Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No.3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet ISSN 2576-1846 (Print) ISSN 2576-1854 (Online) 81 Original Paper The Most Essential Skills for Newly Qualified Teachers Xueqing Zhao1 1 Malvern College, Chengdu, China Received: July 30, 2023 Accepted: August 26, 2023 Online Published: September 11, 2023 doi:10.22158/fet.v6n3p81 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/fet.v6n3p81 Abstract The primary purpose of this essay is to propose the most essential skills for being a new teacher. Hence, three main sections are included in this essay. The first skill this essay would like to discuss is management skill. This section will argue two primary skills: personal and classroom management. Firstly, practical individual management skills could reduce the anxiety of entrants. Newly qualified teachers should design a work plan to prevent overpressure. Reasonable use of time is likely to enhance the satisfaction of their work. Therefore, that might reduce the school’s resignation rate, and the other management skills will emphasise students’ behaviours. Several students would like to know the last defensive line of their new teachers. Consequently, they might keep challenging the tolerance of their teachers. This is the reason why classroom management skills should be paid attention. Teachers should maintain each student’s rights so that they can have a harmonious climate in the classroom. Hence, beginning teachers should lead class management—the second section associates with the relationship between teachers and other people, including students, staff and parents. When communicating with students, teachers could apply particular methods to shorten the distance between pupils, such as appropriate humour. Furthermore, the other skilful colleagues might be regarded as beginning teachers’ teachers because of their extensive experiences. On the other hand, a harmonious relationship with parents is likely to promote children’s progress. Apart from these two skills, the third one that will be argued is the teacher’s individual teaching and development skills. Accordingly, the effective delivery of knowledge skills might decide whether or not the class is booming. Positive teaching skills should stimulate students’ critical thinking to achieve academic achievements. Moreover, beginning teachers should keep the belief that they are required to continue with professional development. Keywords new teachers, secondary school, teaching, pedagogy, professional development www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 82 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 1. Introduction A student who accomplishes the professional teaching course might face the opportunity of being a teacher. These students who carry valid qualifications should be called newly qualified teachers. The primary purpose of teaching is to encourage students to exploit the abilities of emotion and intelligence through the theories they have learned (Dunne & Wragg, 1994). Therefore, beginning teachers may do their best to achieve this goal. Moreover, these people might be full of enthusiasm and vision of being teachers. However, the weakness of newly qualified teachers is experience. Smethem demonstrated that if the entrants could have extensive experiences, they might feel no fear of potential difficulties (as cited in Ulvik & Langørgen, 2012, p. 44). Therefore, these teachers should have practical skills to devote themselves to their careers. This essay focuses on every beginning teacher in the whole world. Although a variety of cultural backgrounds might produce system diversity, the primary purpose of education should be the same: concentrating on students’ development. Hence, the skills discussed should be regarded as the necessary condition of being a teacher. However, several teachers must have administrative skills to assist their mentors in accomplishing a mass of extra tasks, resulting in a heavy workload and dissatisfaction with their jobs. Indeed, the appropriate administrative tasks might be part of the beginning teachers’ jobs. Nevertheless, their primary responsibility is teaching students. If these teachers are occupied with coping with administration, they might have trouble managing their own time. The research was conducted in Quebec, revealing teachers’ heavy workload. The findings demonstrated that eight per cent of the workload is associated with administration. Moreover, female teachers were likely to suffer from mental stress (Riel & Messing, 2010). Consequently, teachers have already been occupied with the responsibilities relating to teaching students. The ability to deal with administrative issues could be developed during their careers. However, it should be considered that it is optional when they are the school entrants. Therefore, administrative skills are not as crucial as the following skills this essay will discuss for newly qualified teachers. 2. Practical Management Skills Could Reduce Beginning Teachers’ Pressure from School To explore the expectations of beginning teachers, Kyriacou and Kunc conducted research among PGCE students in England. Over 300 people participated in the study, completing sixteen questions at the year’s beginning and end. Moreover, twenty-eight people continued to be connected to observe their mentality changes. The research revealed that the participants usually had a rollercoaster psychological state. That implied they might work with a high expectative value when they were the entrants in school. However, the aspiration declined because of the increasing workload. In addition, it takes work for inexperienced teachers to deal with emergencies. Fortunately, several new teachers could adjust themselves to continue working with pupils (Kyriacou & Kunc, 2006). Therefore, practical self-management and classroom management skills will likely reduce the stress newly qualified www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 83 Published by SCHOLINK INC. teachers suffer in their careers. Undoubtedly, the stress that teachers suffer is from various aspects impacting their daily lives. In addition, people are likely to feel nervous about