Information about the project

During a Comenius Regio Project with Granada (Ayuda basica para profesores en su primer año laboral 2011-2013) the local education authority in Giessen and its partners developed a pilot version of a manual which offers a proposal for structuring the professional start of new teachers. The manual gives orientation for the heads of schools as well as concrete proposals for activities and material to be used in the start up support of new teachers. The project was nominateed as project of the month October 2012 by the national German agency PAD. During the project itself there was not time enough for a field test and the necessary evaluation of the material.
Throughout Europe freshly trained teachers who have just completed the university-based and practical components of their training are faced with widely varying situations when they take up their teaching positions. The beginning of a professional career harbours both opportunities and risks, which are often not apparent to those affected. Overall, the teaching quality is influenced more by motivation and increasing professionalism – as key qualities of the teaching staff – than by physical factors such as school and class size. (See report ”How the world’s best performing schools come out on top”: McKinsey & co. 2007). Impressions and individual receives at the outset of any career can play a definitive role in shaping it as a whole.
Schools show different degrees of preparation to integrate new staff members, both from the view of the new teacher and that of the existing school staff. The scope ranges from “dropping them in at the deep end” to planned and coordinated initiation procedures.
The material offers a system of components that facilitates design and structure of the initial phase in the professional career of new teachers.
The local education authorities in Giessen (Germany) and Bursa (Turkey) and their partners identified the issue as a topic of common interest. They agreed to jointly realise a field test and to evaluate the pilot version of the manual developed during the Comenius Regio Project between Giessen and Granada. Aim of the project is to advance the existing manual and set a common structure to be used by schools in both regions. With the field test it is also intended to collect data and experiences in how far schools need special assistance and guidance in using the manual. These findings and outcomes will be used to to facilitate a smooth and professional start for teachers in schools. Beyond that, gained experiences and findings should be provided to the previous project partners in Granada. It is planned to share those outcomes in a multinational conference at runtime of the project.
The Turkish education authorities Bursa İl Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü (Bursa Provincial Directorate of National Education) and Nilüfer İlçe Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü (Nilüfer District Directorate of National Education) with their existing structures of collaboration and communication with each other and with the schools are a solid basis for the realization of the project.
BTSO Hayri Terzioğlu Teknik ve Endüstri Meslek Lisesi (BTSO Hayri Terzioğlu Technical and Vocational High School in Bursa) and Friedrich-Feld-Schule (Vocational High School in Giessen) on the one hand side will participate in the evaluation with other schools in the individual region. On the other hand side both will play a role as direct partner, involved in planning and realization of the project itself.
A cooperative council between the regional education authority Giessen, the University, the three (Giessen) study seminaries and the schools in the region was set up two years ago to address issues concerning further training for teachers and teacher training per se. A network with a particular focus on school development issues has been in existence in the Giessen-Vogelsberg area for the past 10 years (website: www.voneinander-lernern.de). A recently initiated work group from this network is focussing on the subject of young teachers’ first steps on the career path. Working and collaboration structures set by these institutions can be a component and a good basis of the intended multinational cooperation with Bursa/Turkey and Granada/Spain.
Furthermore, the many possibilities offered by the Comenius Job-Shadowing program should be taken up in this context.