Teacher buoyancy: harnessing personal and contextual resources in the face of everyday challenges in early career teachers’ work

ABSTRACT

Early career teachers (ECTs) face great stress arising from the demands of the teaching job which are translated into everyday challenges. This article reports a mixed-methods study which examined teacher buoyancy, focusing on how ECTs harness personal and contextual resources when facing the everyday challenges of teaching. The quantitative data analysis showed six factors which constituted the personal and contextual dimensions of teacher buoyancy. The qualitative findings offered an in-depth understanding of these dimensions. ECTs counted on the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural emphases of personal resources in making immediate to short-term responses to everyday challenges. Striving for professional growth and Taking care of one’s well-being were distal personal resources that enhanced ECTs’ potential to manage these challenges. Accessibility to contextual resources and ECTs’ utilisation of these resources constituted the dual facets of the contextual dimension of teacher buoyancy. Implications for initial teacher education and induction of ECTs are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher buoyancy
• early career teachers
• personal resources
• contextual resources

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sylvia Y. F. Tang

Prof. Sylvia Y. F. Tang TANG Sylvia Yee Fan obtained her Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Hong Kong and her PhD from the University of Wales, Cardiff. Before working in teacher education, she was a secondary school teacher in Hong Kong. She is now Professor (Practice) in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). Her main areas of research cover various aspects of teacher education and development, including initial teacher education, student teachers’ motivation to become teachers, professional learning and competence, teachers’ continuing professional development, and mentoring. She is currently the Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) of the Faculty of Education and Human Development at the EdUHK.

Angel K. Y. Wong

Dr. Angel K. Y. Wong WONG Angel Kit Yi obtained her Bachelor degree and Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Hong Kong, her MA(Ed) degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and her PhD degree from the Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg, Germany. She was previously an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Education University of Hong Kong and has retired. Her main areas of research are motivational psychology, with a focus on teacher buoyancy, teaching and learning motivation of Chinese teachers, and teacher professional development. She is also interested in the epistemological beliefs and conceptions of teaching and learning of teachers.

Dora D. Y. Li

Dr. Dora D.Y. Li LI Dora Dong Yu obtained her bachelor degree from Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), her Master degree from The University of Hong Kong, and her PhD from the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). She is now Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the BFSU. Her research focuses on effective school leadership, including principal leadership and school effectiveness. She is also interested in teacher professional development.

May M. H. Cheng

Prof. May M. H. Cheng CHENG May May Hung obtained her Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Hong Kong and her PhD from the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is now Chair Professor of Teacher Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Education University of Hong Kong. She was previously a Reader in Professional Education at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. Her main areas of research are teacher education and science education with a focus on teacher learning and teacher professional development.