Transformational school leadership as a key factor for teachers’ job attitudes during their first year in the profession

Teacher attrition is a global concern that is particularly prevalent among beginning teachers. Teachers' intrinsic motivation to teach, affective organisational commitment and job satisfaction are considered job attitudes that stop them from dropping out of the profession. This study explores the interplay between factors at the school level (i.e. transformational leadership of the principal, professional collegial support) and the teacher level (i.e. self-efficacy) influencing these job attitudes. A sample of 292 first-year primary-school teachers participated. The results of the path analysis demonstrated that transformational leadership of the principal is directly related to teachers' job attitudes in a positive way. Moreover, transformational leadership of the principal is also indirectly related to these attitudes, via both professional collegial support and teachers' self-efficacy. Implications for the supportive role of the principal in the teachers' first year in the profession are discussed

Satisfação e situação profissional: um estudo com professores nos primeiros anos de carreira

O ingresso em uma profissão e as motivações para a sua escolha, os primeiros anos de carreira e o estatuto da profissão, em especial a docente, têm sido objeto de diversas investigações. Porém, tanto no caso português como no âmbito internacional, a inserção profissional dos professores tem sido negligenciada pelas pesquisas acadêmicas. Assim sendo, neste artigo, propomo-nos a contribuir com o conhecimento do processo de inserção profissional dos docentes de ensino básico e secundário, por meio da análise do grau de satisfação na profissão, dos aspectos mais e menos valorizados no trabalho, bem como da situação profissional em dois períodos, após um ano e depois de cinco anos de conclusão da licenciatura. Consideramos os licenciados em educação em comparação com todos os licenciados das universidades de Lisboa e Nova de Lisboa. Os dados apresentados permitem constatar que, nas dimensões estudadas, não existem diferenças significativas entre os licenciados com relação aos aspectos analisados. Das particularidades do grupo de licenciados em educação que participaram da pesquisa, destacamos: a ligeira saliência que assumem os aspectos altruístas; uma satisfação com a profissão ligeiramente maior; uma tendência à precarização dos vínculos contratuais e uma disposição para auferir em média rendimentos ligeiramente inferiores. Como considerações finais deste artigo, destacamos a necessidade de aprofundamento no estudo do modo como as condições de exercício da profissão influenciam o desenvolvimento dos professores em fase de inserção profissional. Além disso, salientamos a pertinência de que melhores formas de apoiar aprendizagem profissional sejam exploradas, bem como a construção da identidade profissional dos professores em início de carreira

Professionele belangen in de beroepssocialisatie. Micropolitiek in de loopbaanverhalen van beginnende leerkrachten basisonderwijs

Centrum voor Onderwijsbeleid en -vernieuwing. Departement Pedagogische wetenschappen. Faculteit Psychologie en pedagogische wetenschappen.status: publishe

Coping with emotionally challenging expectations:Japanese beginning teachers and their relationships with students’ parents’

Abstract This article examines emotionally challenging expectations in the relationships beginning teachers have with students’ parents. The data consist of narrative interviews with 17 Japanese beginning teachers. Due to strong cultural and social norms prescribing appropriate social interactions, Japanese teachers have little leeway in negotiating parents’ expectations. We found that beginning teachers described facing three emotionally challenging expectations in their relationships with students’ parents: 1) they do not fully understand what is expected of them; 2) they are expected to turn to colleagues for help with difficult issues involving parents; and 3) they are expected to endure and learn from criticism. To cope with these emotionally challenging expectations, beginning teachers perform emotional labour. The article presents a wider understanding of teachers’ work as a relational practice and offers insights that can be used to move beyond the discourse that frames beginning teachers from a ‘deficit’ perspective

Using artefacts in narrative pedagogies:a case from beginning teachers’ peer group meeting

Abstract Artefacts can evoke stories. This article explores the use of artefacts in narrative pedagogies in the context of teachers’ professional development during the induction phase. The research question is: What kind of stories about beginning teachers’ work does the use of artefacts in narrative pedagogies evoke? The article is based on two peer group meetings in which nine Finnish teachers working in day care centres and primary schools participated. The findings illustrate how the use of artefacts offers an entrance into teachers’ daily routines, relationships and practices as well as how artefacts can become important actors in teachers’ classrooms. This article contributes to the emerging literature on the meaning of artefacts in educational practices and beginning teachers’ professional development. Additionally, the article contributes to the still not fully recognised potential that artefacts can have in narrative pedagogies in pre-service and in-service teacher education

Parent–teacher relationships in school micropolitics:beginning teachers’ stories

Abstract The article discusses parent–teacher relationships in school micropolitics based on beginning teachers’ stories. We employ a narrative approach and investigate how micropolitical conditions and strategies are portrayed in beginning teachers’ stories of parent–teacher relationships. The research material consists of narrative interviews with seven Finnish primary school teachers in the first and second years of their careers. The findings indicate that micropolitical processes play a part in constructing parent–teacher relationships. These micropolitics both enable and limit these relationships and influence how beginning teachers learn to cope with parent relationships. The findings reveal various micropolitical strategies that beginning teachers use to enact and construct parent–teacher relationships. Furthermore, the findings show that parent–teacher relationships do not necessarily include just parents and teachers, but are multidimensional, encompassing several intertwined relationships that micropolitically condition parent–teacher relationships. The implications for pre- and in-service teacher education and school leaders are considered

Naar een herwaardering van het lerarenambt: Reflectie van een werkgroep van het Departement Pedagogische Wetenschappen, K.U.Leuven

Acta geographica Lovaniensia ; 33 XLII, 744 p.: ill.status: publishe