Transition to the Teaching Profession in a Queensland High School: Beginning Teacher Perspectives

Abstract

The transition of Beginning Teachers (BTs) into full professional practice in Queensland schools has undergone changes since 2014 with a formal mentoring program, supported by state budget provisions, now a requirement in every government school. This provides a new conceptual and procedural era for BTs, prompting renewed interest in areas such as emotions, confidence, resilience and identity of novice teachers and their mediating influence in the transition phase of the first three years of teaching. This research project, herein referred to as the study, investigated BTs’ experience during their transition phase in the Queensland context. The intention was to identify and examine BTs’ current experiences in this new era, in efforts to drive further understanding of this phase of teacher development. This qualitative study included seven BTs in a large metropolitan high school, comprising five female and two male participants. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine teacher perspectives during this unique phase, identify the areas the BTs deemed significant and consider the impact of these areas on their professional development experience. The participant teachers were at varying stages of transition including the end of the first, second and third years of their career. Each of these teachers had participated in a formal, year-long mentoring program at the same school. The research methodology employed thematic analysis of interviews where the teachers’ unique experiences within the high school context were explored through the transcripts of both individual and follow up, focus group interviews. Findings showed three categories of significant mediating themes emerged from the data analysis: Emotions, Expectations and Collegial Support. Further, the significance of these categories was elaborated regarding increases in confidence and resilience of the BT. The findings of the study have implications for the development of improved BT transition programs which could be informed by an awareness and accommodation of the key mediating themes identified through the three categories; 1) Emotions, 2) Expectations and 3) Collegial Support. Future research could look towards including BT identity formation and development as a significant aspect of the important areas shaping the transition phase.