the new situation. Hence, beginning teachers encounter more challenges when occupied with school issues, such as time management. Woods revealed four kinds of teachers who might be easily corroded by pressure which are the entrants who might not be equipped with sufficient experience in dealing with the predicaments, the leaders who might not have an appropriate relationship with the staff, the teachers who do not have professional knowledge and the teachers who could not deliver information effectively (as cited in Capel & Al-Mohannadi, 2004, p. 17). Furthermore, the newly qualified teachers might undertake a heavy workload to integrate into the entire school, which should be someone other than their responsibility. Consequently, they could not complete their work on time because it was beyond their abilities. If the teachers are in this situation, that might influence their emotions. Moreover, they might doubt their career decisions because they are unsatisfied with their performance. This is the reason why new teachers should acquire time management skills. As Kyriacou (2014) states, teachers who are full of anxiety should recognise the reasons why their emotions change. Accordingly, the particular approaches of management should be applied in these situations. For instance, beginning teachers should be required to design an appropriate plan suitable for each task they are likely to complete before their deadlines. That could stimulate the entrants to deal with the tasks more effectively. In addition, the extra missions that may not require the new teachers to complete will likely be dispatched to the other staff or students, such as administration tasks, which could enhance the quality of teachers’ priori missions (Kyriacou, 2014). This kind of management skill could reduce the resignation rate because one of the newly qualified teachers’ main worries might be that they cannot balance work and life. Moreover, excessive stress might hurt students, which might result in the students’ stress because of the interrelation between these two groups (Capel & Al-Mohannadi, 2004). That is why newly qualified teachers should be responsible for managing themselves effectively. Therefore, teachers must acquire self-management skills to establish self-confidence in their career stages. The other management skill this essay would like to argue is classroom management, including preparing lessons and student management. As Wood (2013) points out, if the teacher wants a successful lesson, elaborate preparation might be essential in the entire process. The potential issues should be considered when beginning teachers design an appropriate lesson plan. For instance, language teachers might be questioned about the characteristics of a particular character in fiction. To deliver the information effectively, the teacher should be required to preconceive the potential questions. However, indoctrination may be one of many elements of successful lessons. The management of students’ behaviours must be addressed. Misbehaviour students might be challenging to avoid in each classroom, as those students may need to listen more carefully and disturb others. That is one of the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 84 Published by SCHOLINK INC. biggest challenges for beginning teachers. Therefore, teachers should identify the boundary between misbehaviour and behaviour. In addition, various inappropriate actions should be rectified through diverse management skills. For instance, establishing the authority could eliminate the threats because several students will likely challenge the new teachers. However, if their actions go far beyond the teacher’s endurance, they might be managed with particular methods, including pre-empting, counselling, reprimand and punishment (Kyriacou, 1997). It seems that classroom management skills should be paid more attention to because it might affect students’ learning efficiency. However, several beginning teachers might need clarification about the boundary because they lack experience. Therefore, management training should be compulsory in teacher training courses as an independent project so that teachers can be more confident in resolving the problems they might be required to suffer (Jackson et al., 2013). Practical management skills might make a positive contribution to teachers and students. Firstly, self-management is beneficial not only to the mental relaxation of teachers but also to physical treatment. Moreover, the systematical routine promotes satisfaction with their career, one element of positive teaching. Secondly, there might be no doubt that classroom management could establish an equal learning atmosphere, which implies that teachers should control the whole lesson without extra disturbances. That is likely to guarantee the student-oriented theory. They could, therefore, enjoy their right to be educated with professional knowledge and develop their skills to participate in contemporary society. 3. Establishing a Positive Relationship between Beginning Teachers and the Other People Who Relate to the Schools Could Enhance the Work Quality If the students completed the teacher training courses with the qualification, the teacher might be one of their career choices. When the newly qualified teacher decides to be successful, the essential issue should be considered: the relationship with others, including students, student’s parents and other staff. In addition, teachers could not be distinguished from the other groups associated with the schools. Consequently, a positive working climate will likely be regarded as a collaboration between teachers and several groups. The first group this essay would like to discuss is students. Teachers may spend much more time working with their pupils. Furthermore, several teachers are not only their learning teachers but also their living teachers. Hence, they should have an appropriate relationship with respecting each other. According to Kyriacou’s (2014) perspectives, respecting each other and a harmonious relationship might build up a friendly atmosphere for pupils’ learning. Therefore, a humorous talking style could positively contribute to the relationship between beginning teachers and pupils. For instance, if the teacher could employ humour advisably, that would shorten the distance between the teacher and the children. Pupils might be more comfortable with this kind of teacher. Thus, they can share their perspectives and opinions about study and daily life. