğine başarılı bir başlangıç yapması için sunduğu yönlendirme hizmetleri bütünüdür. Bu çalışmada, programlar genel özellikleriyle tanıtıldıktan sonra ülkemizde kullanılabilmesi için bazı öneriler geliştirilmiştir

THE SUPPORT SERVICES BEING PROVIDED TO THE SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN THEIR FIRST YEAR

In their first years, the teachers are making a shift from being a student where they only have their own responsibility to being a teacher where they have to teach new information to people as a teacher. For this reason, the first year is being described in the literature as a very difficult, full of stress and unexpected events year. Research shows that, the universities are not training the teachers sufficiently, the administrators in both special and regular education schools are not supporting the teachers, and there are differences in the job roles and views among the teachers, the different vocational opportunities provided, and the missing of the social support services in the schools and the region. The issues mentioned above results with increase in the stress level and burn out with the first year teachers. The stress and burn out is usually being resulted with decrease in the job efficiency and even with quitting the job. The support mechanisms which are being provided to the teachers are being named as the induction and mentoring programs in the literature. The induction programs are being defined as the programs being developed for decreasing the number of quitting job and also for increasing the vocational skills of especially first year teachers for a better job satisfaction. The programs are also used for providing a continuous support for the first year teachers, and are being defined as formal and systematic evaluation and supporting programs. Vocational mentoring can be defined as the services provided by a teacher who have experience and more competencies than the first year teacher for him/her to make a successful start to the job. Vocational mentoring can be described as a process of modeling, supporting, encouraging, counseling, guiding and providing emotional support. The research results reveal that the first year teachers who attend the induction program and mentoring program can manage their classes better, can conduct more effective teaching sessions in their classes, can determine the classroom routine better and also can interact more positively with their students when compared with other first year teachers. Induction programs and mentoring programs can be developed in Turkey for better job efficiency and to support first year special education teachers. Some suggestion can be put forward regarding these programs: (a) In Turkey it is obligatory for the first year teachers to attend a candidate teacher training program. It can be recommended to Ministry of Education to change this program into an induction program. While preparing these programs the Ministry of Education can cooperate with universities. (b) The programs mentioned in the item can be different for each field (i.e. special education, primary education) and have different program contents. (c) It is also recommended for the Ministry of Education to conduct in-service courses for the teachers to continue their vocational development and increasing the quality in their vocational experiences.

Keywords:

Induction programs, mentoring programs first year special education teachers,

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