Educate – mentor – nurture: improving the transition from initial teacher education to qualified teacher status and beyond

Abstract

Teacher recruitment and retention concerns across the world remain a high priority to ensure the best possible education opportunities for children and young people (UNESCO, 2017).Related to recruitment and retention, but also important in its own right, is the wellbeing of early career teachers. This study investigated the wellbeing of early career teachers in England and Australia to examine how best to provide early career support as a foundation for professional growth and longer-term retention. Survey responses from 67 newly qualified teachers in England and Australia, and five semi-structured interviews, provided rich insights into new teachers' experiences, highlighting the overwhelming nature of the transition experience as new teachers struggled to adjust as they moved from the relative safety of the initial teacher education context to the reality of work in schools, in particular managing considerable workload which continued beyond the initial transition phase. Vital to successful transition were ongoing linkages between initial teacher education providers and employing schools, a supportive community of practice and bespoke mentoring. This has important policy implications, emphasising the need for personalised approaches to transition with high-quality mentoring during the first few years in the profession. An 'educate -mentor -nurture' model is proposed, to enable smoother and more supportive transitions, leading to professional growth and wellbeing.

Comparing sources of stress for state and private school teachers in England

“…Navinder, a state secondary school teacher, explained that 'it's not the children' but 'these neverending tasks' that originate from 'leadership and management within schools' that make teachers' work stressful. As has been reported in other research, some participants in this study explained that support from school leaders and colleagues, or the benefit of teaching experience, helped them to effectively manage stress and enjoy their work with pupils (Gordon, 2020;Richards et al, 2018).…”

“…Other research indicates that school leaders can support autonomy through the cultivation of supportive communities that encourage and enable sharing of practice, reflective dialogue, collective responsibility and the cultivation of common values (Stoll et al, 2006; Valckx et al, 2020). Strong supervisory support and bespoke mentoring can further support teachers manage the demands of their work (Bakker et al, 2007; Gordon, 2020).…”

“…Research has shown that teachers can be resourced to meet the demands of their work through a range of provision. Borman and Dowling’s (2008) meta-study of teacher retention studies found that higher salaries and qualified teacher status are associated with improved retention, whereas Gordon (2020) reports that bespoke mentoring and a supportive collegial environment can foster teacher wellbeing for those in the early career stage. Additionally, government commissioned reports indicate that some workload reduction initiatives might help teachers to meet the demands of their work (Robinson & Pedder, 2018).…”

Australian teacher stress, well‐being, self‐efficacy, and safety during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Stressors for teachers include lack of control over work and workload, blurred lines between work and home, stress of online teaching, irregular hours, and financial concerns (MacIntyre et al, 2020 ). For some teachers, particularly those new to the profession, the transition from preservice teacher to a qualified teacher can be particularly stressful (Gordon, 2020 ). Gordon ( 2020 ) explored the factors involved in the well‐being of early career teachers in Australia and England and found that early career teachers often experience high levels of stress with the transition from initial teacher education to a newly qualified teacher being described as overwhelming.…”

Problem solving in science technology and society learning improving junior high school students' scientific attitudes and process skills

“…The application of the science-technology approach and society is based on three things: There are five learning domains contained therein, namely (1) the cognitive domain, (2) the affective domain, (3) the science process domain, (4) the creativity domain, and (5) the relationship and application domains (Alhashem & Agha, 2020) The new education paradigm emphasizes students as active and creative humans who can always learn and develop following the times (Choi et al, 2019). The teacher no longer plays the highest authority in learning but as a facilitator and motivator who guides students to be more active in learning (Gordon 2020). It is hoped that students can be more creative in finding solutions to problems faced in everyday life.…”