Exploration of Novice Teachers' Resilience in Canada: An Evolutionary Perspective

• In Event: Retaining Quality Teachers: International Perspectives on Teacher Resilience

Abstract

A wealth of research conducted on early career teachers’ professional induction illustrates the precarious conditions they experience and their negative impacts, in particular on their retention (Leroux, 2013). Considering this, a growing field of research investigates ways to promote “quality retention” (Gu & Day, 2007, p. 1314). This paper presents some results of a Canadian longitudinal study exploring the development of novice teachers’ resilience.

Teacher induction is seen as a transitional and dynamic process that generally covers the first five years of practice. Mukamurera et al. (2013) consider it as a multidimensional process involving five aspects: 1) employment situation, 2) working conditions, 3) organizational aspects, 4) professionalism, and 5) personal and psychological aspects. In this study teacher resilience is seen as a multidimensional and complex construct (Mansfield et al., 2012), characterized by two indispensable conditions: 1) the presence of significant adversity, and 2) positive adaptation (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000). It is also conceptualized as a developmental process resulting from the interaction of environmental and personal risk and protective factors (Théorêt, 2005). In keeping with Leroux (2013) and the literature on teacher induction, different categories of risk and protective factors for novice teachers were identified.

Using questionnaires and a semi-structured interview, 23 beginning teachers’ resilience was explored by identifying the main risk and protective factors they anticipated before their induction and those they experienced during their first years of practice. Different indicators of their psychological health as new teachers were also analysed. As teacher resilience cannot be measured directly, it was inferred from the measure of its two essential conditions: 1) adversity, and 2) positive adaptation. To assess adversity a French-language version of the Teacher Stress Inventory (Boyle et al., 1995) was used along with another questionnaire on teachers’ working experience and health adapted from Houlfort and Sauvé (2010). Some scales of this questionnaire measure adversity, and others positive adaptation. To complete the data, a three part semi-structured interview was conducted on: 1) the induction experience, 2) the daily teacher’s experience, and 3) the professional competences.

Preliminary results (Leroux, 2013) indicate that participants’ risk and protective factors are mostly consistent with literature, and transform during induction, to some extent getting more precise. Moreover, even if they reported some challenges linked to their induction and moderate stress, thus showing the relative adversity of their situation, many indicators reveal their positive adaptation to this situation. Indeed, they mostly report having good mental health, subjective vitality, intrinsic needs satisfaction, and work satisfaction. This leads to a conclusion that they show a real potential for resilience.

Further analyses will enable illustration of the evolution of those novice teachers’ resilience through their first years of practice. The interviews should also allow a deeper understanding of their induction context, providing a better idea of their risk and protective factors. These expected outcomes should enhance understanding of the developmental process of novice teachers’ resilience and suggest directions to improve teacher education to promote the enhancement of prospective teachers’ resilience.

Author

• Mylene Leroux, Université du Québec en Outaouais