Empowering Early Career Teachers to Thrive: The Role of Purpose, Patience, and Community

• In Event: Beyond Survival toward Thriving: Emerging Research on Fostering Holistic Teacher Wellbeing

Abstract

Purpose:

Early career teacher (ECT) turnover is a significant issue in public education, leading to instability that impacts students and the educational landscape (Kissau et al., 2024). Many ECTs leave the profession prematurely due to burnout caused by a steep learning curve, performance pressures, student trauma, and adjusting to new school environments (Hewett, 2019). However, ECTs who possess strong professional identities, resilience, and agency are more likely to thrive (Zhu, 2023). This qualitative case study suggests that dedicated opportunities for ECTs to develop robust professional identities, resilience, and agency —specifically tailored to their early career stages —better equip them to overcome the challenges of novice teaching and thrive.

Perspectives:

The study is grounded in the teacher lifecycle literature, which identifies the initial entry into teaching as a "survival" phase where ECTs learn to manage complex aspects of their job (Huberman, 1993). Additionally, research on the connections between ECT identity, resilience, and agency informed the development and analysis of a professional development (PD) series.

Methods and Data Sources:

Twenty-two diverse participants, ranging from preservice student teachers to third-year ECTs, contributed to the PD series and the study. Data were collected through field notes and reflection journals from each PD session. Two researchers independently coded the data using the ECT lifecycle literature and identity, resilience, and agency scholarship as an analytical framework. They then collaborated to identify prominent themes, which were further validated through a frequency count of participants' words, phrases, and quotes, as well as member-checking with participants (Saldaña, 2025).


Findings and Significance:
Three significant themes emerged from the study's results. Novice teacher identity was linked to participants' desire to maintain their original purpose for becoming teachers. Participants' teacher identities were connected to their purpose through continuous reflection on their motivations. Participants often discussed "teaching from the heart," and strategies for preserving their "authenticity". Developing resilience was frequently attributed to maintaining patience with themselves while mastering the complex craft of teaching. Educating participants on the early career teacher lifecycle reassured them that learning to teach is a process, and participants frequently noted the need to be patient with the time it would take to feel secure. Participants expressed that their agency was fostered by being part of a supportive community of like-minded colleagues. Teachers gained a sense of agency by seeking and prioritizing relationships with supportive coworkers. "Asking for help" and embracing mentor feedback were common agentive action steps.

This study highlights the critical need for comprehensive support systems that empower novice teachers to navigate the early career learning curve and thrive, thereby addressing the crisis of ECT attrition. Investing in programs and practices that cultivate identity, resilience, and agency can lead to a more stable and effective teaching workforce, benefiting both students and teachers. While existing literature has explored how identity, resilience, and agency affect ECTs, there is a lack of research on how teacher education can intentionally cultivate these attributes from preservice preparation to in-service supervision.

Author

• Kristina M. Valtierra, Colorado College