Investigating the Professional Adaptation of English Teachers in the First Years of their Profession to School Environment
Abstract
This study investigates English teachers’ socialization to the school environment, their behaviour in the classroom, and their attitudes towards their profession in the first few years after graduation. An explanatory research design was used with a mixed-method methodology. We administered a survey to 800 novice English language teachers in 16 cities where there is high rates of governmental teacher placements in Turkey based on the data provided by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE). The questionnaire included five category components: professional competence, interpersonal relations, organizational history and language, organizational goals and values, and organizational policy. We then selected 9 English teachers using purposeful sampling from the three of the 16 cities in order to gain information about novice teachers’ experiences and to elaborate on the results of our quantitative data findings. After observing the classes of those English teachers, we conducted semi-structured interviews. The content analysis of the responses revealed important issues the teachers experienced during their socialization period. These included their relationships with the school administration, colleagues, parents, and the teachers’ own professional competence, particularly in the areas of the target language (TL) use and language teaching methodology. A discussion of the findings provides suggestions for teacher education programmes, thereby contributing to the development of educational curricula. Having postgraduate studies to sustain professional development has been suggested for teacher growth, which will also establish a link between the university-school partnership. The university-school partnership will only be possible with a willingness to collaborate, dedicated time and systematic feedback to share knowledge and experience.
Keywords
Novice teachers, teacher socialization, professional development
Supporting Institution
Boğaziçi University
Project Number
BAP 17D06P2
References
- AUTHOR. (2016). Novice non-native English teachers' reflections on their teacher education programmes and their first years of teaching. Profile Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 18(1), 55-70.
- Anngraini, F., Mirizon, S., & Inderawati, R. (2020). Professional development of novice English teacher in junior high school. Jurnal Pendidikan Progresif, 10(2), 233-245.
- Baecher, L. (2012). Feedback from the field: What novice PreK12 ESL teachers want to tell TESOL teacher educators, TESOL Quarterly, 46(3), 577-588.
- Cochran, W.G. (1977). Sampling techniques. New York: Wiley.
- Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. London: Routledge Falmer.
- Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
- Dias-Lacy, S. L., & Guirguis, R. V. (2017). Challenges for new teachers and ways of coping with them. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(3), 265-272.
- Ekşi, G. (2010). An assessment of the professional development needs of English language instructors working at a state university. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
- Erdoğan, U. (2012). İlköğretim okullarının bürokratik yapıları ile öğretmenlerin örgütsel sosyalleşme düzeyleri arasındaki ilişki (Malatya ili örneği). (Yayımlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi). İnönü Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Turkey. [The relationship between the bureaucratic structures of primary schools and the organizational socialization levels of teachers (Malatya province case). (Unpublished master's thesis). İnönü University Institute of Educational Sciences, Turkey.]
- Farrell, T.S.C. (2012). Novice-Service language teacher development: Bridging the gap between preservice and in-service education and development, TESOL Quarterly, 46(3), 435-49.
