Abstract:
Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis. Consequently, there have been increased efforts by state and national governments to attract people into teaching. However, this strategy focuses on the recruitment of new teachers, rather than the retention of the current teaching workforce. The first five years of a teacher's career is the greatest risk of attrition. However, current state and national governments only identify an early career teacher as those with up to three years’ experience. There is little evidence of what support is available for early career teachers beyond this point. This study aims to explore the stories of early career teachers with between one to five years of experience to better understand how they are experiencing support within their context, and to determine how support evolves over time and space.
Employing a narrative inquiry approach, this research follows the qualitative stories of Queensland early career teachers. Guided by Kemmis’ practice architecture theory, this study explores the pre-figured socio-political, material-economic, and cultural-discursive ‘arrangements’ that exist within Queensland schools which enable or constrain support experiences for early career teachers.
A review of the existing body of literature highlighted a need for stories from a diverse sample of early career teachers, including those who vary in age (e.g., second career, mature age), employment status (e.g., relief, contract, or permanent positions), years of teaching experience (up to five years) and geographical location (e.g., school, city, region). Through purposeful sampling, 15 early years teachers across Queensland are engaging in three semi-structured interviews to share their stories over the remainer of the 2024 school year to consider the already mattering (past), the already acting (present), and what is to come (future).
Findings of the literature review provided insights into potential inconsistencies across stories depending upon a range of contextual and individual factors due to a lack of mandated policy. Kemmis’ practice architecture theory will be used to unpack and explore the expected diversity of stories and provide insights into the potential implications of such inconsistency in support experiences. The final three stories that will be presented in this paper will support the generation and contribution of new knowledge to the academic field, and provide recommendations for policy makers, industry partners, and the broader educational community on the state of support for early career teachers and potential opportunities to improve the experiences of current and future early career teachers.
Employing a narrative inquiry approach, this research follows the qualitative stories of Queensland early career teachers. Guided by Kemmis’ practice architecture theory, this study explores the pre-figured socio-political, material-economic, and cultural-discursive ‘arrangements’ that exist within Queensland schools which enable or constrain support experiences for early career teachers.
A review of the existing body of literature highlighted a need for stories from a diverse sample of early career teachers, including those who vary in age (e.g., second career, mature age), employment status (e.g., relief, contract, or permanent positions), years of teaching experience (up to five years) and geographical location (e.g., school, city, region). Through purposeful sampling, 15 early years teachers across Queensland are engaging in three semi-structured interviews to share their stories over the remainer of the 2024 school year to consider the already mattering (past), the already acting (present), and what is to come (future).
Findings of the literature review provided insights into potential inconsistencies across stories depending upon a range of contextual and individual factors due to a lack of mandated policy. Kemmis’ practice architecture theory will be used to unpack and explore the expected diversity of stories and provide insights into the potential implications of such inconsistency in support experiences. The final three stories that will be presented in this paper will support the generation and contribution of new knowledge to the academic field, and provide recommendations for policy makers, industry partners, and the broader educational community on the state of support for early career teachers and potential opportunities to improve the experiences of current and future early career teachers.