The issue of beginning teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represents a global problem, and while discrepancies exist over precise numbers, there is consensus that the attrition rate of new teachers is high. This paper reports on a narrative inquiry into two beginning teachers who left the profession after just…

In considering the blurring of boundaries between vocational education and school education since the introduction of Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) in the senior secondary school system in Australia, it could be argued that the key figures in practice are the VET teachers in schools. The focus in this paper is 12…

This article draws from a qualitative study of seven beginning teachers' perceptions of diversity over a period of 6-18 months. The study found that while initial teacher training had broadened their understanding of diversity and its implication for teaching, it was established pedagogical practices in their schools that influenced the…

Teachers need to know a great deal, in many areas and in multiple ways. Teacher knowledge is a complex tapestry, and teachers must successfully weave the multiple threads. In this article, I present a conceptualisation of teacher knowledge that provides a framework for describing the complexity of teacher knowledge. The framework describes three…

The present study investigated how pre-service teachers' motivation and their sense of teaching efficacy influence their expectation about reality shock during the first year of professional teaching. A total of 533 pre-service teachers at a state university in the US Midwest participated in this study. The results showed that the pre-service…

Margaret Somerville has suggested that a new methodology of postmodern emergence might allow researchers to disrupt the taken-for-granted and provide fresh insight into familiar problems. One such familiar problem is the doubt and disillusion many early-career teachers experience, both during their teacher education and in their first years.…

Mentoring student-teachers and novice teachers constitutes a critical factor in teacher-education programmes and yet, little emphasis has been placed on the mentors themselves, particularly in relation to their own professional development (PD) and the construction of their identities. Does it really matter? This study investigates two groups of…

This study explores the changing professional identities of teachers and their emotional experiences during curriculum reform in Shenzhen in the southern part of China. A qualitative approach to research was adopted. Findings reveal that the informants display several teaching behaviours and diverse emotions ranging from pain and helplessness,…

For graduating teachers, the bridging period between formal teacher preparation and joining the profession is a time of high anxiety and great excitement. While this transition influences efficacy, job satisfaction, career length and future teaching quality, it is widely recognised to be inconsistent, poorly planned and resourced and largely…

Teachers and policy makers often view the practicum as being the critical component of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. While numerous studies have investigated the practicum in ITE, less attention has been given to the role practicum plays in the transition from preparation to teaching. This study investigated 12 New Zealand first-year…

Contemporary notions of childhood overweight and obesity have become increasingly influential in curriculum and pedagogy in school-based Health and Physical Education (HPE). Teachers' delivery of HPE subject matter and related school practices are likely to have a considerable impact on the attitudes and beliefs of the children they teach,…

This paper argues that the staffroom is an important professional learning space where beginning teachers interact to understand who they are and the nature of their professional work. The authors highlight the theoretical importance of space and place in the construction and negotiation of beginning teacher subjectivities. To illustrate the…

Within the Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE) at Charles Sturt University, teacher education researchers have been quick to respond to the opportunities created by what is known as "the practice turn" that characterises contemporary theory around the globe and across disciplines. We are working, together…

For beginning teachers to make the transition to full professional membership they need to increase their professional knowledge of the art and science of teaching. This paper explores the difference in knowledge growth between beginning teachers who commence teaching in fragmented teaching situations in the first two years of teaching, and their…

This paper reports on a longitudinal ethnographic study of beginning primary school teachers in rural and regional Victoria, Australia. The study uses a conceptual framework of "place" and "workplace learning" to ask: How do new teachers learn to do their work and how do they learn about the places and communities in which they begin teaching? In…