The entrance into teaching and need for support – narratives from diverse national and local contexts

Abstract

The study investigates how a group of newly qualified teachers in diverse national and local contexts experience the entrance into teaching. The study is based on narratives from new teachers in Australia, England, and Norway. By listening to their stories, the aim is to develop the understanding of this particular phase in teachers’ professional life and learn more about how to support NQTs. The findings suggest that there are more similarities than differences across the included nations concerning the entrance of the profession. When it comes to support the needs are similar, but the frameworks for support and mentoring are different. Implications from the study is that there are commonalities involved that make it possible to learn from each other when it comes to develop frameworks for support and mentoring and what contributes to professional development across national contexts.