ARTICLE IN PRESS

Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232

www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities:

A multi-perspective study
Maria Assunc- ão Floresa,!, Christopher Dayb
a
University of Minho, Institute of Education and Psychology, Campus de Gualtar, 4710 Braga, Portugal
b
University of Nottingham, School of Education, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham NG8 1BB, United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper presents the major findings of a longitudinal study of teachers’ professional identities in the early years of
teaching. It analyzes key influences upon the ways in which new teachers’ identities are shaped and reshaped over time.
Through their own perceptions, analyses of the school cultures in which they work and their pupils’ views it reveals how
the interplay between contextual, cultural and biographical factors affects their teaching practices. Teachers’ personal and
professional histories and pre-service training, alongside issues of school culture and leadership, emerge as stronger
mediating influences (than previous literature suggests) in determining the kinds and relative stability and instability of
professional identities which teachers develop in the early years of teaching and thus the kinds of teachers they become and
their effectiveness.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Identity; Beginning teachers; Professional socialization

1. Becoming a teacher: the importance of identity fic nature (see, for instance, Braga, 2001; Calder-
head & Shorrock, 1997; Flores, 2001; Hauge, 2000),
In this paper, we examine the ways in which the which entails an interplay between different, and
identities of a cohort of new teachers were shaped sometimes conflicting, perspectives, beliefs and
and reshaped over the first 2 years of teaching. Their practices, which are accompanied by the develop-
beliefs, their values and their learning experiences ment of the teachers’ self. Most of the studies of new
are explored, as well as their views of the challenges teachers highlight the sudden and sometimes dra-
of teaching, learning and being an effective teacher matic experience of the transition from student to
in different school settings. teacher. Many researchers have emphasized the
Learning to become an effective teacher is a long reality shock or abruptness which confronts new
and complex process. Research has highlighted its teachers as they take on the full responsibility of
multi-dimensional, idiosyncratic and context-speci- their roles as schoolteachers (Huberman, 1991;
Lacey, 1977; Lortie, 1975; Veenman, 1984; Vonk,
!Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 253 604240/1; 1993). For some, feelings of isolation, mismatch
fax: +351 253 678987.
between idealistic expectations and classroom rea-
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.A. Flores), lity and lack of support and guidance have been
[email protected] (C. Day). identified as key features which characterize their

0742-051X/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tate.2005.09.002
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
220 M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232

lives (Flores, 1997; Huberman, 1991; Veenman, identity, then, as an ongoing and dynamic process
1984). For others, the early years in the profession which entails the making sense and (re)interpreta-
have been described as a less negative and less tion of one’s own values and experiences. Becoming
traumatic experience. The existence of ‘easy’ or a teacher involves, in essence, the (trans)formation
‘painful beginnings’ (Huberman, 1989) seems to be of the teacher identity, a process described by Sachs
related to coping with difficulties in particular (2001a) as being open, negotiated and shifting. She
school cultures and feelings of professional fulfill- states that: ‘for teachers this is mediated by their
ment (Alves, 2001). Both the influence of the school own experience in schools and outside of schools as
context and the personal background experiences well as their own beliefs and values about what it
during pre-service education are identified as means to be a teacher and the type of teacher they
important variables to be taken into account in aspire to be’ (2001a, p. 6). Drawing upon the notion
the assessment of early teaching experiences. Re- of identity as an organizing principle in teachers’
porting on a story of first year success, Hebert and lives, Maclure (1993, p. 312) contends that it
Worthy (2001) found that the most influential ‘‘should not be seen as stable—something that
elements were: (i) a match between expectations, people have—but as, ‘‘something that they use, to
personality and workplace realities; (ii) evidence of justify, explain and make sense of themselves in
impact; and (iii) using successful strategies to relation to other people, and to the contexts in
manage student behavior and enter the social and which they operate’’ (original emphasis).
political culture of the school. A sense of professional identity will contribute to
Vonk identified two distinctive phases in begin- teachers’ self-efficacy, motivation, commitment and
ning teachers’ professional development: the thresh- job satisfaction (Day, Stobart, Kington, Sammons,
old and the growing into the profession. The & Last, 2003) and is, therefore, a key factor in
threshold period encompasses the first year of becoming and being an effective teacher. To create,
teaching during which new teachers are confronted and maintain identity, entails a ‘continuing site of
for the first time with the full teaching responsi- struggle’ (Maclure, 1993, p. 313), which is located in
bilities and they experience the well-known ‘transi- a given social and cultural space (Coldron & Smith,
tion shock’ (Veenman, 1984). The phase of growing 1999; Sachs, 2001b); and it is dependent upon
into the profession is characterized by the acceptance teachers’ views of themselves and of the contexts in
of beginning teachers by their pupils and colleagues. which they work as, during the early years in the
During this period new teachers tend to focus their profession, they develop their professional identities
attention on the improvement of skills, methods and by ‘‘combining parts of their past, including their
competencies (Vonk, 1989). Similarly, Lacey (1977) own experience in school and in teacher prepara-
distinguished three phases in the process of becom- tion, with pieces of their present’’ (Feiman–Nemser,
ing a teacher: the honeymoon, the crisis, and the 2001, p. 1029) which is associated with ‘a sense of
failure or getting by. In so far as beginning teachers purpose for teaching and being a teacher’ (Rex &
fail to meet their expectations (and school demands) Nelson, 2004, p. 1317).
they enter a period of (re)discovery of themselves as
teachers trying to cope with the daily requirements 2. Identity and emotions
of their work.
It is clear from these studies that coping with the The implication is that identity is influenced by
demands of teaching and its inherent tasks entails a personal, social and cognitive response. In addition
continuing process of analysis of one’s own beliefs to the literature on career phase, there is a growing
and practices. The first few years of teaching may be body of literature which points to emotion as a
seen as a ‘two-way struggle in which teachers try to significant and ongoing part of being a teacher. For
create their own social reality by attempting to example, the emotional climate of the school and
make their work match their personal vision of how classroom will affect attitudes to and practices of
it should be, whilst at the same time being subjected teaching and learning. Teachers (and their students)
to the powerful socializing forces of the school experience an array of sometimes contrasting
culture’ (Day, 1999, p. 59). Few previous studies, emotions in the classroom. In a review of empirical
however, identify explicitly the importance of research, Sutton (2000) found that love (as a social
identity as a mediating force between structure relationship) and care, job satisfaction and joy,
and teacher agency (Giddens, 1991). We understand pride, excitement and pleasure in students’ progress
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M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232 221

