Conflicts viewed through the micro-political lens: beginning teachers’ coping strategies for emotionally challenging situations

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants

Self-reports	1	2	3	Total
	25	24	19	68
Participants	Female	Male	Non-binary	Total
Age: 22–56 years old	17	7	1	25
Educational programme	4–6	7–9
	8	17		25
Interviews	After working one year			Total
	20			20
Participants	Female	Male	Non-binary	Total
Age: 22–56 years old	13	6	1	20
Educational programme	4–6	7–9
	7	13		20

Table 2. Conflicts commonly expressed by the beginning teachers

Conflict		Examples
Intrapersonal conflicts	‘Good enough’	Beginning teachers wondered whether they were doing the job to the right standards. They questioned their methods of teaching, the quality of their interactions, as well as the amount of teaching they could do.
	Limits to time and engagement	Beginning teachers repeatedly discussed not being able to find the right balance between time spent at work – or time spent thinking about issues at work that were emotionally challenging.
	Suppression of emotions	Beginning teachers talked about having to suppress emotions, such as anger in order to perform duties, which they found strenuous and complicated
Interpersonal conflicts	Teaching methods	Beginning teachers discussed how they thought schools used outdated work methods, did not use ICT-tools in the appropriate extent, or handled students in need in an improper way.
	Distrust	Beginning teachers met other teachers and parents who they felt distrusted their competence and question their suitability and their work, for example with grading.
	Conflicts in teacher-student interaction	Beginning teachers repeatedly referred to conflict with students as an inherent condition of the work and interaction as a task they had to do, and sometimes depicted it as overwhelming.

Table 3. Strategies to cope

Conflict	Example
Collaboration	Beginning teachers turned to colleagues or other staff in the school for help, reassurance and advice.
	In some cases, the collaborating colleagues formed alliances in the power struggles of the workplace.
Conformity	Beginning teachers aligned with the values of the workplace without challenging the existing structure.
Influencing	Beginning teachers tried to influence their school and to change existing structures.
Autonomy	Beginning teachers refrained from engaging in the power struggles of the school but adjusted their teaching to their own values, not necessarily shared within the school.

Figure 1. Navigating emotionally challenging micro-political situations