Australian Teacher Education Association 2010
Conditions that Support Early Career Teacher Resilience
Presented at the Australian Teacher Education Association Conference, Townsville, QLD (July, 2010)
Full refereed paper available (394.13 kB)
Bruce Johnson (UniSA), Barry Down (Murdoch), Rosie Le Cornu (UniSA), Judy Peters (UniSA), Anna Sullivan (UniSA), Jane Pearce (Murdoch), and Janet Hunter (ECU)
There are serious concerns around the sustainability of teaching and teacher education given the attrition rate of early career teachers. In Western countries we know that between 25% and 40% of beginning teachers are likely to leave the teaching profession in the first 5 years (Ewing & Smith, 2003; DETE, 2005). Clearly, there is a need to better understand the experiences of early career teachers and to investigate, in new ways, how the problem of teacher attrition can be addressed. This paper is based on a collaborative qualitative research project between the University of South Australia, Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University and eight stakeholder organisations including employer groups and unions in South Australia and Western Australia. The aim of this study is to investigate the dynamic and complex interplay among individual, relational and contextual conditions that operate over time to promote early career teacher resilience.The methodology for the study was a critical enquiry drawing on the traditions of narrative enquiry and critical ethnography. In 2009 sixty beginning teachers from the two states were interviewed at the beginning and end of the year. Towards the end of the year interviews were also held with a member of the leadership team in their schools. Data were also collected from a series of Roundtables held in each of the two states and attended by representatives from stakeholder groups. NVivo8 was used to manage a thematic approach to data analysis. Preliminary analysis has identified five major themes or conditions that support early career teacher resilience. The themes relate to (a) relationships, (b) school culture, (c) teacher identity, (d) teachers’ work, and (e) system policies and practices. In this paper, we present these themes as a framework that can be used to examine policies, practices and resources that promote early career teacher resilience.References
Department of Education, Training and Employment (2005). Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Education and Vocational Training Inquiry into Teacher Education. Retrieved 24 October, 2005, from (http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/evt/teachereduc/subs/sub059.pdf).
Ewing, R. A. & Smith, D. L. (2003). Retaining quality beginning teachers in the profession. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 2 (1), 15-32.
Socially Sustainable Teacher Education: Relationships Matter
Presented at the Australian Teacher Education Association Conference, Townsville, QLD (July, 2010)
Rosie Le Cornu (UniSA)
Social sustainability is increasingly playing a more significant role in the broader contemporary sustainability discourse, requiring the consideration of values, culture, decision-making and democratic processes of the social systems of which we are a part (Hammond, 2009). At the centre of social sustainability, are “inter-relationships and interdependencies built on communication over time…” (Murray, Dey & Lenzin, 2005, p.10). It will be argued in this paper that the principles of social sustainability need to be applied to teacher education if it is to endure the ‘changing landscapes’ (Clandinin, 2009) in which we, as teacher educators, find ourselves working. It will be further argued that relationships are pivotal.
The paper draws on the findings of a number of studies that have been undertaken at the University of South Australia on reconceptualised professional experiences based around the notion of learning communities. Key findings include the role of reciprocal learning relationships for ongoing professional learning and the role of peer support in the development of resilience (Le Cornu & Ewing, 2008; Le Cornu, 2009). Similar initial findings have emerged from an investigation of 60 Early Career Teachers in South Australia and Western Australia. Based on a preliminary analysis of 120 interview transcripts (the Early Career Teachers were interviewed twice during their first year of teaching), five themes in relation to enhancing Early Career Teacher resilience were discerned. The first theme is Relationships and the need for relationships that are based on mutual trust, respect, care and integrity (Johnson, Down, Le Cornu, Peters, Sullivan, Pearce & Hunter, 2010).
The paper focuses on the nexus of these studies. It illuminates the role that sustainable and mutually sustaining relationships play in the development of both Pre-service and Early Career Teachers. The paper considers this finding and its implications for teacher education programs and practices.
References
Clandinin, J. (2009). Attending to changing landscapes: Shaping the interwoven identities of teachers and teacher educators, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 37 (2), 141-154.
Hammond, C. (2009). Continuing the Story: A case for socially sustainable academic communities. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education, Canberra, November.
Johnson, B., Down, B., Le Cornu, R., Peters, J., Sullivan, A., Pearce, J. & Hunter, J. (2010). Draft Profile of Conditions Supporting Early Career Teacher (ECT) Resilience. University of SA Printery, Adelaide.
Le Cornu, R. (2009). Building resilience in pre-service teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25 (5), 717-723.Le Cornu, R. & Ewing, R. (2008). Reconceptualising professional experiences in pre service teacher education…reconstructing the past to embrace the future. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24 (7), 1799-1812.
Murray, J., Dey, C. & Lenzen, M. (2005). Systems for Social Sustainability, Integrated Sustainability Analysis Research Paper. The University of Sydney, Sydney, pp. 1-28.