and achievements are among the most commonly identified in the literature (Jordell, 1987; Zeichner &
cited positive emotions. Because of their emotional Gore, 1990). The strength of each of these socializ-
investments, teachers also inevitably experience a ing factors varies according to one’s own personal
range of negative emotions when control of long and professional path and to the workplace condi-
held principles and practices is challenged, or when tions. Lortie (1975) argued that the experience of
trust and respect from parents, the public and their the ‘anticipatory socialization’ throughout the
students is eroded. In a study of Belgian teachers, period of schooling has a powerful influence in the
Kelchtermans (1996) reported on teachers’ feelings process of becoming a teacher. He referred to one’s
of vulnerability, engendered when professional own personal predispositions which stand at the
identity and moral integrity are questioned either heart of what he termed a ‘self-socialization’
by policy changes, parents, inspectors, or colleagues process. Conversely, other studies have stressed
in the light of unrealistic expectations or their that early experiences at the workplace are crucial in
failure to help students achieve higher standards. In teachers’ socialization, mainly the structural factors
England, Jeffrey and Woods (1996) found profes- such as the ecology of the classroom and the school
sional uncertainty, confusion, inadequacy, anxiety, norms and regulations (Jordell, 1987). Bullough
mortification and doubt among teachers when they (1997) argues that ‘midst the diversity of tales of
investigated primary school teachers’ responses to becoming a teacher and studies of the content and
an OFSTED inspection, associating these with form of the story, two conclusions of paramount
‘dehumanization’ and ‘deprofessionalism’. Other importance to teacher educators emerge: prior
negative emotions are: frustration; anger exacer- experience and beliefs are central to shaping the
bated by tiredness, stress and students’ misbehavior; story line, as is the context of becoming a teacher’
anxiety because of the complexity of the job; guilt, (p. 95).
sadness, blame and shame at not being able to In research conducted in Belgium, Kelchtermans
achieve ideals or targets imposed by others. and Ballet (2002), adopting an approach which
Teaching calls for and, at its best, involves daily, combines the narrative-biographical and the micro-
intensive and extensive use of both emotional labor political perspectives in the study of teacher
(e.g. smiling on the outside whilst feeling anything socialization, identified five categories of profes-
but happy on the inside) and emotional work which sional interests: material, organizational, social-
enables teachers to manage the challenges of professional, cultural-ideological and self-interests.
teaching classes which contain students with a range Based on the idea that teachers’ actions are oriented
of diverse motivations, personal histories and by professional interests, they concluded that micro-
learning capacities. However, too much of the politics play an important role in teachers’ views of
former leads to a disengagement with the complex- their early teaching experiences.
ities of teaching and learning, and a loss of trust by
students; and too much investment of one’s emo- 4. The study
tional self may lead to personal vulnerability,
feelings of inadequacy at being unable to engage This paper discusses ways in which the profes-
everyone in learning all the time and, in extreme sional identities of 14 new teachers were shaped and
cases, overwork and breakdown. reshaped in their first 2 years of teaching in different
school settings, through the interaction between
3. Identity and socialization personal, professional and contextual factors. It
explores how their (taken-for granted) assumptions
Literature on teacher socialization has also high- and values about teaching and being a teacher were
lighted the complex and interactive socializing challenged in two school settings and the ways in
factors which influence upon new teachers’ views which professional and cultural environments af-
of teaching and of themselves as teachers. The fected them.
‘apprenticeship of observation’ (Lortie, 1975) dur- Most of the teachers worked in elementary
ing which students have observed their own teachers schools (10–15 year olds), whereas 6 teachers taught
teaching, the impact of initial teacher training both elementary and secondary students. Apart
program, the influence of significant others (namely from teaching, a large majority of them (11 out of
relatives and former teachers) and the ecology of the 14) was expected to undertake other roles at school,
classroom are some of the major socializing agents amongst which performing a pastoral role and being
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222 M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232

