Early Career Teachers Research Articles

Understanding ESL Teachers' Agency in Their Early Years of Professional Development: A Three-Layered Triadic Reciprocity Framework.

Drawing upon the Triadic Reciprocity Framework, this longitudinal qualitative multiple-case study examined how three Hong Kong secondary English as a second language (ESL) teachers exercised their teacher agency to take control of their teaching and professional development. More specifically, the study aimed at exploring how teachers’ intentions and actions for the establishment of their professional identity were afforded and constrained by their workplaces. Findings reveal that these ESL teachers exercised different degrees of proactive, reactive, and passive agency. The four properties of human agency, i.e., intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness, influenced the teachers’ proactive, reactive, and passive agency when they responded to personal, behavioral, and environmental determinants. The findings shed light on a three-layered Triadic Reciprocity framework on teacher agency and contributes to a systematic and comprehensive discussion about the various internal and external factors that might exert influences on agency of early career teachers. This study offers pedagogical implications for school teachers, school leaders, and policy makers in Hong Kong and beyond.

Measuring Thinking Styles of Pre-service and Early Career Teachers: Validation of a Revised Inventory

<p style="text-align: justify;">The early phase is the decisive period for the teachers’ career. Intellectual styles (particularly thinking styles) play a vital role in teachers’ professional development. With the purpose of measuring thinking styles of teachers at the early phase, this study was designed to validate a revised inventory of thinking styles (TSI-R2) for pre-service and early career teachers. A sample of pre-service teachers (n = 248) were invited to join the pilot study and a sample of teachers with one year work experience (n = 252) participated in the main study. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis were performed. The results suggested that with slight modification, TSI-R2 was a reliable and valid instrument to measure thinking styles of pre-service teachers and early career teachers, which has some implications to enhancing teacher education and development.</p>

Into the deep: a quantitative analysis of teacher ratings of the development and implementation of a trial religious education curriculum

ABSTRACT The Scriptural metaphor, ‘Into the Deep’, characterises a trial Religious Education curriculum within a Catholic diocese of Australia. Teacher developers (n = 40) and teacher implementers (n = 85) from 37 schools responded to the influence of six Religious Education Development Principles (REDP), and statements on the implementation processes at school and across the diocese. Responses to the REDP achieved a high and consistent overall mean rating of 4.25 on a 5-point Likert scale and a mean of 3.97 for resourcing and strategic implementation processes. Least confidence was reported for development principles of Experiential Learning and Learning Through Integration. Implementation processes favoured resourcing and strategic support at the school level. Overall, responses of teacher developers, in comparison to teacher implementers, were statistically significant, with ratings improving with years of teacher experience and from primary school personnel. Implications of findings were that early career teachers and teachers across school types, other than primary, should be prioritised for support.

Teacher Mobility in Punjab, Pakistan: Stayers and Movers within the Public and Private Schools

Understanding the determinants of teacher mobility is important in order to implement effective policies for the recruitment, retention, and fair allocation of teachers. The teacher transfer policy implemented in Punjab, Pakistan, is intended to address corruption and a fair allocation of teachers in public schools. However, the policy has implications for teacher mobility. This paper presents survey findings on teacher mobility patterns in public schools in Punjab, Pakistan, examining the extent and determinants of mobility in comparison with teachers in private schools. In the survey, 1002 in-service teachers participated, and 46% reported changing school at least once during their teaching career. The findings show that teachers who changed schools in their early career, with an average of two years of teaching experience, gained higher salary benefits by changing schools compared to experienced teachers, with an average of 14 years of teaching experience, who never changed schools. In comparison with early career teachers, experienced teachers who never changed school had lower salaries but higher satisfaction with life in general and with the school as their workplace. The most common reasons for changing school were lack of teaching resources, difficulty in commuting to school, unmanageable student–teacher ratio, and no chance of promotion in their teaching career. Teacher mobility was slightly higher in public schools compared to private schools, despite implementation of a merit-based transfer policy. A binary logistic regression model was constructed with the outcome of teacher mobility (or not), with a base figure of 54%. By adding gender, marital status, school type, length of teaching experience, and teachers’ satisfaction, the model increased correct predictions to 62%. Teacher salary and teaching workload did not explain any variation in the model. These findings have implications for teacher transfer policy in public schools and lessons for private schools to retain teachers by offering longer contracts and reliable pension schemes. Policymakers must consider facilitating teachers’ satisfaction with their workplace, particularly by making public schools in rural areas attractive places for the retention of teachers in early career phases.