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 85 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Moreover, it might be proper that teachers could quell the uncertainty with humour when several pupils misbehave (Kyriacou, 2014). That humour might not only be the reprimand to the students but also the mitigation method of embarrassment. Capern and Hammond conducted the research among ninety-eight students, including misbehaved and capable children from Australia, investigating the approaches to building positive relationships. The findings revealed two different expectations of teachers’ treatments. The requirement of the capable pupils was the academic success, which teachers could assist them in academic achieving. Nevertheless, the students who might misbehave themselves focused on the individual care from teachers (Capern & Hammond, 2014). Accordingly, a positive relationship with students should be built up, which is based on the students’ anticipation of diversity. On the other hand, newly qualified teachers are likely to work with others as members of teacher teams, because the collaboration relationship might provide support for beginning teachers. As Ashford and Capel (2004) state, it seems that working as a team member could benefit newly qualified teachers, which should be an opportunity for the entrants to discuss with the teachers from the same department to obtain the progress of their careers. Furthermore, attending departmental meetings could also provide a stage for new teachers to contribute to the development of their individuals and the entire school (Ashford & Capel, 2004). Therefore, beginning teachers should build a harmonious relationship with their colleagues because they could acquire experiences from skilful teachers who have already undergone similar issues. That might protect the new teachers from suffering the same problems. For instance, the new teachers may be required to be responsible for administration, which they might need help understanding how to do. Hence, experienced teachers could teach them how to deal with these issues, such as organising office records. The cooperation among teachers is likely to encourage those from various departments to learn from each other through discussing issues or exchanging teaching methodologies. Accordingly, obtaining the same results takes new teachers less time (Brownell et al., 2005). The skills of establishing a positive relationship between newly qualified teachers and other colleagues could also be regarded as the direct method of promoting individual development. Citizenship education might not be delivered without relating to the other fields because it is a social science subject. When the teacher delivers information about policy literature, it is possible to associate it with history to deepen students’ understanding. The third relationship beginning teachers should be concerned about is communication with parents. Teachers must communicate with pupils’ parents to discuss their children’s behaviours and academic achievements in school. Meanwhile, if a particular event could influence their children’s physical or mental changes, it might be the parent’s responsibility to feed the information back to the teachers. The harmonious relationship between teachers and parents will likely reduce the frequency of children making behaviour mistakes (Kim et al., 2012). For instance, if the student cannot pay sufficient attention to the English class, the teacher who communicates with parents regularly should write it in the student’s report to inform the parents. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 86 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Consequently, this student might reduce misbehaved problems. As Bills (2007) states, communicating with parents could benefit student’s progress and the school’s development. Moreover, that approach might benefit newly qualified teachers more because several students are likely to challenge the beginning teachers. It may be an effective method to establish their authority by building up a positive relationship with parents. 4. Newly Qualified Teachers Should Keep Developing the Skills of Teaching and Further Learning Apart from these two kinds of skills, teaching and learning should also be emphasised. These might be the most essential skills teachers should be equipped with. The primary purpose of this occupation is to educate people. Therefore, beginning teachers are required to master a practical approach to delivering knowledge. Furthermore, they should keep developing to increase their value through further learning because of their particular identification. For instance, several teachers might participate in the extra training or the part-time academic courses rather than stand in the same place without progress. However, the endeavour that teachers are required to do should be based on the requirements of the students. Kolb revealed that the learning process should be regarded as a cyclic system. Firstly, people should be acquainted with the issues they did not undergo before. Accordingly, they could think about the particular situation they faced. Moreover, the experiences might be defined with professional theory. Arranging their prospective phase should be the last step of the process (as cited in Dymoke, 2013, p. 55). Therefore, practical knowledge delivery might be one of the crucial elements of successful learning. As Kyriacou (2014) demonstrates, professional cognition, decision ability and indoctrination methods might constitute teaching skills. Specialised knowledge is a crucial component of being a teacher. If they are not equipped with sufficient expertise, they cannot have the qualifications to teach in school. However, they may need to be a successful teacher. What could positively influence pupils and how to teach them should also be realised as the indispensability of being