the subject leaders were the most common. As a tion (1) and Music (1). Nine of them were female
consequence of the teacher recruitment policy and and five were male teachers. Their ages ranged
teacher surplus, most of them (11 out of 14) were between 22 and 28 years old. The vast majority of
teaching in schools very far away from their homes them changed schools at the end of their first year of
(average 250 km), in their second year, which teaching due to national policy. All were followed
required them to work (and live) in a very different up in their second year of teaching in order to
and unknown region of the country. A brief look at examine further their process of learning and
schools’ characteristics shows that most of the professional development in their new school
beginning teachers (10 out of 14) worked in rural contexts.
and isolated settings, located in very poor catch-
ment areas, where dropout rates were high. Only 4.1. Data collection and analysis
two new teachers taught in urban schools, and two
teachers worked in suburban schools. Rural schools A combination of sources and methods of data
were, on average, small (e.g. with 33, 39 and 40 collection was used. Data were gathered through
teachers on their staff, e.g. 188, 360, 240 students) semi-structured interviews with the new teachers (at
and the vast majority of their staff was young. One the beginning and at the end of each school year). In
teacher worked in a rural small primary school order to obtain further details about school culture
(with 10 students) and she was supported by a co- and its influence on teachers’ development a
ordinator teacher and by another teacher for questionnaire was also devised based upon pre-
students with special learning needs. It also should liminary findings from the first set of interviews. The
be noted that, apart from teaching, in their second questionnaire was administered to all staff in each
year, most of the teachers (9 out of 14) were of the schools (n ¼ 18 in total) involved in this
expected to take on other roles at school, such as research project at the end of each school year
subject leaders and pastoral tutors, in some cases (n ¼ 627). Pupils (n ¼ 891) were also asked to write
more than one. a short essay in which they described the ways in
The purpose, time demands and overall proce- which their teacher changed (or did not change)
dures of the research project were explained to all over time. The annual report, a formal document
the teachers. The schools were selected on the basis which teachers have to write at the end of every
of the following criteria: type of school (rural, inner- school year, which requires the approval of the
city and suburban) and size (large, small and executive council of each school, was also used as a
medium). Findings from previous research (Flores, data source. It provided access to new teachers’
1997) and official data (namely schools’ character- perspectives about their experiences at school in so
istics and location) obtained from the local educa- far as it should reflect their overall evaluation of
tion authorities were the two main sources of their work during each school year. At the end of
information for sampling purposes. Teachers were the study, all new teachers were also asked to write a
recruited according to the following characteristics: report in which they looked back on their first 2
having undertaken an Integrated Model of Teacher years of teaching and reflected upon their experi-
Training degree in a public university and being in ences, and evaluated their participation in the
their first year of teaching without prior teaching research project.
experience. The model presupposes that the subject All the interviews (which lasted approximately an
area (e.g. English, Biology) and the pedagogical hour and a half each) were tape-recorded and
component are distributed simultaneously through- transcribed verbatim. Transcriptions were returned
out the course. The latter encompasses subjects such to participants to be checked for accuracy, and to
as History and Philosophy of Education, Psychol- have comments and/or supplementary information
ogy of Development, Sociology of Education, added. In the process of analysis, an inductive
Curriculum Development, Educational Technology, approach was used, and substantive themes were
and Methods of Teaching. It is a 5-year course defined as they emerged from the data. The overall
including 4 years of full-time study at university and principles of ‘grounded theory’ (Glaser & Strauss,
1 year of teaching practice in a school. All of the 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990) were applied. The
teachers were teaching for the first time and their process of data analysis was undertaken according
subjects included Physics and Chemistry (7), Lan- to two phases: a vertical analysis (Miles & Huber-
guages (3), Math (1), Biology (1), Physical Educa- man, 1994) in which each of the respondents’
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M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232 223

interviews was analyzed separately. A second phase Nimmo, Smith, Grove, Courtney, & Eland, 1994).
was then carried out through a comparative or Looking back on their school-days, the participants
horizontal analysis (cross-case analysis) (Miles & recalled both the negative and the positive episodes
Huberman, 1994). In this phase, the method of which marked their lives as pupils. Most of them
‘constant comparative analysis’ (Glaser & Strauss, referred to the teachers they admired and, in some
1967) was used to look for common patterns as well cases, who had influenced their career choice.
as differences. This process was undertaken itera- Flexibility, motivation and fairness associated with
tively and adjustments in the coding process were their personal characteristics (the teacher as a
made where necessary. A case record was also kept person) were recurrent features throughout their
for each of the respondents over the 2-year period accounts.
and an overall analysis was undertaken at the end of
I think those teachers who made a difference
the research. This enabled checking for recurring
always have a great influence on us. I can
themes and regularities as well as contrasting
remember my Math’s teacher while I was in
patterns both in each teacher’s accounts and across
Year 8, because his classes were happy, pleasant
teachers’ responses. A wealth of data was generated
and he was good funy (NT13, Interview 1,
from the reports and the four interviews conducted
Beginning of Year 1)
with each of the new teachers over a 2-year period.
The discussion of all the results arising from the There were a few teachers who had a great
data collected over time is beyond the scope of this influence on me. They were extremely competent,
paper, which focuses upon new teachers’ experience but they knew how to talk to studentsy they
as first and second-year teachers by their views of were easy to talk toy they looked at the students
teaching and of themselves as teachers in two as they were, and they didn’t judge them
contexts of teaching and their implications for the according to their faces or to their social
(re)construction of their identities over time. background. (NT10, Interview 1, Beginning of
Year 1)
5. Findings In both negative and positive cases described
earlier, the ‘apprenticeship of observation’ (Lortie,
Data are presented according to three main 1975), during which new teachers observed many
influences upon the construction, deconstruction styles of teaching, seemed to have played an
and reconstruction of their professional identities: important role in the way in which they constructed
(i) prior influences (which examines teachers’ past their identities, shaping, in some cases, the way in
experiences as pupils); (ii) initial teacher training and which they responded to practical situations as new
teaching practice (in which we look at motivations for teachers.
entering a teaching degree and teachers’ overall
assessment of their formal professional learning Maybe the experience of my former teachers
experiences as well as their implications for the during my secondary education helped me to
formation of their identities); (iii) contexts of teaching behave the way I do, because they did exactly
(which analyzes the process of learning, socialization what I am trying to do now. Actually, there was
and professional development both in terms of this teacher of Chemistry who I admired a lot
classroom practice and school culture and leadership and who I try to follow as a model. (NT4,
and their effects on the reconstruction of teachers’ Interview 1, Beginning of Year 1)
identities in changing contexts of teaching). When you are teaching, you always remember
your own experience as a studenty I mean,
5.1. Prior influences when I am in the classroom, I always remember
the classes I used to have. (NT14, Interview 1,
5.1.1. Past experiences as pupils Beginning of Year 1)
Prior experiences as pupils seemed to play a In my classes I try to avoid the same kind of
strong mediating role in the identities which new interaction that my teachers used to have when I
teachers brought into their first school teaching was a student. (NT3, Interview 1, Beginning of
experience. Former teachers, who provided positive Year 1)
or negative models of teaching, were also seen as Regarding the classes, I tried to create an image
an important socializing factor (Knowles, 1992; of what went wrong when I was a student, and I
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224 M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232

