Abstract
Teacher resilience and wellbeing are current buzzwords. This chapter explores the landscape in which this focus has arisen, looking at the tensions and challenges for teachers and teacher educators. Considering current teacher shortage and recruitment issues in the UK, the author argues that we should be aspiring to a situation where teachers are encouraged to take ownership of their professional position and wellbeing to ‘thrive in’ rather than simply ‘survive’ the profession. Drawing on research from initial teacher education providers across UK, a picture emerges to suggest that teacher educators and mentors are seeking ways to support and sustain early career teachers who are trapped between a state of resistance – opposing mandated practices that bring no benefit to themselves or their students – and one of resilience – acquiescing to those same practices to focus their efforts on managing their effects on workload and students. From an online survey and telephone interviews, the voices of those preparing teachers for the profession illuminate a range of possible approaches to support teachers. This presentation will ask if a paradigm shift is called for in the way resilience is framed for the profession.
Author Information
D'Reen Struthers, UCL-IoE, United Kingdom
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