Pop quiz:

Q: What is the current mode for years of experience in the teaching profession in the US? 

A: One.

In other words, ask all teachers how many years they have been teaching and “one” is answered more often than any other number.

The reasons we have come to this are complex (see the below infographic from the work of Richard Ingersoll, Professor of Education and Sociology at Penn GSE). Those reasons aside, the implications for this trend should give us all pause. With an ever increasing percentage of teachers having fewer and fewer years of experience we have both responsibilities and opportunities. We have a responsibility to cultivate conditions in our schools that support and propagate adult learning at the highest level. New teachers need the conditions and support to develop into effective teachers.

At the same time, we have the chance to shape these new recruits into the kinds of teachers that can provide students with meaningful, relevant, and transformative experiences. We have an opportunity (obligation even) and urgency to ensure we  rethink, redesign, and reshape schools into learning communities where students and teachers thrive.

Source of Infographic: The work of Richard Ingersoll at Penn Graduate School of Education. 

Image: Richard Ingersoll