have tried to change that. I mean, now I try to do student had influenced my choice. I usually
the opposite to what the bad teachers did during helped other students and I used to teach my
my schooling experience. (NT8, Interview 1, cousin for her examination and she was able to
Beginning of Year 1) get through it because of me, she saidy Since
then my motivation to become a teacher was
This confirms earlier research (e.g. Knowles,
even strongery I mean, I always enjoyed
1992; Lortie, 1975) which points to the major role
teaching very much. I enjoyed observing my
of beliefs and ideas prior to entering teaching, in the
teachers teaching and the only thing that used to
ways in which prospective and beginning teachers
come to my mind was ‘I would like to become
approach classroom practices and think about
like them one day!’. (NT7, Interview 1, Beginning
themselves as teachers. The personal experience of
of Year 1)
being a pupil, whether positive or negative, seemed
to be influential in the ways in which the partici- Pre-service teacher education seemed to have had
pants in this study viewed themselves as teachers. It a relatively weak impact upon the way in which new
is interesting to note that former teachers (and their teachers approached teaching and viewed them-
teaching) were seen as a ‘frame of reference’ in their selves as teachers. The classic and widely cited gap
making sense of teaching, both as pre-service and as between theory and practice was a recurring theme
trainees, and in their understanding of themselves as throughout their accounts (Flores, 2000; Hauge,
teachers. 2000; Hobson & Tomlinson, 2001). Reflecting upon
their experiences as student teachers at university,
5.2. Initial teacher training and teaching practice: the majority of the teachers spoke of the inadequate
lost at sea? preparation provided to them in order to deal with
the complex and demanding nature of their daily
Teaching was not the first choice for most of the job in schools and in classrooms.
teachers involved in the study. By and large,
teachers involved in this research project fell into I believe that at the university (I am now thinking
three main categories: (i) those who decided to as a teacher), I didn’t get the best preparationy
become teachers because they viewed teaching as a because I think that they didn’t prepare us well
stable and secure job (10 out of 14); (ii) those who enough to teach. There are many difficulties and
entered the profession owing to non-related teach- doubtsy maybe we didn’t get much experi-
ing reasons (the ‘destiny’ or a way of expanding the ence as student teachers and we are now facing
subject knowledge) (2 teachers); and (iii) those who many obstacles. (NT10, Interview 1, Beginning
joined teaching because they felt a personal strong of Year 1)
commitment to become teachers (2 teachers). In What I was taught at the university wasy
other words, the large majority of the teachers cited utopiay at that time we weren’t aware of what
extrinsic motivations (employment opportunities a real school was like at all. We didn’t know
and the influence of ‘significant others’ such as exactly what the reality was like. We thought that
former teachers and relatives who were teachers it was like we were told. But then we get there
too) for entering a teaching degree. Only two [schools] and we realize that those theories just
teachers referred to personal factors inherent in cannot be put into practice. (NT9, Interview 1,
teaching itself (the desire to teach and to work with Beginning of Year 1)
children).
As a consequence, there were both inner and
Well, my intention was to do Law, but I didn’t practical tensions between the awareness of the
have the (required) high marks to apply for a ‘pedagogical theories’ learned at university (which
place at university and I decided to become a emphasized issues such as constructivism and
teacher. I thought I would have better opportu- individualization) and the management of the
nities to get a job if I did a teaching degree even complex and demanding reality of the classroom,
though I had never thought of becoming a which called for on-the-spot management as well as
teacher while at school. (NT14, Interview 1, pedagogical decisions in order to teach and deal
Beginning of Year 1) effectively with the students. Throughout their
Teaching was absolutely a personal choice. I accounts teachers referred to the gap between
don’t know if the fact that I always was a good ‘ideals’ (as student and as student teachers) and
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M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232 225

