Early Career Teachers - Hard to Add Any More Pressure
Early career teaching is a time of problems and crises just about everywhere, Australia included, leading to almost half of all new teachers quitting the profession within the first five years.
Casualisation and precarious work undermine teachers at the start of their careers and excessive surveillance, and an ideological-driven agenda of controlling teachers' work add more pressure.
University of South Australia researchers Professor Anna Sullivan, Professor Barry Down, and Professor Bruce Johnson argue that addressing the conditions faced by early career teachers will require, as Professor Sullivan puts it, “profound changes in the ways in which schools and school systems are organised, led, and imagined.”
Professor Sullivan says, “We know that the first few years in the teaching profession initially involves high levels of hope, energy and enthusiasm. We know that, depending on certain factors, teachers can thrive during this time.”
“The culture of a school, government policy, the collegial relationships that are formed, the work they are expected to undertake, and the support they receive – all of these inform the conditions under which new teachers can thrive, survive, or burnout,” Prof Sullivan says. “If they are not conducive, it can be a time of shock, stress and burnout.”
“The evidence from years of research clearly shows that early career teachers flourish best when they are able to actively participate in shaping the schools in which they work, and when their own knowledge and expertise is trusted,” Prof Sullivan says. “There needs to be a radical shift towards valuing early career teachers as actively producing knowledge, rather than merely delivering it.”
“This involves reducing workloads, involving new teachers in curriculum planning, and engaging them in participatory, democratic decision-making. In short, encouraging a spirit of collective responsibility and ownership over their work, and working environment.”
Part-time and casual employment is increasing among teachers, and job security is precarious.
“The casualisation of teachers’ work is particularly affecting early career teachers,” says Prof Sullivan. “The latest data in Australia shows that thirty percent of newly graduated teachers are employed on contracts of less than a year. Another thirty percent are casuals. To find permanent employment often takes several years.”
“Early career teachers experience incredibly demanding work, and precarious employment exacerbates this. As they transition into the profession, teachers are expected to do the same work as more experienced teachers, often with very little support,” says Prof Sullivan. “Escalating casualisation and contract work serve to undermine the trust and sense of belonging which are vital to creating a stable professional identity.”
“Throw in an extremely steep learning curve, intense scrutiny, a long list of registration standards, along with competition for secure employment - it would be hard to add any more pressure than that.” According to Prof Sullivan, “higher levels of scrutiny and surveillance are increasingly reported in recent research. Also there are flow-on effects from waves of negative discourse about teachers.”
“We believe that, to give space to the creative thinking, compassion, and social awareness that is intrinsic to teaching, it is necessary for early career teachers to become part of what we term ‘critical learning communities.’ This would see emerging teachers working more collectively, being encouraged to question dominant ways of teaching, being free to innovate, and to engage with the philosophy and purpose of their teaching,” says Prof Sullivan.
"This would be a holistic and comprehensive way of providing early career teachers with combination of support and autonomy that, as a long trajectory of research indicates, leads to a thriving and sustainable education workforce."
The researchers have contributed to the just-released 4th edition of the International Encyclopedia of Research, a comprehensive publication, representing the global state-of-the-art in education research, with a focus on pressing challenges.
Image by Claudia Barbosa