Early career teacher retention intention: Individual, school and country characteristics

Concerns about teacher attrition and associated teacher shortages are widespread. This multilevel study explores the relative importance of three main mechanisms through the investigation of relevant teacher, school, and country characteristics: (A) selection mechanisms related to who becomes a teacher; (B) early career support resources related to entering the profession; and (C) long-term support resources related to developing a teaching career. Using the 2018 Teaching And Learning International Survey (TALIS), retention intention is analysed using information from 11 613 early-career teachers in 3998 schools in 31 countries. Results underline the importance of selection processes at individual and country level.

Disconnected Development? The Importance of Specific Human Capital in the Transition From Student Teaching to the Classroom

We use a novel database of student teaching placements in Washington State to investigate teachers’ transitions from student teaching classrooms to first job classrooms and the implications for student achievement. We find first-year teachers are more effective when they teach in the same or an adjacent grade, in the same school type, or in a classroom with student demographics similar to their student teaching classroom. We document that only 27% of first-year teachers are teaching the same grade they student taught, and that first-year teachers tend to begin their careers in higher poverty classrooms than their student teaching placements. This suggests that better aligning student teacher placements with first-year teacher hiring could be a policy lever for improving early-career teacher effectiveness.

Navigating “Praxis Shock”: Disentangling an Early Career Teacher’s Emotions and Actions in Organizational Socialization Through a Micropolitical Lens

In the present research, we seek to study the process of organizational socialization of early career teachers (ECTs) through a micropolitical lens that focuses on the issues of power, control and influence as part of the ECTs’ sense-making of and acting in their job. By means of a case study with a beginning Vietnamese university teacher, we attempt to answer two questions: (1) what sorts of emotions does the ECT experience in her organizational socialization, and in challenging micropolitical situations in particular? (2) what kinds of action does the ECT employ in such situations? The research material consists of three narrative interviews within one academic year. The findings highlight the importance of the micropolitics of the school as an organization and the multiple emotional dimensions that are present when ECTs strive to reconcile the school micropolitics with their own beliefs and values as teachers. Along with that, the research contributes knowledge about how ECTs learn to negotiate challenging micropolitical situations using diverse types of micropolitical actions. Implications are also proposed with regard to teacher training and induction.

Mid-Career Teachers: A Mixed Methods Scoping Study of Professional Development, Career Progression and Retention

Globally, there are ongoing problems with teacher retention, leading to a loss of experience and expertise. In policy and research, the emphasis is often on the professional development and retention of early career teachers, whereas teachers in later stages of their career are relatively under-represented. This article addresses this imbalance, reporting on a mixed methods scoping study that explores definitions of mid-career teachers in England and their retention and development, via a literature review, primary data collection and secondary analysis of data from the OECD’s TALIS 2018 survey. We found that there is no agreed definition of mid-career teacher, relating to time in teaching, role and wider life circumstances and self-definition. Whatever definition is used, mid-career teachers are a heterogenous group, with varying needs, career plans and commitment to the profession. Whilst typically confident in their practice, their learning needs vary and are often experienced as unmet, especially for those looking for progression routes outside leadership and those with family commitments. This indicates that their potential for career development to benefit the profession may not be reached. The article concludes with suggestions for further study, policy and practice to improve understanding of this under-researched group.