the ‘real world’ of schools and classrooms (as especially because of the good relationship with the
teachers). Facing a ‘new’ situation (being a teacher students and the supportive atmosphere at school.
in a school for the first time), not feeling well- They also stressed the autonomy and freedom to
prepared to handle the duties required of a teacher, teach and the teamwork amongst trainees and
and realizing the gap between university and school, supervisors as positive features of their teaching
were salient issues in their depictions of their practice:
teaching experiences described with feelings of
It was a positive experience. I realized what a
‘being lost’.
teacher has to do, in terms of teaching, but also
You get to the school and you come across a very the extra-curricular activities. The supervisors
different realityy You start your teaching provided the support we needed, but, at the same
practice and you feel lost, because you aren’t time, we had the freedom to teach according to
used to this kind of situation, you don’t know the what we considered to be the best. One of my
dos and don’ts of your new roley (NT9, supervisors told us that she was there to help us,
Interview 1, Beginning of Year 1) but teaching was our joby (NT11, Interview 1,
You leave the university and suddenly you are in Beginning of Year 1)
a classroom full of students and you have to
For most teachers, teaching went far beyond mere
teach them. I mean, it really happens too
instruction, to encompass also the socialization
suddenly! You have to deal with a sort
process, as well as the whole development of
of barriery (NT4, Interview 1, Beginning of
children. Several metaphors were reiterated
Year 1)
throughout their accounts to illustrate this point,
Feeling (and behaving) like a teacher was the most common of which were the teacher as the
depicted as being both a rewarding and a challen- possessor of multiple roles, as an educator, as a
ging experience. Most of the teachers (9 out of 14) model, as a guide and as a friend:
described their first teaching experiences (i.e. teach-
I see myself as having two roles: I am a teacher
ing practice) as being sudden, tiring and stressful.
but a teacher is also an educator. I cannot see my
Issues such as heavy workload, bureaucratic work,
job differentlyy because my job goes beyond
lack of support, wide variety of tasks to be
instruction, there are also values and attitudes.
performed and assessment procedures of their
(NT5, Interview 1, Beginning of Year 1)
performance were recurrent features in their ac-
Being a teacher is not only about knowledge. It’s
counts. Added to the shift from being a student to
about paying attention to the students’ needs
being a trainee at school was the mismatch between
and, at the same time, trying to improve their
beliefs and practices. Using the concept of ‘social
knowledge and skillsy as a teacher you are a
strategy’ suggested by Lacey (1977), most of the
sort of guide of students’ learningy but you are
teachers seemed to have adopted a ‘strategic
also expected to look after them. I mean you
compliance’ attitude in so far as they tended to
have to pay attention to the students’ back-
follow their supervisors’ perspectives about how to
ground, and try to understand their behaviory
teach, maintaining at the same time personal
(NT11, Interview 1, Beginning of Year 1)
reservations about them. In other words, they
‘adapted strategically’ (Vonk, 1993) to the situa- Caring for the students and helping them to deal
tional and institutional constraints of their role: with their own difficulties were also crucial features
being a trainee whose performance was being in their depictions of their role. The personal
assessed. element in teaching was also highly valued by the
teachers to whom being a teacher (as a result of
Sometimes you had to work against your own
their teaching practice) was a rewarding experience.
beliefsy they were the supervisors and they were
Interestingly, teachers who felt a personal commit-
assessing youy I had to teach according to other
ment and desire to enter the teaching profession and
people’s perspectivesy Now I teach my way and
who recognized the influence of ‘significant others’
not according to other people’s ideasy (NT14,
(former teachers and/or relatives who were teachers
Interview 1, Beginning of Year 1)
as well) valued highly their training at university
However, five teachers reported that teaching was and their teaching practice at school. They also
a very positive experience. They enjoyed their job, reported that positive experiences as pupils had
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
226 M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232

