| To respond to the new technology knowledge needs of the teaching profession, it is not only important to provide better training to prepare pre-service teachers for the future challenge of keeping up with technological development, but also provide continuous support for in-service teachers in the beginning of their teaching. The two purposes of my study are to: (1) investigate the patterns of novice teachers' socialization, and (2) examine the impact of advanced ICT on this occupational socialization process.; Three young female teachers in a public elementary school in Taiwan were purposefully chosen to be the study participants. Questionnaires, interviews, school observations and document analysis were used as primary data collection techniques. Through cross-case analysis, two important findings were identified. First, today's novice teachers play a more active role in their professional and personal socialization. Second, the advanced communication functions of ICT provide these beginning in-service teachers with more socialization opportunities to explore and develop interpersonal relationships that they could not do before. In order to ensure the best benefit of ICT implementation, sufficient technical support, accessibility of ICT equipment, professional development opportunities, and supportive classroom environment for technology usage were several important issues that schools need to take account into.; The new technology-enriched educational environment increase and enhance novice teachers' occupational socialization opportunities, but in some ways it also made their teaching more complicated than for teachers of the past. Although individual differences existed between teachers, this dissertation study outlines the primary characteristics and problem areas in beginning teachers' socialization experiences in today's school environment in Taiwan, and probably also in other technology-rich countries. |
