‘Getting the pieces together’: negotiating the transition from pre-service to in-service teacher

Abstract

For beginning teachers to make the transition to full professional membership they need to increase their professional knowledge of the art and science of teaching. This paper explores the difference in knowledge growth between beginning teachers who commence teaching in fragmented teaching situations in the first two years of teaching, and their colleagues who have stable, secure and continuing employment during this time. This paper argues that the employment context in which beginning teachers take up their profession has a significant, but hitherto largely unacknowledged, effect on the capacity of teachers to develop the craft of teaching (Elbaz, 1983); on their continuing commitment to the profession; and on their self-confidence and self-image as teachers It is concluded that long-term, secure employment in one school, with full responsibility for a class of students and access to effective mentoring, is necessary if beginning teachers are to move beyond 'survival' to developing competency in the first two years of teaching.

Teacher Identity in the Early Career Phase: Trajectories that Explain and Influence Development

“…These arrangements reflected a shared and intentional approach to supporting the early career teachers by surrounding them with opportunities to share the emotional, professional and practical implications of their teaching. As Pietsch and Williamson (2010) highlight, these opportunities are not always available to these teachers, and the circumstances of early career teachers' employment can make considerable difference. The lack of access to colleagues, professional learning opportunities and resources can confine early career teachers to the periphery of the profession and can hold them in a state of survival rather than allow them to thrive.…”

New professionalism in austere times: the employment experiences of early career teachers in Scotland

“…Employment is more precarious and tenure longer to achieve. Studies of beginning teachers' employment and development experiences that acknowledge the issue of oversupply in the post-crisis period have appeared in Australia (Pietsch & Williamson, 2010) and Scotland (Fenwick, 2011;Fenwick & Weir, 2010). The research base on appointment practices in teaching is not extensive and has been confined to contexts where there is diversity of school type and Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice 673 training routes (Mason & Schroeder, 2010).…”

Early career teachers’ sense of professional agency in the classroom: associations with turnover intentions and perceived inadequacy in teacher–student interaction

“…That is, leavers attribute them to their own characteristics, personality and qualities as teacher, while stayers use strategies (e.g., setting emotional boundaries) that prevent them from taking negative situations personally (Hong, 2012). Early in their careers, teachers lack the strategies and routines that make everyday classroom activities function smoothly, which makes them vulnerable to student challenges in classroom interaction, multiple rapid changes in daily work and quick demands related to the responsibilities of teachers' work to guide student learning (Berliner, 1986;Crosswell & Beutel, 2013;Pietsch &Williamson, 2010;Wolff et al, 2015). Teachers constantly balance their assessments of positive and negative situations with students.…”