given them a broad understanding of their role as day-to-day practice of teaching. The novelty and the
teachers. As earlier research has demonstrated, the variety of tasks to be performed, associated with a
role of intrinsic motivation needs to be taken into curiosity in relation to their new professional
account in attempts to foster teacher recruitment settings, was referred to as a challenge by new
and retention (Calderhead & Shorrock, 1997; teachers who were eager to learn their new roles and
Kyriacou, Hultgren, & Stephens, 1999). take on their new responsibilities as full-time
teachers.
5.3. The impact of contexts
I think the most striking experience was dealing
with so many and varied activities and with
Due to teacher surplus and teacher recruitment
students. I had to face a great variety of
policy (which occurs mainly at the national level) in
situations and I had to adapt to them and learn
Portugal, novice teachers have to move from one
from themy (NT5, Interview 3, Beginning of
school to another during the first years of teaching.
Year 2)
As first-year teachers, the participants in this study
It has been a very tough year, there were loads of
were given a post in a new school. They described
new tasks to do and new roles to perform for
this at the beginning of the first year of teaching,
which I wasn’t well-prepared. It has been a very
both as a challenging and rewarding experience.
tiring year. For instance, the pastoral role has
Feelings of enthusiasm and, at the same time,
been a very demanding job. It requires much of
anxiety and fear of assuming all the complex and
your timey (NT2, Interview 2, End of Year 1)
demanding tasks inherent in teaching emerged in
Last year as a trainee I had support from my
their teachers’ accounts as they portrayed the
supervisors and from other teachers at school.
transition from teacher/trainee to full-time teacher.
This year I was on my own, and I wasn’t used to
Their depictions of their first year of teaching were
such a heavy workloady and suddenly you have
detailed and full of references to their (high)
to face all those students. At the beginning I had
expectations and to the challenges and constraints
to face several problems in dealing with them, I
they encountered. They highlighted the mismatch
meany trying to define my position and their
between their (initial) beliefs and images about
position inside the classroom. (NT12, Interview
teaching and the roles they were expected to
2, End of Year 1)
perform as first-year teachers.
As a result of a better knowledge of the students
5.3.1. Classroom practice in the classroom context and the ways in which they
The process of learning from the first teaching reacted to their teaching, new teachers emphasized
experiences impacted upon new teachers’ under- that they adopted a more cautious attitude in order
standing of teaching and of their identities as to avoid disciplinary problems, which lends support
teachers and the ways in which they behaved to earlier work (Brekelmans & Wubbels, 1999;
professionally. Overall, they reported that their Vonk, 1984; Vonk & Schras, 1987).
interaction with the students in the classroom
I think this year I am a bit stricter (in order to
produced a more defensive and custodial attitude
become less strict at the end of the year) than I
for their teaching, both in their pedagogical
was last year. Last year I had to deal with
strategies and at the personal level. These resulted
disciplinary problems because I was too flexible
in an increasing self-confidence and a more positive
with them [students] from the beginning of the
evaluation of their performance. It seemed that they
year and then it was too late to sort out
were beginning to made sense of themselves as
the problems. (NT14, Interview 3, Beginning of
teachers in terms of their ability to exercise control.
Year 2)
Once they had graduated, the first teaching
At first I had a stricter attitude towards students
experiences were to bring about the realization that
because of my experience from last year. But then
teaching was more demanding than they were
I realized that they [students] were different and
expecting, that they lacked the knowledge to
my relationship with them is now very different.
undertake all the tasks and duties required of them
(NT4, Interview 3, Beginning of Year 2)
as teachers, and that they did not feel supported at
school—another crisis of identity. Teachers identi- Related to this was the recognition of the
fied a variety of learning situations related to their importance of the setting up of rules inside the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232 227

classroom from the first day on in order to create a can do about it. It’s useless. They just don’t
workable and pleasant learning atmosphere. Tea- carey (NT9, Interview 2, End of Year 1)
chers highlighted the ways in which they have I think that sometimes classes go wrongy
learned from their students in the classroom. because of my trying hard to have a better
Getting to know the students and the ways in which relationship with them [students], sometimes they
they behave in the classroom were said to be of go too far and I get upset for letting them go that
paramount importance for new teachers as they far. (NT10, Interview 1, Beginning of Year 1)
became more knowledgeable about their attitudes
and responses, which enabled them to deal with Concerns with student control in the classroom
classroom management more effectively. gave rise to the shift from a more inductive and
student-centered approach to teaching towards a
I have learned that students are not exactly what more teacher-centered and task-oriented one, in
you think they are. You have an idea about how which routines prevailed, despite the broader and
students are and behave, you get here and you constructivist perspective held by the teachers when
realize that they are quite different from what they talked about good teaching and being a teacher
you were expecting. (NT3, Interview 2, End of at the beginning of their first year of teaching. The
Year 1) tension between (ideal) beliefs about good teaching
Now I am more aware of their [students] and (real) practices is well illustrated in the
willingness to participate in the classroom following quotations:
activities. I can tell whether or not I am able Sometimes I forget that I am an educator and I
to motivate them. (NT4, Interview 3, End of focus on the content to be covered and on the
Year 2) syllabus. This has to do with the students,
because whenever I try to organize a different
Although new teachers admitted that flexibility, activity, they take advantage of that and they
responsiveness and diversity were key elements in mess around. And then I don’t feel like doing it
good teaching, they also emphasized the difficulty in again, so I lecture them and classes become
dealing with students effectively. They acknowl- boring. I feel unmotivatedy Students do not
edged that disciplinary problems were still prevalent respond to my teachingy and I start to work
during their second year of teaching, despite their according to a set of routines and I become a
greater knowledge of students and of the classroom boring teachery (NT5, Interview 3, Beginning
setting. In fact, this relates to teacher change, in so of Year 2)
far as, as the teachers themselves recognized, there
I feel a bit frustrated. I think that I am now a
was a shift in their teaching from a more inductive
more traditional teacher, a teacher who lectures
and student-centered approach towards a more
the kidsy Basically I lecture them, I make them
‘traditional’ and teacher-centered one (even if their
do some exercises and I assess their work. (NT10,
beliefs pointed to the opposite direction), owing to
Interview 3, Beginning of Year 2)
problems associated with classroom management
and student control. The dilemma between provid- This ‘traditional’ (in their own terms) way of
ing students with a pleasant learning environment, approaching teaching was driven by a similar
which was associated with issues of flexibility and pattern in which three main and linear tasks were
responsiveness to their needs, versus keeping order followed: lecturing/explaining new topics, students
in the classroom, was at the forefront of the working on their own and assessing their work,
teachers’ responses. leaving behind issues of flexibility, individuality and
the process of learning itself. These findings lend
You have to be very careful with the students, support to earlier work (Vonk & Schras, 1987)
otherwise they go too far. The more you are which has also identified an increasing emphasis on
flexible, the more they cause problems inside a more traditional approach to teaching experienced
the classroom. (NT2, Interview 3, Beginning of by new teachers. In other words, most of the new
Year 2) teachers (10 out of 14) perceived that they became
I became stricter and more demanding. I even more traditional and teacher-centered. Some of
tried new strategies and activities inside the them reported on the way in which their beliefs and
classroom, but the thing is there is nothing you views of teaching and being a teacher were
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
228 M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232

