Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2010, Page 89

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 19(1–2)/2010 89
m a r Í a S t e i n g r Í m S d Ót t i r
“Now I may just know what the job is all about”
Teachers‘ experience from their first five years of teaching
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In this article, a research from 2004 on newly graduated primary school teachers is
followed up. In this new study all eight teachers who participated in the original
research were interviewed again in order to shed some light on how they have fared
during their first five professional years. The aim of the study is to examine how
the teachers‘ experience from these first five years have affected their professional
development and methods. Seven of the eight teachers still work in the schools they
started their professional careers in five years ago, but one has moved between schools
within her home municipality. The schools in question are both relatively large schools
in an urban setting and smaller rural schools. Each participant was interviewed once
in the spring of 2008, as they were about to complete their fifth year of teaching.
Results from the study add further weight to the signs that were evident in the
original research, i.e. that Icelandic elementary school teachers still have much to learn
when they complete their studies and enter their professional field. They also appear
to need a certain period for adaptation during which they learn what this complex
and multiform job consists of. It seems clear that the support teachers receive in
their first professional years needs to be strengthened to ensure that they acquire the
necessary skills as quickly as possible. This support has to be applied to social, practical
and professional aspects of the job.
There are clear signs that the informants have matured as teachers during their first
five professional years. In this respect they particularly mention increased professional
security and self-confidence. Their increased sense of security appears to stem from
them believing themselves to have mastered important aspects of teaching to a
greater degree, which in turn strengthens their self-confidence. They believe that their
organization, preparation and execution of teaching has become more effective and
they find it easier to specify their teaching approach at each time. They now master a
wider variety of teaching methods and enjoy greater success as regards disciplinary
matters and controlling entire classes. Their skills in communicating with pupils,
parents, fellow teachers and their superiors have improved and the social and
educational well-being of their pupils is of great importance to them. With respect
to this last point they believe that good connections with parents and custodians are
imperative and feel that they now have more and more varied ways of communicating
with them. The self-confidence and sense of security which the teachers have gained
appears to be the foundation of the skills they have acquired in these five years.
At the same time as teachers find their feet in the school community their
cooperation with fellow teachers increases and this is highly valued by the informants.
They find this cooperation supportive and believe that it provides them with
important feedback and encouragement as regards their professional improvement
and well-being.