The Early Years of Teaching: A Cross-Cultural Study of Turkish and Polish Novice English Teachers

Year 2019, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 287 - 302, 31.07.2019

Müzeyyen Nazli Güngör , Sumru Akcan , Dorota Werbinska Malgorzata Ekiert

https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.599262

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Given
the importance of novice teacher experiences and their long-term effects in the
field, this cross-cultural exploratory study investigates the challenges of 34
novice Turkish and Polish English teachers and how they develop their
professional understanding in the early years of teaching. The participants
were non-native novice English teachers working with K-12 learners in
culturally, socially, economically and historically diverse regions of Turkey
and Poland. The data collected simultaneously in both countries in the spring
term of the 2016-17 academic year were generated from two sources: a) critical
incidents of the novice teachers, and b) online and/or oral interviews with
these teachers, followed by comprehensive cyclical data analysis. The
challenges related to pedagogical and sociocultural factors influenced the way
the teachers teach in their contexts. The findings suggest that creating
interactive and reflective learning contexts for novice teachers will help them
better adapt to their new school settings and develop professionally.

Keywords

: Novice teachers; early years; challenges; critical incidents; professional understanding; diversity

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