a teacher. For instance, not only do the particular subjects require indoctrination in class, but they might also encourage students to practice. As beginning teachers of citizenship education, they should understand the primary purposes of citizenship education, which focus on knowledge delivery and skills development to encourage young people to participate in contemporary society. Therefore, when newly qualified teachers prepare the lesson, they should consider the content and the appropriate activities, which could closely relate to the primary information. Suppose the main content is associated with the rights and obligations of citizens. In that case, teachers are likely to operate a mock election to allow pupils to experience the others’ positions. Teaching skills might be the complete element which teachers should keep learning throughout their careers. Teaching skills include the entire teaching process. For instance, each teacher should have adequate preparation before they start to teach, especially for newly qualified teachers. However, if the teachers cannot deliver the knowledge effectively, the preparation might not assist them in teaching www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 87 Published by SCHOLINK INC. successful lessons. That demonstrates that the teacher should attract students’ attention at the beginning of the lesson with particular methods, such as questioning. In addition, students should be informed about what they will learn in this lesson and the relationship between the current knowledge and the previous information (Kyriacou, 2014). This starting approach will likely motivate pupils to retain the knowledge in their memories. For example, students should memorise ancient poetry when they have Chinese lessons in China. However, the memory is limited. That is why they should recap the poetry they learned before in each new Chinese lesson. On the other hand, Kyriacou (2014) also reveals that teachers’ expressions could play an essential role in the process. The comfortable voice and facial expression will likely construct a relaxed atmosphere where children can concentrate on academic learning. Although beginning teachers might work under pressure, they should not negatively influence their students. Hence, one of the teachers’ obligations is to be confident in their classrooms. Several teachers might write a script beforehand, which includes the speaking content, the questions that students might ask and the potential emergency (Burgess, 2004). Consequently, the beginning teachers may be relaxed about the forthcoming lessons even though the genuine classes will likely differ from the plan. As Elliott (2007) points out, if the teachers have yet to teach the students, they should apply the approaches to be familiar with the knowledge level of the students to eliminate the information overlap and gap. Furthermore, the classroom language should not be neglected as an element of teaching skills, which enhances the frequency of the interaction between teachers and pupils. Kyriacou (2014) demonstrates that the classroom language should suit students’ abilities. In addition, pupils ought to play the leading role. That implies that the communication between teachers and students should be constructed, likely based on the student’s opinions. For example, the teacher might ask the first question. However, the following questions could be created through the students’ answers to the first one, stimulating the development of divergent thinking ability. On the other hand, teachers could also have opportunities to attend professional courses during their careers. Individual professional development is not only beneficial to teachers’ integrated development but also to the achievements of students. If teachers attend training regularly, they may acquire the recent strategies or techniques of teaching to cater to the requirements of the contemporary age (Pachler & Field, 2004). Several high-technical productions are applied in school, such as iPads. That might result in the tendency for teachers to be required to utilise it as an assistant teaching instrument rather than for entertainment. To avoid technical issues, several teachers, including newly qualified teachers, should attend IT training. Teachers should be aware of continuing professional development when they are newly qualified because it could motivate them to devote themselves to their careers. Stefani reports that this kind of training could fulfil the obligations of teachers through developing academic learning and establishing a positive awareness (as cited in Doherty, 2011, p. 703). Further learning patterns may vary, including full-time courses or temporary training. The teachers who are the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 88 Published by SCHOLINK INC. school’s entrants might not participate in the full-time course because their main tasks are still teaching students. Therefore, training that takes little time should be suitable for them. Taking the Confucius Institute as an example, it is a collaborative organisation between Chinese higher education institutions and other countries’ universities, which could spread Chinese traditional culture. Several British universities are likely to recruit Chinese teachers and volunteers. However, the education systems might be pretty different from each other. For the first time, teachers who work in Britain must attend the training about British examinations and cultural background. For instance, they should be familiar with the intention of those exams, such as GCSE and A-level. In addition, how to choose teaching materials should also be informed when they are attending the training. Consequently, beginning teachers should seize the opportunities for further learning to enhance their teaching qualities and the students’ achievements. 