One of the first blogs I wrote for the mentors of beginning teachers explored why mentees find changing teaching placements so hard. This blog contextualised the feelings that beginning teachers (although this is also true of more experienced teachers) can have when beginning roles in new school settings. It compared the experience to that of a toddler’s shape-sorter, with the teacher represented by the blocks being pushed into the school-shaped spaces. In this analogy some find their perfect fit (the cylinder slotting seamlessly into the circle), while others find things a little more challenging (their cylinder just about squeezing into the hexagon-shaped school), still others can find the whole experience very difficult indeed (their cylinder never seeming to make headway in the triangular school in which they have been placed). Six years later and the challenge remains. Having settled in and built some momentum in the first placement school, coping with the change involved in moving placements is an inevitable but not always welcome reality.
And so unusually, rather than writing for mentors, I write this blog for those teachers (beginning and otherwise) who feel a bit awash and unsettled by the changes involved in moving school. What is going on and how can you navigate it?
Understanding professional growth to navigate the transition
Understanding what is happening in terms of your own development as a teacher is critical for navigating this transition point into a new school environment. The development of your own teacher identity is in flux as you make the move between schools. Clarke and Hollingsworth’s influential framework (2002) provides a valuable lens for examining this process. In this paper they explain that teacher growth is influenced by four domains which interact through teacher enactment and reflection:
| Personal domain | The teacher’s own knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes |
| Domain of practice | The place where the teacher engages in experimentation in their own professional practice. |
| Domain of consequence | Where the teacher receives feedback on their experimentation and see its impact in terms of outcomes and motivation, confidence, and control. |
| External Domain | The sources of information, stimulus or support that influence the teacher from outside or beyond their existing knowledge and personal framework of understanding. |
A change in one domain impacts upon the others leading to the professional growth of the teacher and their emerging teacher identity. Consequently, when a teacher moves schools, these domains are inevitably disrupted. New colleagues, different school cultures, and unfamiliar routines challenge existing beliefs and practices. This can lead to a period of disequilibrium, characterized by uncertainty and a sense of ‘not fitting in’. However, this very disruption can also be a powerful catalyst for professional growth.
Indeed, Nelson’s 2008 paper asserted that exposing beginning teachers to schools of different ethos is important for their development. He concluded that experiences of an alternative ethos can have a three-fold effect on teacher development:
- Confronting preconceptions by exposing their stereotypes, correcting misinformation, and challenging prejudice
- Revealing the complexity of school life (for example, the importance of understanding community contexts)
- Providing an impetus to reflect upon the purpose and aims of teaching, compelling teachers to evaluate and evolve their own philosophy of teaching and learning.
Finding your footing
How then can you find your footing as a new teacher in a new environment?
- Embrace the uncertainty: Acknowledge that feeling disorientated is normal during the transition to a new context.
- Be honest with yourself: Reflect on your own values and teaching preferences and areas where you may need to adapt. While you may long for what you have left behind, recognise that because you are developing and taking more responsibility in the role of a teacher, had you stayed in that first placement your experience would also have changed accordingly.
- Seek support: Connect with your peers and tutor/mentors to develop a support network to help you during this transition period.
- Embrace the learning opportunity: View the transition as a chance to grow professionally and expand your understanding of teaching and learning. Knowing that you will come out the other side having gained from the experience can help to provide the motivation to keep going when things feel hard – even if you never fit into the triangle-shaped school, you’re unlikely to remain completely cylindrical and may end up being more like an octagonal prism as a result of the experience.
- Give yourself time: Building relationships and adapting to a new environment takes time. Be patient with yourself and celebrate small victories along the way. You may never love the new school and may decide it is not the school for you long term, but as time goes on you are likely to grow fond of many aspects and find things about the school that you will miss when you do move on.
Making the most of the new context
By understanding the dynamics of teacher identity and embracing the challenges of a new school environment, you can hopefully be better equipped to navigate the transition to a new school successfully, emerging from the experience as a more resilient, reflective, and effective educator.
References
Clarke, D., & Hollingsworth, H. (2002). Elaborating a model of teacher professional growth. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(8), 947–967. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(02)00053-7
(If you have never seen Clarke and Hollingsworth’s brilliant figure depicting their interconnected model of professional growth, then do look it up as I have really not done it justice in my summary here).
Nelson, J. (2008). Exploring diversity through ethos in initial teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(7), 1729–1738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.02.014
Becoming a History Teacher 