Challenges to New Teachers

When a teacher joins an institute, he/she may encounter various challenges in the first year. Since a new teacher comes from a different background, he/she brings along his/her own perception and experience. Problems occur when this perception contradicts the culture of the institution.

Usually, a new teacher faces challenges in three areas—support offered by the institute, discipline followed in the institute and classroom management.

The following points shed light on each of these areas and issues faced by a new teacher in these areas.

Support: A new teacher needs to be acquainted with the school’s rules and policies. School management can arrange an orientation program for a new teacher. Besides, assigning a mentor to the new teacher, arranging team- or grade-level meetings on a regular basis, assisting the teacher in planning his/her schedule are a few steps that help the new joinee adapt to the school’s environment. Lack of these support services creates confusion among new teachers, thereby barring them from being accustomed to the school’s culture.

Discipline: The onus is on teachers to maintain discipline in the classrooms as well as school. However, new teachers may face problem doing this job. Being a new member of the school, he/she may face difficulty in earning respect from pupils. Handling errant students and untoward situations may also pose a big challenge to him/her. Similarly, a new teacher may also encounter problems while implementing his/her own set of rules in the classroom.

Classroom management: Classroom management is another challenging area for a new teacher. Right from following a new schedule to dealing with new students, handling multiple tasks, convincing fellow teachers to allow him/her to implement his/her own set of rules in the classroom—a new teacher has to overcome various roadblocks in the first year.

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