How can educational psychologists support the sustainability of the teaching profession with early career teachers and their mentors?

Abstract

In chapter one, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to synthesise the findings of eight studies which had explored the reasons and factors for teachers leaving the teaching profession within five years. The scope of this SLR was focused on early career teachers (ECTs) given the prevalence of data indicating that ECTs are most at risk of leaving the profession. Findings from these international studies were complex and a critical interpretive synthesis method was used to combine studies of varying methodological approaches. A theoretical model was produced to present the synthesis of these pieces of research. Through investigating how these studies were conducted, it was identified that there was a need for research to be conducted which explores the impact of discourses on teachers’ decisions to leave the profession with a focus on English-specific participants. In Chapter Two, I discuss the influence of my conceptual framework on the research I conducted within the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) in chapter one and the empirical study in chapter three. The purpose of this chapter is to form a philosophical bridge between these two chapters, exploring the paradigms which I have operated within across this research project. This chapter is structured using conceptual framework questions with ethical considerations presented at the end. Chapter Three is an empirical study whereby the views of ECTs and their mentors about the teaching career were examined. A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) was used to explore how teachers position themselves within the discourses around teaching within a socio-historically specific context. Analysis of data from this empirical study provides a critical view of neo-liberal discourses in education and offers a discussion of how the discourses might be challenged going forward. Chapter Four offers a reflective synthesis of my learning throughout this research project. It offers additional information regarding the process of the research and offers an overview of next steps for this research. The synthesis is hooked to a metaphor so that the research story can be told in a way that is important to me (White, 2007).