Early career teacher educators' dispositions toward sustainability and accountability for sustainability issues: a case from teachers colleges in Turkey

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics toward sustainability and accountability for sustainability issues. Through their interpretations, concerns, awareness and ownership of sustainability, the study portrays how a global phenomenon is articulated specifically within the local context of teachers colleges in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachThe study was designed as a survey, and the data were collected through a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The sample (n = 72) was limited, through purposeful sampling, to early career teacher educators teaching and being trained in well-established Turkish teachers colleges to become prospective faculty members of newly founded teachers colleges across the country. The data were analyzed primarily through quantitative methods. For the analyses, STATA software was used to perform descriptive and inferential statistics.FindingsThe general results indicated that the participants were highly concerned about sustainability problems. However, their concerns were not reflected to the same degree on their perceived awareness and ownership of education for sustainable development (ESD). Hunger and poverty, loss of biodiversity, climate change and epidemic diseases were all perceived to be urgent more in the global context. On the other hand, unemployment, refugees and terrorism were perceived to be locally urgent problems. Different agencies within the community were addressed to be accountable for different types of sustainability problems. The accountability for economic, environmental and societal problems were mainly placed on governments. Additionally, individuals/families and educators were held more accountable for environmental issues, while corporations and super powers were held more accountable for economic issues. As for societal issues, educators, individuals/families and non-governmental organizations were addressed to be more responsible.Originality/valueThe significance of the study is mainly twofold. If sustainable development is conceptualized with a futuristic viewpoint that attaches a great importance to next generations' needs, focusing on the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics is a reasonable way of addressing the current gaps and eliminating the future inefficacies. Building on the assumption that ESD would remain imperfect without the commitment of teacher educators who have the potential to bring changes in educational systems and shape knowledge and skills of future teachers, in turn future generations; this study becomes even more valuable as it includes specifically the academicians in the field of teacher education.

A Complementary Intervention to Promote Wellbeing and Stress Management for Early Career Teachers

The educational climate and culture in our schools present a variety of environmental (contextual) factors that influence teacher wellbeing, job satisfaction, and work-related stress. The magnitude of contextual factors cannot be ignored, and directing attention towards the environment teachers face daily is essential. Primary (organisational)-level interventions are documented in organisational health and wellbeing literature; however, to provide teachers with stress management strategies for promoting wellbeing, attention must also be directed towards secondary (individual)-level interventions. The present study addressed the issue of stress management techniques for early career teachers (n = 24) and aimed to contribute to the research surrounding complementary interventions (CIs) for educators. The intervention was designed to include strategies that operated through cognitive and physiological mechanisms that regulated the stress response and increased awareness of behaviours, emotions, and reactivity. The self-report measures included perceived stress, attention awareness, subjective wellbeing, burnout, and job-related affective wellbeing. The results indicated a statistically significant decrease in perceived stress and increases in attention awareness and subjective wellbeing. The salivary cortisol levels (waking and resting) decreased from baseline to week 6, and the pre- and post-session salivary cortisol levels indicated an immediate decrease in cortisol for weeks 4 to 6.

So many expectations: A study of Australian early-career secondary school music teachers

Early-career music teachers are described in the literature as being in the first few years of the profession. This research explores the motivation, sense of value, and areas of stress affecting early-career music teachers in Australian secondary high schools. The research is a part of a larger qualitative study which contains a national survey ( n = 263) and interviews ( n = 41) of secondary school music teachers across a number of career stages. This article reports on the survey responses ( n = 59) and interviews ( n = 11) of teachers in the early-career stage (0–5 years). The findings revealed that, while the majority of early-career teachers were motivated to teach, being valued by the school led to a stronger commitment to the workplace. Motivating aspects of work included seeing students grow musically, lesson planning, and providing performance opportunities. While stressors were identified, the early-career music teachers had developed a number of effective strategies to cope with the demands of the profession. This article provides a national snapshot of the influences on the working lives of Australian early-career secondary school music teachers and provides suggestions to school communities and education authorities in ways to support them.

