Early Career Teachers: Stories of Resilience (SpringerBriefs in Education)

Telling Teachers to Forget What They Have Been Taught in Their Pre-service CoursesFailing to Make the Connections; Questions for Reflection and Conversations; Implement Transparent, Fair and Responsive Employment Processes; At Last I Feel Like I Actually Have a Career!; Commentary; Possibilities for Promoting Resilience; Employers, Unions, Universities and Other Professional Groups; Employers; Unions; Universities; School Leaders; Colleagues; Early Career Teachers; Insights from Early Career Teachers; Quality Induction; Threatening Practices; Waiting, Waiting2026; Insights from School Leaders This book addresses one of the most persistent issues confronting governments, educations systems and schools today: the attraction, preparation, and retention of early career teachers. It draws on the stories of sixty graduate teachers from Australia to identify the key barriers, interferences and obstacles to teacher resilience and what might be done about it. Based on these stories, five interrelated themes - policies and practices, school culture, teacher identity, teachers’ work, and relationships – provide a framework for dialogue around what kinds of conditions need to be created and sustained in order to promote early career teacher resilience. The book provides a set of resources – stories, discussion, comments, reflective questions and insights from the literature – to promote conversations among stakeholders rather than providing yet another ‘how to do’ list for improving the daily lives of early career teachers. Teaching is a complex, fragile and uncertain profession. It operates in an environment of unprecedented educational reforms designed to control, manage and manipulate pedagogical judgements. Teacher resilience must take account of both the context and circumstances of individual schools (especially those in economically disadvantaged communities) and the diversity of backgrounds and talents of early career teachers themselves. The book acknowledges that the substantial level of change required– cultural, structural, pedagogical and relational – to improve early career teacher resilience demands a great deal of cooperation and support from governments, education systems, schools, universities and communities: teachers cannot do it alone. This book is written to generate conversations amongst early career teachers, teacher colleagues, school leaders, education administrators, academics and community leaders about the kinds of pedagogical and relational conditions required to promote early career teacher resilience and wellbeing. Importance of Professional ExperienceDiverse School Experiences; Importance of Role Models; Emphasising the Importance of Relationship Building; Insights from School Leaders; Preparing for the Twenty-First Century; Gaps in Knowledge; Being Innovative; Wisdom from the Literature; Conceptual Coherence in Teacher Education; Forging Locally Appropriate Partnerships; Benefits of Mentoring Pre-service Teachers; Negotiating the School & hx2013; University Divide; Dangers of Imitating Practice; Practices That Constrain Resilience; Ignoring the Realities of the Classroom; Assuming Understanding Preface; Acknowledgments; Contents; Other Publications from the Project; 1 Introduction; Abstract; The Research Project; Significance of the Issue; About Teacher Resilience; Layout and Structure; Reading the Book; References; 2 Policies and Practices; Abstract; Provide Relevant, Rigorous and Responsive Pre-service Preparation for the Profession; Partners for Learning; Commentary; Possibilities for Promoting Resilience; Employers, Unions, Universities and Other Professional Groups; School Leaders; Colleagues; Early Career Teachers; Insights from Early Career Teachers Bending the `Rules'Staffing Dilemmas; Longer Contracts; Wisdom from the Literature; Incentives, School Conditions and Teacher Retention; Recruitment and Retention; Practices That Constrain Resilience; Lack of Professional Development for Contract Teachers; Selfish Colleagues; Lack of Support from the Community; Lack of Due Process; Questions for Reflection and Conversations; References; 3 Teachers' Work; Abstract; Acknowledge the Complex, Intense and Unpredictable Nature of Teachers' Work; A Way Through the Fog; Commentary; Possibilities for Promoting Resilience Inappropriate AppointmentsQuestions for Reflection and Conversations; Create Innovative Partnerships and Initiatives That Assist Smooth Transitions to the Workforce; More than Just a Grade; Commentary; Possibilities for Promoting Resilience; Employers, Unions, Universities and Other Professional Groups; Universities; Systems; School Leaders; Colleagues; Early Career Teachers; Insights from Early Career Teachers; Insights from School Leaders; Wisdom from the Literature; Pre-service Teacher Education Is a Shared Responsibility; Practices That Constrain Resilience Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii Introduction....Pages 1-7 Policies and Practices....Pages 9-27 Teachers’ Work....Pages 29-53 School Culture....Pages 55-78 Relationships....Pages 79-101 Teacher Identity....Pages 103-121 Conclusions....Pages 123-124