Pursuing a “Sense of Success”: New Teachers Explain Their Career Decisions

Abstract

This article, based on a longitudinal interview study of 50 new teachers in Massachusetts, presents respondents’ reasons for staying in their schools, moving to new schools, or leaving public school teaching within their first 3 years of teaching. Although the respondents’ prior career orientations, financial situations, and preparation played a role in their career decisions, their experiences at the school sites were central in influencing their decisions. Teachers who felt successful with students and whose schools were organized to support them in their teaching—providing collegial interaction, opportunities for growth, appropriate assignments, adequate resources, and schoolwide structures supporting student learning—were more likely to stay in their schools, and in teaching, than teachers whose whose schools were not so organized.

Finding their way on: Career decision‐making processes of urban science teachers

“…Johnson (2004) and Johnson and Birkeland (2003), as part of the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers, studied the perspectives of 50 new teachers during the first 4 years in the classroom. They conducted biannual interviews and a survey to better understand the perspectives and career moves of today's new teachers.…”

“…Although her study looks primarily at the role of vision in classroom practice, she also finds that teachers who were unable to bridge the gap between their vision and reality made career moves, selecting work environments that would better support their ability to enact their images. Like Yee (1990), Johnson (2004), and Johnson and Birkeland (2003), Hammerness (2006) suggests that the relationship between teachers' individual visions and the realities of their workplace contexts was relevant to career decision making.…”

Le décrochage enseignant : état des connaissances

“…Par conséquent, les « carrières uniques » se font de plus en plus rares et l'enseignement peut parfois être perçu par certains enseignants débutants comme une carrière à court terme (Johnson and Birkeland 2003;OCDE 2005).…”

Making Sense, Making Do: Local District Implementation of a New State Induction Policy

“…The research into teacher induction and mentorships has focused largely on one or more of the following: the effects of induction programs on teacher attrition (Ingersoll, 1997(Ingersoll, , 2001Johnson, 2004;Smith & Ingersoll, 2004), educational equity (Johnson & Birkeland, 2003a, 2003bJohnson, Kardos, Kauffmain, Liu, & Donaldson, 2004;Kardos & Johnson, 2010), student achievement (Fletcher, Strong, & Villar, 2008), and professional learning (Feiman-Nemser, 2001a, 2001b, 2012.…”