challenged and revisited as a consequence of their I have changed the way I address students. Now I
making sense of the ‘real world’ of teaching in try to have a closer relationship and I try to move
different contexts. In fact, in their accounts, it is around the classroom, so they can feel they are
possible to identify a contradiction between what it supported. I try to follow the way they solve
is and what it should be. When they described the worksheetsy (NT13, Interview 2, End of Year 1)
teacher’s role and good teaching, issues of flex-
ibility, care, responsiveness to students’ learning Overall, most of the participants highlighted that
needs, and the use of a variety of methods were they became more aware of their responsibility as
recurring features. However, the way they taught teachers. They stressed that they learned how to
went against their initial (ideal) beliefs. Embedded become ‘professionals’, but, at the same time, they
in their practices and in their understanding of their emphasized a deepening of knowledge of themselves
job was a permanent dilemma, which is clearly as ‘persons’. They identified a wide range of learning
highlighted in the following quotation: experiences, varying from practical ways of dealing
with their day-to-day tasks to the learning of the
Sometimes I am not what I want to be as a teacher ‘nitty-gritty’ of teaching (Vonk, 1993), and to a
or what I think I want to be as a teachery (NT5, deeper understanding of themselves both as ‘per-
Interview 3, Beginning of Year 2) sons’ and ‘professionals’. This had implications for
the (trans)formation of their professional identity as
Implicit in this tension is what Keddie (1971) they became more aware of the nature of their job
terms the educationist and the teacher contexts, the and their new role at school which, in most cases,
former being related to ‘how things ought to be’, the conflicted with their view as student teachers.
latter being described as ‘the world of is’ (p. 135,
original emphasis). In other words, teachers’ views 5.3.2. The effects of school culture and leadership:
as educationists may be contradicted in their from creativity to compliance
practices as teachers. There was a clear consensus amongst new
However, other teachers (4 out of 14), according teachers about the powerful effect of the changing
to their own perceptions and to the perceptions of contexts of teaching on the process of learning the
their students, improved over time and became, in ‘language of experience’ (Doecke, Brown, & Lough-
many ways, better teachers. Overall, they became ran, 2000). Nevertheless, this occurred mainly in
less strict in their relationship with students and isolation (especially during the second year of
more flexible in their classroom performance. In teaching) with a growing focus on the classroom
other words, a process and student-centered view setting. In their accounts, they stressed that they
was prevalent, in which issues of responsiveness to learned ‘while doing’ and ‘by performing the tasks’
students’ learning needs and abilities, diversity and required of them.
motivation were of paramount importance. They
You learn how to do things by doing them.
became more and more concerned with the peda-
(NT1, Interview 1, Beginning of Year 1)
gogical and moral aspects of their job. To quote two
of them: I think you learn how to perform all the tasks
required of you as a teacher by actually doing
My perspective about teaching has changedy them. (NT13, Interview 2, End of Year 1)
and I think I have changed my behavior as a Now I am not as talkative as I was last year with
teacher. I mean I used to be a student in a private some of my colleagues, because of the problems I
school where there were very strict rules. So, I had last year. It was my first year of teaching and
was used to behaving according to very strict at first I trusted everybody, then I realized that I
rules, not only at the school, but also at home. had to sort out things on my owny (NT11,
Therefore, I became very strict tooy Now I Interview 3, Beginning of Year 2)
realize that I have to be more flexible, I mean I You talk and you give your opinion and you get
cannot be too strict in relation to students, and upset, I mean I got upset several times this year,
that’s why I think I have learned a lot, and I have because I’ve tried to do what I thought was the
changed a lot tooy You have to pay attention to best thing to doy But I realized that the best for
their needs and act accordingly. (NT7, Interview you to do is not to bother and let them [staff and
2, End of Year 1) school administration] goy and this way you
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232 229