‘A validation of my pedagogy’: how subject discipline practice supports early career teachers’ identities and perceptions of retention

ABSTRACT For secondary school teachers, developing a teacher identity is complicated by spoken or implied expectations of the need to be an expert in the skills and knowledge of one’s subject discipline. Since 2009, the Teacher as Practitioner study (N = 764) has explored the effect of continued subject discipline practice on teachers’ identity and retention using a longitudinal mixed-method design. Within the population are 305 responses from initial teacher education graduates classified as early career teachers, those within their first five years of teaching. This sub-sample was used to explore relationships between discipline practice, identity and perceptions of retention in the profession. Analysis of quantitative data showed time spent engaged in practice had a greater effect on expectations of retention and identity than simply aspiring to maintain a discipline practice, while qualitative analysis showed maintaining a practice in a supportive community was also highly valued.

Professional Learning Opportunities for Teacher Candidates

Using a case study model, the research explored how teacher candidates viewed professional learning, its impact on undergraduate preparation for the teaching profession, and what kind of role it was perceived to play by early-career teachers. Research participants responded to questions about how the professional learning impacted their views on preparation for teaching, how experiences influenced discussions with interviewers prior to being hired, and how professional learning prepared them for interacting with colleagues and administrators. The participants’ perceptions were explored through surveys and focus groups.

Hyper-performativity and early career teachers: interrogating teacher subjectivities in neoliberal educational assemblages

ABSTRACT This paper explores the hyper-performative expectations of early career teachers (ECTs) in the context of neoliberal education assemblages. The need to support and retain beginning teachers is a salient issue in the context of troubling rates of teacher attrition. The study explores how ECTs perceive teacher identities in response to national standards. Our research revealed that ECTs held concerning conceptions of ‘quality teaching’ that are largely constructed through discourses of competition and job insecurity. ECT subjectivities were heavily influenced excessive extra-curricular hours, high-stress environments, and performative school cultures. This paper concludes that hyper-performative expectations of ECTs and insecure patterns of employment contribute to teacher attrition.

The mathematics teacher identity of two early career mathematics teachers and the influence of their working communities on its development

To better understand the critical early years of teaching and teacher identity development, this study explored the mathematics teacher identity of two early career middle school mathematics teachers and the influence of their working communities on its development. Emel and Berk graduated from the same reform-oriented teacher education program and were working in fundamentally different working communities that could be characterized as reform-unsupportive (Emel) and reform-supportive (Berk). They were interviewed three times and were observed extensively in their working communities. Findings revealed two different teacher identities: Emel exhibited a mathematics teacher identity that was more reform-oriented than non-reform-oriented, and Berk exhibited a non-reform-oriented mathematics teacher identity. Their working communities had influenced their mathematics teacher identity in ways that were both theoretically expected (positive effects of supportive conditions and negative effects of unsupportive conditions) and surprising (positive effects of negative conditions and no effects of positive conditions). The findings are discussed in detail with implications for teacher education programs and supports for early career teachers.

Rethinking arts-based research methods in education: enhanced participant engagement processes to increase research credibility and knowledge translation

ABSTRACT Arts-based research is a participatory research practice that is well established in the qualitative field. However, while arts-based research has been defined as the creation of art to generate, interpret or communicate research knowledge, there is exiguous literature on the creation of art to establish trustworthiness in qualitative inquiry. This pilot case study specifically addresses this gap in the exploration of arts-based research practices to determine credibility and dependability. The context of the research was the impact of a Digital Sabbath practice on early career teachers, as teachers within their first five years of teaching are among the most vulnerable in the teaching profession. A Digital Sabbath is the practice of unplugging from all technology for one day per week, with the aim of increasing social connectedness and mitigating stress and burnout by decreasing our overuse of technology. The integration of arts-based research within this case study resulted in more active participation of the early career teachers throughout the research process. Consequently, participants’ voices resonated more strongly in the research output, as the iterative and participatory nature of the arts-based design supported a longitudinal dialogue between researcher and participant.

