Beginning Physical Education teachers’ induction: discoveries and survival in the profession

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study has its background in teacher induction. The topic concerns not only university researchers, but also educational managers, teachers in general, politicians, different governments and multilateral organisations. The relevance of the topic is explained by the fact that the first years in teaching are marked by high rates of profession abandonment and difficulties faced by novice teachers to develop in the profession. To describe and interpret how beginning Physical Education teachers perceive the ambiguities of discovering and surviving in the profession, in working conditions marked by academically and institutionally belonging to the Physical Education disciplinary field. The study was conducted with 13 beginning Physical Education teachers who had all graduated from the Federal University of Minas Gerais. The investigation is of a descriptive qualitative nature and used two data collection instruments: semi-structured interviews and teaching case analysis. Even though it is acknowledged that novice PE teachers experience professional dilemmas that are similar to those of beginning teachers of other subjects, it is important to also acknowledge that the experience of beginning, exploring and discovering a profession cannot be seen as a similar event for teachers of all other different subjects. Findings in our investigation show that belonging to a certain field is an important element when analysing different teachers’ trajectories in their teaching induction period, since those trajectories define crucial ways of being a teacher, developing work and how this work is perceived by others. A second issue considered led us to question some rather rigid parameters of the temporal markers for the different stages/cycles of professional development. It has to do with the double-vulnerability condition experienced by PE teachers – they are beginners in their profession and, at the same time, they are teachers of a ‘second-class’ subject, which may postpone the advancement to the career stabilisation stage, mainly due to the strong presence of particular survival aspects. The study pointed out the need for acknowledgement, inclusion and support for different teaching trajectories in order to guide actions and policies for beginning teachers’ retention.