Navigating Political Complexity in Schools: Beginning Teachers' Experiences in the United States and Australia

• In Event: 72.048 - Roundtable Session 33
  In Roundtable Session: 72.048-8 - Teachers Navigating Political Complexity

Abstract

How beginning teachers both formally and informally use authority to achieve their goals and deal with the contested nature of educational institutions is central to ensuring the professional longevity and retention of teachers around the world. We know very little, however, about beginning teachers’ efforts to effectively resolve conflicts and negotiate the interpersonal dilemmas of teaching. We know even less about how beginners’ experiences navigating the political complexity of their organisational contexts compare across national contexts. This study, featuring the experiences of eighteen novices in the USA and Australia, illuminates the politically contested nature of beginning teachers’ circumstances. Insights into contrasting levels of micropolitical support and engagement have implications for preparing future teachers, internationally, to face conflicts in teaching.

Author

• Nathan D. Brubaker, Monash University