don’t get upset and nobody gets upset. (NT8, the way things are. I am aware of people who
Interview 4, End of Year 2) tried to work against the odds andy I mean,
when you work in a school like this one which
Perceptions of school culture and leadership
lacks organization, they [headteacher and her
impacted upon the ways in which new teachers
team] can do whatever they want to, there is too
learned and developed over time. By and large,
much pressure on you, even in bureaucratic
balkanization and competition amongst teachers,
termsy And teachers as colleagues in the same
the ‘normative’ and bureaucratic side of teaching,
profession are not supportive of one another,
the existence of ‘vested interests’ and unwritten and
they just criticize your work and they don’t work
implicit rules at school affected negatively new
as a teamy (NT12, Interview 4, End of Year 2)
teachers’ attitudes and practices, which became less
progressive and innovative. As a result, learning A minority (4) did not follow these patterns. Two
became more and more a lonely process as identity teachers—in one case despite the negative percep-
became both bounded (by the culture) and boun- tion of school culture and leadership—maintained
daried. Little importance was attached to colleagues their enthusiasm and optimism. Interestingly, both
as influencing elements in learning at work. When had given intrinsic motivations for entering teach-
this was the case, the participants referred to young ing. They stated that they were still committed to
colleagues, former colleagues at university and teaching as a career in which, they assumed, they
colleagues teaching the same subject. The lack of could make a positive contribution, especially for
support and guidance from school leaders (head- the benefit of their students. The need to adapt to
teachers reported the lack of provision of an different contexts and to become more flexible in
induction program) and from colleagues led to the teaching according to the students’ own pace and
emergence of idiosyncratic coping strategies as they learning needs were key issues in their accounts.
came to acknowledge the complexity of teaching.
Despite everything, my self-motivation is still
Most of the teachers reported on the ways in
there, although I experience more and more
which they became socialized into the school culture
difficulties. But I think that improvement is
by adopting its norms and values. Using the concept
possible, you can’t create an idealistic idea and
of ‘social strategy’ (Lacey, 1977), most of them,
stick to that idea for good, I mean, you have to
according to their own accounts, tended to adopt an
adapt to different contextsy I would like to give
attitude of ‘strategic compliance’ as time went on.
my best, but I realize that it doesn’t depend only
As they became aware of the way in which schools
on myself wanting that change to happen. But I
operated, most of them claimed that they adopted a
know that I can change something for my students
‘step-back’ and more compliant attitude (Lacey,
and I can see the result of my trying hard. And it’s
1977). They described the way in which they started
all that I need to feel that change is possible, that
to comply with the norms and values of the
there are good things in teaching, that there is a
workplace, despite the fact that they did not match
positive perspective in teaching despite the huge
their own beliefs and values. Conservatism and
amount of things which work against youy
compliance emerged in their accounts as character-
(NT11, Interview 4, End of Year 2)
istics of their identities, replacing their initial
enthusiasm and, in a sense, their proactive attitude Two other teachers seemed to have ‘recovered’
(emphasized at the beginning of the first year of their lost idealism and optimism during their second
teaching). This shift was described as a gradual year of teaching. They emphasized that the less
process as they got to know the way in which positive experience of their first year of teaching
schools (and their colleagues) operated. Individual- (and of their teaching practice) led them to feelings
ism, low morale and commitment amongst teachers, of disenchantment and disappointment. Teaching in
the existence of ‘vested interests’ and the excessive a different context, however, was to bring about a
bureaucracy within teaching were recurring themes very positive and rewarding experience, due espe-
referred to by teachers to account for the loss of cially to student motivation, commitment and
idealism, the emergence of routines and sense of achievement and positive perceptions of school
‘giving up’. culture and leadership.
In terms of your work in school, the best for you This year I could realize that the idea that I had
to do is ‘do what other people do’, I mean, that’s created during my teaching practice and last year
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
230 M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232

that students were not motivated and that there teachers’ practices and their beliefs about them-
was a distant relationship amongst teachers selves as teachers—and in reshaping teacher iden-
wasn’t true in every context. Now I can say that tity—also emerges from the data.
there are some schools and some contexts where The identities of the new teachers in this research
you can find a good atmosphere like in this had been strongly personally embedded at the
oney and this makes you feel like working beginning of their teaching careers, but destabilized
herey (NT4, Interview 4, End of Year 2) by the negative school contexts and cultures in
which they worked.
Not surprisingly teachers who taught in schools The meanings, values, images and ideals of what
in which there was supportive, informative and it meant to be a teacher with which they entered
encouraging leadership and effective working rela- teaching were challenged and, for many, teaching
tionships amongst staff were more likely to reveal became more routine, more rule governed and less
positive attitudes toward teaching. However, perso- creative. The influence of workplace (positive or
nal biography also played a significant part in negative—perceptions of school culture and leader-
explaining both similarities and differences amongst ship) played a key role in (re)shaping teachers’
teachers, and particularly the ways in which they understanding of teaching, in facilitating or hinder-
made sense of their teaching and learning experi- ing their professional learning and development,
ences in two different school settings. and in (re)constructing their professional identities.
Despite the strong connections between personal
6. Conclusions biography and stable sense of identity, it is clear
that in most if not all cases, history was mediated by
The research has highlighted the powerful inter- context.
action between personal histories and the contextual For these new teachers, then, identities were
influences of the workplace. Teachers who worked deconstructed and (re)constructed over time accord-
in collaborative cultures were more likely to develop ing to the relative strength of the key influencing
and to demonstrate positive attitudes towards contexts of biography, pre-service programs and
teaching. This corroborates earlier work which has school culture (see Fig. 1).
shown the connection between ‘natural’ and ‘spon- The findings suggest that the relatively weak
taneous’ collaborative working relationships and influence of pre-service programs might be strength-
cultures, and the provision of supportive and more ened by a stronger focus upon opportunities to
meaningful development opportunities for new experience and reflect upon personal biography and
teachers (Cole, 1991; Williams, Prestage, & Bed- the cultural contexts of schools in order that the
ward, 2001) and the effects of workplace conditions tensions between them might be better understood.
on teacher morale, commitment and retention Induction processes, also, need to focus upon the
(Weiss, 1999). However, the key role of personal development of teachers’ construction of identity
biography in mediating the making sense of through exploring of links between personal

Pre-teaching Identity
(Images, implicit theories)

Contexts of Teaching
Past Influences Classroom Practice
Personal Biography School Culture
Initial Teacher Training Leadership
Teaching Practice

Reshaped Identity
(conservatism vs
proactivism)

Fig. 1. Key mediating influences on the formation of teacher identity.

 ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.A. Flores, C. Day / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 219–232 231

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