Emotional Navigation in Charter School Teaching: First-Year Portraits

• In Event: 69.042 - Teacher Identity and Practice in the Context of Neoliberal Reforms

Abstract

This paper presents portraits of two recent graduates from undergraduate initial certification educator preparation programs, who join Teach for America (TFA) and begin their first year in the field working for a charter school in a large urban city. The rigid classroom management system and formulaic instructional patterns of the charter school are at odds with their undergraduate training and emergent teaching philosophy. The extreme nature of this particular context provides a window into the teacher induction process and how best to prepare new teachers to navigate the emotional challenges and professional dissonance of the first years.

Author

• Miriam Hirsch, Yeshiva University