Section archive - Beginning Teachers

This study describes one novice teacher’s efforts to advocate on behalf of LGBT students despite the resistance that she faced from sociocultural factors influencing her students, classroom, and her teaching practices.

The aim of this study was to gain insight into ways to improve the retention of beginning urban teachers. This study investigated the support structure and support culture of 11 urban primary schools. This article focused on characteristics of the support structure and support culture at schools where beginning teachers judged the support they received positively or negatively. The findings revealed that the principals of the schools were willing to invest in the professional development of the teachers. Although there were differences in the support structure of the schools, the main difference between the schools appeared to be their support culture. In conclusion, this study showed that in schools where teachers judged the support practice positively, support was focused on the specific urban challenges that the teachers experienced more than it was in the schools where teachers judged support negatively.

This article reports on a narrative inquiry into two beginning teachers who left the profession after just 1 year of practice, only to return 2 years later. Findings reveal that these beginning teachers’ experiences of their school contexts combined with their personal stories in the first year of practice shaped their professional identity culminating in them leaving and then rejoining the teaching fold.

This article investigates empirically the degree of difference between teacher educators’ and practicing teachers’ views, using a Norwegian survey sample of teacher educators and teachers. The results reveal that all three groups - teacher educators, novice teachers and experienced teachers - recognize the importance of possessing both practical skills and academic knowledge in achieving success. In terms of attitudes toward inclusion, a different profile emerged for the three groups. The results showing that novice teachers are more like teachers in schools than their teacher educators and that novice teachers do not seem to be particularly positive toward inclusion.