Challenges and facilitators of new teachers’ professional socialization in international schools in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

This study examines the professional socialization of new teachers in Saudi Arabia’s international schools. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 14 teachers of diverse nationalities. The study highlighted teachers’ recognition, integration, and collaboration in the workplace as prominent facilitating factors, while lack of support, unmet expectations, and language barriers were highlighted as prominent challenges. The study identified some coping strategies developed by teachers to overcome these challenges, which have implications for further research and practice. Apart from developing an empirical picture of teachers’ professional socialization in international schools, the study also provides further insight into cross-cultural socialization processes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.