Partnership for Sustainable Transition from Teacher Education to the Profession (STEP): Becoming a professional teacher

STEP: Partnership for Sustainable Transition from Teacher Education to Profession: Becoming a Professional Teacher In the autumn of 2022, the first newly qualified primary and lower secondary school teachers with a 5-year master's degree started as teachers. The purpose of the programme is to provide students with knowledge about research-based school development and increased specialisation in key school subjects. STEP follows this generation of teachers through the last year of study and the first two years as teachers by studying: - What expectations do the students and their future mentors, colleagues, school leaders and school owners have for the newly qualified teachers' mastery of the challenges they face in school? - How are the graduates' academic competence and insight into research valued and used in school? - What measures can help to keep graduates in the profession and be part of a comprehensive strategy for career development and competence enhancement in school? - How can research-based knowledge contribute to the development of the national framework for supervision of newly qualified teachers? STEP develops research- and experience-based knowledge with the aim of stimulating debate and measures that enable the graduates to use their competence individually and in the professional community in school. In the autumn of 2021 and spring of 2024, STEP conducted quantitative studies of students' expectations of their own competence and their encounter with the school as newly qualified teachers. The data have been analysed and discussed in research circles consisting of researchers, students, recent graduates, mentors of graduates, school owners, school leaders and colleagues. In addition, STEP has conducted and analyzed interview data from all the stakeholder groups, i.e. graduating students, newly qualified teachers, mentors for newly qualified teachers, principals and the municipal level about expectations, experiences and follow-up of newly qualified teachers. STEP consists of researchers from the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), The Arctic University of Norway (UIT) and representatives of the central parties in the education sector; The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), Union of Education Norway (Utdanningsforbundet) and The Teacher Students in Union of Education Norway (Lærerstudentene i Utdanningsforbundet). On August 23, 2021, the STEP project was launched nationally and internationally. Follow the STEP project at the University of South-Eastern Norway's website http://usn.no/STEP for further information and updates. The project period is 15.03.2021 to 31.12.2025 and is led by Professor Eva Bjerkholt (USN).

Partnership for Sustainable Transition from Teacher Education to Profession (STEP): Becoming a professional teacher is a collaboration and knowledge-building project. The initial teacher education (ITE) in Norway has been reformed from bachelor to master (M-ITE). The most critical R&D challenges STEP faces is the lack of teachers. In 2030, Norway will lack 4000 teachers in schools. Teacher shortage is due to various factors. STEP focuses on the transition from M-ITE to the profession. STEP aims to develop research- and experience-based knowledge on the transition period in order to influence further development, implementation and institutionalization of the Norwegian national framework for Mentoring Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) as a coherent induction and mentoring system for individual and collective learning for NQTs and schools. The novelty of STEP is the unique collaboration between researchers and stakeholders, the combination of research- and experienced based knowledge and the knowledge of policymaking in Norway and internationally. The partners are University of South-Eastern-Norway and UiT-The Arctic University of Norway. The main organisations of stakeholders at the national level are: Pedagogstudentene (Student teachers-NQTs), Union of Education Norway (teachers) and KS -The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (employers). These partners are involved to ensure that the project reflects the strategic focus of practitioners/actors in the profession, research and experience-based policymaking and to ensure broad diversification of results. The project is based within the academic environments affiliated with teacher education programmes, and benefits teacher education, professional practice and mentoring. STEP’s scientific impact is the methodology approach combining Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Research Circles to facilitate research- and experience-based dialogues for national and international policymaking.