Date of Award
1-1-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Education
First Advisor
Jill Cabrera-Davis
Second Advisor
Dennis A. Bunch
Third Advisor
Douglas R. Davis
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
New teacher attrition rates are continuously increasing, thus resulting in large numbers of teacher turnover from year to year. With the ever-growing teacher shortage, replacing new teachers has become even more challenging. If the trend continues, school leaders in the K-12 system will continuously be faced with hiring and training new teachers each year.
The current recruitment model compels teachers to “fake until they make it,” thus resulting in low teacher morale and job satisfaction. Most new teachers experience low morale, classroom management challenges, feelings of isolation, and lack of support from coworkers and administration, which leads to continuously increasing new teacher attrition rates. As a result, some schools have begun to implement new teacher mentoring programs to increase new teacher retention rates.
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the impacts of new teacher mentoring on new teachers’ lived experiences in a suburban Mississippi School District. The study conducted explored which aspects of a new teacher mentoring program implemented in a suburban Mississippi School District had the most significant impact on middle school new teachers’ retention rates.
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory served as the primary framework for the current study. This theory served as the foundation for developing a better understanding of the effects new teacher mentoring had on teacher morale, job satisfaction, retention rates, and perceived administrative support. I found several predictors of increasing new teacher retention rates and offered suggestions of ways to improve the new teacher mentoring program established in a suburban Mississippi School District.
The methodology used to collect data for this study was qualitative phenomenology with new middle school teachers who began their career during the 2021-2022 school year. The teachers included seven new middle school teachers. Data from the interviews conducted was collected and analyzed for reoccurring themes.
Recommended Citation
Ladner, Kelly Anne, "Beginning Teachers' Perceptions of New Teacher Mentoring in a Suburban Mississippi School District" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2442.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2442
Concentration/Emphasis
Educational Leadership, K-12