Abstract:
The aim of this thesis was to investigate the ways induction and mentoring programmes for novice teachers in low decile intermediate schools in New Zealand promote culturally responsive pedagogies to provide equity of outcomes for those students currently overrepresented as underachieving in the education system. A survey of the literature on induction and mentoring, which included the current shift from 'limited' mentoring for advice and guidance, to 'educative' mentoring for improving outcomes for diverse students' learning, provided a background to the study. Underpinning the study was an investigation of whether, and in what ways, high expectations for student learning alongside the commitment to developing student cultural competence were present in the school and embedded in the induction and mentoring programmes provided by the schools for their novice teachers. Perspectives on induction and mentoring and culturally responsive pedagogies were sought through interviews, documentation and observations within three intermediate schools across the wider Auckland area. The key participants in each school were the principal, the mentor teacher and a Year 2 provisionally registered teacher. The study concluded that the way in which a school structures its induction and mentoring programme for novice teachers has the potential to promote, or inhibit, the enactment of culturally responsive pedagogies. The findings also demonstrated that the way in which schools in this study structured their induction and mentoring programmes was unique to each context. This study found that high expectations, combined with collaborative inquiry into teaching with a mentor who has an integrated view of culture and learning for students' enhances a novice teacher's ability to promote culturally responsive pedagogies. This study has reinforced the importance of national guidelines for induction and mentoring and raises questions of how the schools embedded the eight principles of The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) into their programmes for induction and mentoring. These principles put students at the centre of teaching and learning. They assert that all students should experience a curriculum that engages and challenges them, is forward looking and inclusive, and affirms New Zealand's unique identity.