Being a student, becoming a teacher: The wellbeing of pre-service language teachers in Austria and the UK

Mairitsch, Astrid; Babić, Sonja; Mercer, Sarah; Sulis, Giulia; Jin, Jun Myung; King, Jim

doi:10.1016/j.tate.2021.103452

Cited by 35 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Similarly, accountability measures in the United Kingdom have been leading to higher workload and unreasonable demands for teachers, with negative repercussions on their work–life balance (Towers & Maguire, 2017). In contrast, in the Austrian setting, teacher inspection bodies play a much less prevalent role (Mairitsch et al., 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Austrian context, participants were teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), while in the United Kingdom, participants taught modern foreign languages (MFL) such as French, Chinese, Spanish, German, and Russian (see Table 1). To understand the early‐career language teachers’ personal and professional trajectories, it is important to mention that the teacher education programs in these two countries vary significantly in terms of length of the studies (Mairitsch et al., 2021). For example, students in the United Kingdom typically undertake the Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE), which lasts for 1 year, while Austrian preservice teachers have to complete a 5–6‐year teacher education program to become secondary school teachers.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, ECTs in the United Kingdom gain more inschool teaching experience than Austrian teachers when they start teaching. For example, in their study, Mairitsch et al (2021) found that during their practica, preservice language teachers in Austria taught a minimum of 28 hours, while the UK PGCE preservice language teachers were expected to undertake two school placements during the course and taught a minimum of 150 hours. Therefore, given the numerous contextual differences in the education programs in the two countries and other systemic factors such as the relative status of the languages being taught in each country, we sought to understand how these contexts compare and to identify factors that contribute to these language teachers' wellbeing and the likelihood that they will stay in or leave the profession in the first 7 years.…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Retention and Attrition in Early‐Career Foreign Language Teachers in Austria and the United Kingdom

Sulis

Babić

Mairitsch

et al. 2022

The Modern Language Journal

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The issue of early‐career teacher attrition is a pressing concern across a variety of educational settings. Research in predominantly anglophone contexts has shown that rates of foreign language teachers leaving the profession are particularly high. Noting the important role that well‐being plays in fostering teacher retention, this study examines factors affecting the well‐being of early‐career foreign language teachers in the United Kingdom and Austria, and the subsequent possible consequences for their decision to leave or remain in the profession, drawing a comparison across the 2 settings. In‐depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 early‐career foreign language teachers at secondary schools in Austria (n = 6) and the United Kingdom (n = 8). Inductive data analysis revealed an interplay among intrapersonal, societal, and contextual factors in relation to well‐being, which might contribute to shaping participants’ decision to remain or leave the profession across the 2 settings. These factors include perfectionism, self‐efficacy, work–life spillover, self‐regulation, relationships within the school, and foreign language teacher status. Our findings suggest the need for systematic approaches toward improving teacher well‐being, not only for surviving in the profession but also for flourishing and thriving in the long term.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Retention and Attrition in Early‐Career Foreign Language Teachers in Austria and the United Kingdom

Sulis

Babić

Mairitsch

et al. 2022

The Modern Language Journal

Self Cite

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“…In their study, McGarr and Gavaldon found that pre-service teachers were optimistic about themselves and their surroundings (2018). The study by McGarr and Gavaldon was conducted in Spain and was supported by the study of Mairitsch et al(2021) from Austria and the UK talking about pre-service teachers' well-being. In addition, some pre-service teachers revised their teaching strategies and changed them to suit the conditions and situations they experienced (P4 & P7).…”

Section: Perseverancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pre-service teacher teaching practicum in school showed high enthusiasm for becoming a teacher. They were passionate about teaching in teaching practicum and as their future job (Mairitsch et al, 2021). Almost all the participants said they would like and were glad to be a teacher in the future.…”

Section: Teacher Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing Teacher Identity: Pre-Service Teacher Resilience in School-based Practicum Experiences

Krisdianata

Mbato

2022

JELTL

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<em>Constructing teacher identity is important for pre-service teachers, especially when taking part in teacher training practicums in school. Nonetheless, they faced many adversities, such as passive students, negative emotions, and anxiety. Therefore, pre-service teachers need to be aware of their capacity for resilience. This study aimed to discover the resilience factors pre-service teachers had in coping with the problems found in teacher training practicums in schools in constructing their teacher identity. A mixed-method study from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was employed to gather quantitative and qualitative data. The participants reported that they faced hard times but displayed high resilient ability. It was influenced by their perseverance, ability to reflect, adaptive help-seeking, responses to the negative affect, and emotional regulation. The resilient ability supports the teacher identity construction after conducting a teaching practicum in school. Further research needs to consider the number of participants, gender, age, and the school levels where the teaching practicums are conducted to gain more perspectives on pre-service teachers’ resilience.</em>

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Dynamic Changes in Pre‐Service Language Teacher Well‐Being in the Classroom Ecology: A Micro Approach

Sak

Gürbüz

2023

TESOL Quarterly

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Although language teacher well‐being has been the focus of growing attention in recent years, there is little known of its dynamic and contextually dependent nature. Integrating the complex dynamic view of well‐being with an ecological orientation, this classroom‐based study examined the micro‐scale changes in pre‐service language teacher well‐being and the reasons for such changes using data from three pre‐service English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language (EFL) teachers in Türkiye. The individual trajectories of well‐being were tracked in a particular class over 4 weeks through self‐ratings of well‐being at 10‐minute intervals during the lectures, journal entries, interviews, and stimulated recall sessions on individual microteachings. The findings suggest that the experience of pre‐service language teacher well‐being in the classroom ecology remains subject to inter and intraindividual variability over time, displaying nonlinear trajectories not only within sequences of single lessons but also from one lesson to another in response to a host of personal and contextual factors. These findings imply that pre‐service language teacher well‐being is not static, but instead is enhanced and reduced at particular moments in the classroom as a result of the interplay of a myriad of variables. We end with a call for more research into micro‐scale changes in teacher well‐being within applied linguistics and beyond.

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Being a student, becoming a teacher: The wellbeing of pre-service language teachers in Austria and the UK

Cited by 35 publications

References 56 publications

Retention and Attrition in Early‐Career Foreign Language Teachers in Austria and the United Kingdom

Retention and Attrition in Early‐Career Foreign Language Teachers in Austria and the United Kingdom

Constructing Teacher Identity: Pre-Service Teacher Resilience in School-based Practicum Experiences

Dynamic Changes in Pre‐Service Language Teacher Well‐Being in the Classroom Ecology: A Micro Approach

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