Making induction a coherent developmental process: Insights from England, Hong Kong and Singapore

Traditional induction programmes, where they exist, may be inadequate in helping teachers learn constructively during their early years in the school. Integrating the key principles of effective professional development and of emerging developmental approaches to appraisal with induction may offer a way of providing a coherent, meaningful, and ongoing experience for those new to the profession. Such a continuous process may also make for a smoother, more supportive start to real life in schools and may facilitate crossing the bridge between pre‐service and in‐service activity. Drawing on two recent research projects, one in the United Kingdom and the other in Hong Kong, plus an exploratory survey conducted in the Asia‐Pacific region, we advocate a need to relocate the focus of induction away from one dominated by technical transferral towards a process which attempts to make new teachers, from the very start of their careers, part of the systems, structures, processes, and culture of the school. Copyright © 1998 Singapore: Oxford University Press.