New teachers in Latin America: the challenges in uncertain times

Abstract

The article presents the situation of the new teachers in Latin America, focusing on the difficulties they face, the initiatives for their professional development, and the challenges of the post-pandemic. Based on a review of the literature and the previous research of one of the authors, the current scenario in which novice teachers and professors begin their professional practice is examined. The main difficulties that teachers face in their first days in a classroom are identified, such as the educational planning, the personalization of teaching, the student motivation, the attention to the different learning rhythms, as well as the management of discipline in the classroom. The different initiatives promoted by the countries are analyzed too, paying particular attention to the figure of mentors. The network of factors involved in the success and failure of various identified interventions are also examined. The article addresses one of the most important challenges that novice teachers who work in vulnerable contexts have today: the leveling of students who suffered learning loss during the time of the pandemic of COVID-19. Although the evidence is still very recent, there is no doubt that the consequences of the pandemic affected the work of the new teachers with greater emphasis.