Boundary work of early career teachers

• Early career teachers have been discussed as being particularly vulnerable to stress and emotional challenges. Even though there has been an increased understanding of the practice shock, and utilization of mentors during the beginning for early career teachers, the start of the profession for early career teacher is still considered as filled with stress and emotional challenges. Kelchtermans (2019) describe the deficit-thinking about early career teachers, as they are considered not capable enough. Instead, Kelchtermans propose early career teachers should be considered not from what they lack, but rather from a perspective of their strengths and potential. This relates to the ongoing identity processes of early career teachers that they find their sense of themselves as teachers in the working conditions that the experience. The ongoing identity process and consistent dilemmas of early career teachers influence the early career teachers coping strategies.The aim of the following study was toinvestigate how challenges of beginning teachers in their second year, with a focus on their continuous teacher identity development. In the study, I adopted Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT), as this together with symbolic interactionism offers a theory-method package with a focus on social processes, and participants perspectives. In addition, CGT engages in understanding the participant as an agentic person, resolving problems in relation to their main concern.Methodological designIn the study, 23 early career teachers were interviewed. The interviews focused on challenges the early career teachers experienced during their second year of teaching. The interviews were analysed utilizing CGT methods.Expected conclusions/findingsThe findings show consistent dilemmas of continuous teacher identity construction, where the participants describe two main dilemmas that they needed to work with. These were boundary demarcations as well as settling for less. Boundary demarcations focused on not engaging too much in pupils, as well as finding a role where challenges did not affect the participants. Settle for less involved lowering expectations of the influence they wanted to have over pupils. To regulate to need for boundary demarcations the early career teachers described wearing a mask, creating a professional self that was not as affected by events as the personal self. In relation to settling for less, early career teachers described needing to regulate their will to get across to pupils. This means that they thought they should not blame themselves too much if the pupils did not care to listen to what they had to say. These strategies to regulate are discussed as a way of coping with experienced challenges and what this means to the teacher identity, moving from an ideal position into being a little more experienced teacher. The reported research is relevant to Nordic Educational Research since it addresses the challenges of new teachers, and is of use to understand how subjective interpretations of the professional role is influenced by experienced challenges.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Early career teachers

second year teachers

boundary work

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)