Building Teacher Identity in Environmental and Sustainability Education: The Perspectives of Preservice Secondary School Geography Teachers

Geography teachers have an important role within environmental education and, in England, are developing their professional identities at a time when environmental education is contested. This study considers the experiences of five trainee secondary school geography teachers who are all part of a university-based teacher education programme rooted in an environmental justice approach. Data is drawn from three interviews with each of five individuals over the course of their training (15 interviews in total) and participants’ written reflections. Findings include (1) teachers draw on a range of approaches to implement Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE), (2) teachers share and value their own and their students’ stories of and personal connections with the environment and (3) teachers seek to enable young people to bring about change to their lives and communities. The contested nature of foregrounding ESE in the geography classroom is noted, as are the tensions and emotional load that teachers experience when seeking to develop their professional identity. Reflections are shared regarding the ways in which PGCE programmes provide teachers with opportunities to build ESE identities, in particular the role of semi-structured, reflexive interviews in providing an important space for identity work that could be usefully considered within the broader context of the newly implemented Early Career Teacher framework for England.

LangCrit analysis of teachers’ beliefs about language learning and language diversity

Research has suggested that teachers’ beliefs about multilingual learners directly impact their instructional practices, and teacher educators have called for more explicit focus on addressing beliefs related to language learning and multilingual learners in teacher training programmes. Drawing from LangCrit theory, we analysed 15 early-career teachers’ beliefs about language learning. All participants were enrolled in a teacher education programme and taking a state mandated course focused on teaching multilingual learners. At the start of the course, after completing modified versions of the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) and the Language Attitudes Teacher Survey (LATS), participants were asked to identify survey items that represented truths or myths of bilingualism and to reflect on their own beliefs about the topic and how those beliefs were formed. We utilised positioning theory and LangCrit theory to make meaning of participant responses. Findings suggest that participants were likely to select similar items for reflection. Additionally, their responses connected to their personal experiences of language learning in their own lives or previous classroom experiences. In line with LangCrit theory, participant responses connected their individual stories to broader discourses and emphasised socially bounded hierarchies and the dominance of English as a teaching goal. However, responses rarely addressed how language diversity is related to race or racism. Implications for teacher beliefs, particularly with regard to teacher education and policy, are discussed.

A Self-study Exploration of Early Career Teacher Burnout and the Adaptive Strategies of Experienced Teachers

Isolation, organisational pressures, and role-related distress, can result in teachers, particularly early career teachers (ECTs), experiencing greater risk of burnout. For many ECTs, a lack of practical strategies for dealing with these conditions contributes to this. Using self-study methodology, this research unpacks why ECTs experience burnout, identifies adaptive strategies that experienced teachers use, and discusses the applicability of these practices for ECTs. Conversations between an ECT and three experienced teachers provided alternate lenses to apply reflective unpacking of adaptive strategies. The findings illustrate how the risk of burnout for ECTs is increased by challenging student behaviour, isolation, a lack of collegiality and engagement with professional networks, and being overloaded with responsibilities. The findings also suggest that being overworked is less of a contributing factor to burnout than feeling disconnected from one’s school, peers, and community. Adaptive strategies for alleviating the effects of burnout were explored and recommendations for practice presented.

Building Resilience in New and Beginning Teachers: Contributions of School Librarians

Building beginning teachers’ resilience may contribute to increasing teacher retention in the early years, in turn improving student academic achievement. School librarians contribute to developing teaching skills by mentoring new teachers. This qualitative study of first to third year teachers and school librarians investigated the contributions that school librarians made in building resilience of beginning teachers through a focus group of new teachers and interviews of school librarians. Findings show that school librarians may contribute to early career teacher resilience, especially during the first days of school, by encouraging perseverance, providing nourishment and empathy, and offering the library as a resource, especially for research.