Research Approach
This project will be conducted over four interrelated phases:
A National Policy Audit which will examine existing policy documents framing early career teacher induction across the country. The intention is to provide a basis for critical policy analysis in order to better understand the ways in which precariously employed new teachers are supported to learn how to manage student behaviour. |
A National Overview of Early Career Teachers’ Induction Experiences which will demonstrate how induction policies are enacted in practice. A robust statistical examination of how induction practices contribute to early career teachers’ capacity to manage student behaviour in the classroom will be presented.
Illustrative Case Studies which will untangle the complexity of induction experiences that support precariously employed early career teachers to manage student behaviour in preventative and educative ways. These case studies will identify and explain precariously employed teachers’ experiences of induction policies and practices as well as providing the impetus for fresh insights and alternative solutions.
A Set of Policy Alternatives for education systems, generated through informed deliberation with key industry stakeholders. Insights gained through these discussions will be assembled into a set of research-based guides which can support good policy and practice in relation to the employment and induction of early career teachers.
As an education policy study, the focus of the investigation will be on understanding policies that guide induction, and how policies are enacted in practice. Accordingly, the study will develop of a set of policy alternatives for education systems.
Illustrative Case Studies which will untangle the complexity of induction experiences that support precariously employed early career teachers to manage student behaviour in preventative and educative ways. These case studies will identify and explain precariously employed teachers’ experiences of induction policies and practices as well as providing the impetus for fresh insights and alternative solutions.
A Set of Policy Alternatives for education systems, generated through informed deliberation with key industry stakeholders. Insights gained through these discussions will be assembled into a set of research-based guides which can support good policy and practice in relation to the employment and induction of early career teachers.
As an education policy study, the focus of the investigation will be on understanding policies that guide induction, and how policies are enacted in practice. Accordingly, the study will develop of a set of policy alternatives for education systems.
Research Benefit
The ongoing teacher shortage is a major crisis for education in Australia. Despite an already high attrition rate, the precarious nature of casualised and contractualised employment for many early career teachers is contributing towards unsatisfactory and often stressful working conditions, leading to even greater numbers leaving the profession. The loss of highly trained quality teachers has severe economic implications for the education sector which urgently needs to recruit and train new teachers to replenish an ageing workforce, and profoundly impacts the capacity of schools to support the educational engagement and attainment of students. While induction programs have been introduced to support early career teachers’ transition into the workplace, they are targeted towards those in long-term employment and neglect those on casual or short-term contracts who make up the majority of the early career teacher workforce.
By seeking to understand precariously employed early career teachers’ experiences of induction, this project will generate important new knowledge to inform teacher workforce development. Moreover, by focusing on the way in which new teachers learn how to manage student behaviour, there is the potential to improve the way teachers discipline students and keep them engaged in their education.
By seeking to understand precariously employed early career teachers’ experiences of induction, this project will generate important new knowledge to inform teacher workforce development. Moreover, by focusing on the way in which new teachers learn how to manage student behaviour, there is the potential to improve the way teachers discipline students and keep them engaged in their education.