Being a secondary English teacher in New Zealand: complex realities in the first 18 months

Abstract

This paper focuses on the experiences of a group of beginning secondary school English teachers involved in ‘Making a Difference’, a national New Zealand study of the influence of initial teacher education and beginning teacher induction on teachers’ early development as professionals. Rich data drawn from three rounds of interviews with beginning teachers highlight the challenges faced by beginning subject‐specialist teachers in secondary school contexts. The focus is on how such teachers balance their need to be confident in their curriculum knowledge and at the same time devise strategies to engage diverse learners at all levels. Data from four case studies highlight the challenges and complex realities experienced by beginning teachers as they move from ‘surviving to thriving’ (or not) as specialist‐subject teachers, how these teachers continued to develop sound curriculum and pedagogical content knowledge in their specialism area beyond their initial training year, and the in‐school factors that contributed most to their developing self‐efficacy, identity and socialization into the profession.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the data‐gathering contributions of Glenda Anthony, Ruth Kane, Beverley Bell, Philippa Butler, Sylvie Fontaine, Mavis Haigh, Ruth Mansell, Kogi Naidoo, Kate Ord, Brian Prestidge, Susan Sandretto and Cheryl Stephens who were members of the larger project ‘Making a difference’. This research was funded by the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative administered by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington (www.tlri.org.nz).

Notes

1. Those teachers with higher qualifications demonstrated higher self‐efficacy in relation to teaching topics that were not familiar to them.

2. Decile 1 is the lowest level; Decile 10 is the highest.

3. The National Certificate of Educational Achievement is New Zealand’s national qualification for secondary school students.

4. ‘Pasifika students’ is a term used to denote students who identify with a Pacific island; for example, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands, Samoa, Niue, Vanuatu, Tahiti.