5. Conclusion This essay describes the most essential skills of beginning teachers. Firstly, newly qualified teachers should be able to self-regulate, which could play a crucial role in balancing life and work. Furthermore, practical skills in classroom management are likely to maintain favourable surroundings for learning. Secondly, new teachers must master the communication skills to establish an appropriate relationship with students, colleagues and parents. Communication with them could make a positive contribution to student learning. The third skill this essay proposes is teaching and learning skills. This section emphasises professional skills, such as the preparation process and the information delivery methods. Furthermore, personal development is also considered in the third segment. Although newly qualified teachers should be equipped with these skills, the government and schools must also provide support. Initially, the government could operate the projects to foster the requisite skills for beginning teachers. For instance, the particular skills could be introduced more specialised when they attend the teaching training courses. Secondly, the head teachers of schools could provide a comfortable working climate. For example, they should reduce the overabundance of administrative tasks, which newly qualified teachers could save much more time in teaching students. Moreover, schools should also offer opportunities for beginning teachers to attend teaching training regularly to acquire advanced education strategies. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 89 Published by SCHOLINK INC. References Ashford, K., & Capel, S. (2004). Working as part of a team. In S. Capel, R. Heilbronn, M. Leask, & T. Turner (Eds.), Starting to teach in the secondary school: A companion for the newly qualified teacher (pp. 30-42). London: Routledge Falmer. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_3 Bills, L. (2007). Working with parents and other adults. In V. Brooks, I. Abbott, & L. Bills (Eds.), Preparing to teach in secondary schools: A student teacher’s guide to professional issues in secondary education (pp. 88-99). England: Open University Press. Brownell, M. T., McLeskey, J., Ashton, P., Hoppey, D., & Nowak, R. (2005). Communication and conflict on three teaching teams. In E. Bondy, & D. D. Ross (Eds.), Preparing for inclusive teaching: Meeting the challenges of teacher education reform (pp. 129-146). New York: State University of New York Press. Burgess, T. (2004). Language in the classroom and curriculum. In S. Capel, R. Heilbronn, M. Leask, & T. Turner (Eds.), Starting to teach in the secondary school: A companion for the newly qualified teacher (pp. 117-138). London: Routledge Falmer. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_3 Capel, S., & Al- Mohannadi, A. (2004). You are managing yourself and your workload. In S. Capel, R. Heilbronn, M. Leask, & T. Turner (Eds.), Starting to teach in the secondary school: A companion for the newly qualified teacher (pp. 16-29). London: Routledge Falmer. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_2 Capern, T., & Hammond, L. (2014). Establishing positive relationships with secondary gifted students and students with emotional/behavioural disorders: Giving these diverse learners what they need. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(4), 45-67. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v39n4.5 Dunne, R., & Wragg, T. (1994). Effective teaching. London: Routledge. Doherty, I. (2011). Evaluating the impact of professional development on teaching practice: Research findings and future research directions. Dymoke, S. (2013). An overview of learning. In S. Dymoke (Ed.), Reflective teaching and learning in the secondary school (pp. 47-72). London: SAGE. Elliott, P. (2007). Planning for learning. In V. Brooks, I. Abbott, & L. Bills (Eds.), Preparing to teach in secondary schools: A student teacher’s guide to professional issues in secondary education (pp. 60-73). England: Open University Press. Jackson, C., Simoncini, K., & Davidson, M. (2013). Classroom profiling training: Increasing preservice teachers’ confidence and knowledge of classroom management skills. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(8), 30-46. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2013v38n8.2 Kim, E. M., Minke, K. M., Sheridan, S. M., Koziol, N., Ryoo, J. H., & Rispoli, K. M. (2012). Congruence within the parent-teacher relationship: Associations with children’s functioning. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_3 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_3 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_2 https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2013v38n8.2 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 90 Published by SCHOLINK INC. CYFS Working Paper No. 2012-2. Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools. Kyriacou, C. (1997). Effective teaching in schools: Theory and practice. United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes. Kyriacou, C., & Kunc, R. (2007). Beginning teachers’ expectations of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(8), 1246-1257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.002 Kyriacou, C. (2014). Essential teaching skills. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pachler, N., & Field, K. (2004). Continuing professional development. In S. Capel, R. Heilbronn, M. Leask, & T. Turner (Eds.), Starting to teach in the secondary school: A companion for the newly qualified teacher (pp. 233-246). London: Routledge Falmer. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_17 Riel, J., & Messing, K. (2011). Counting the minutes: Administrative control of work schedules and time management of secondary school teachers in Québec. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation, 40, 59-70. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_17 Ulvik, M., & Langørgen, K. (2012). What can experienced teachers learn from newcomers? Newly qualified teachers as a resource in schools. Teachers and Teaching, 18(1), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2011.622553 Wood, P. (2013). Classroom management. In S. Dymoke (Ed.), Reflective teaching and learning in the secondary school (pp. 117-162). London: SAGE. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.002 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_17 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203338940_chapter_17 https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2011.622553