Changing concerns of beginning Dutch university teachers

The purpose of this paper is to address the concerns of beginning university teachers about learning to teach in the context of an induction programme.

The author asked 162 beginning teachers at Dutch universities of applied sciences to express their concerns about teaching. Of those, the author first asked 44 teachers to write down their concerns freely. These open statements were categorised and translated to a 20-item questionnaire, which was completed by the remaining 118 teachers before and after the induction programme.

Statistical analysis identified three main concerns: activating students, being an effective teacher in general, and being sufficiently facilitated and supported in the teaching context. While concerns about activating students and being an effective teacher were reduced after the programme, concerns about the supportiveness of the teaching context remained unchanged.

The study was conducted in the context of a specific induction programme with a specific pedagogical design; thus, generalisation of the results should be done carefully. Additionally, while the instrument that was developed in this study must be improved, this study indicates a relevant problem: the results of induction programmes might be less sustainable without a proper supportive organisational context.

The study adds insight into the concerns of beginning university teachers and highlights some consequences at the organisational level.