A key tool amongst the strategies used by teachers to combat stress at work is the construction and development of a professional identity. The underlying idea is that professional identity has the potential to prevent or help teachers to overcome burnout, a problem that is increasingly common within the profession. We conducted a multiple case…

Workplace bullying in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector is a pervasive and significant issue in Australia and globally. Workplace bullying can negatively impact early childhood professionals' mental health, contributing to staff turnover and attrition. Given the current, and predicted, future shortages of ECEC staff, it is…

Early childhood educators are key to delivering early childhood education and care (ECEC) for the benefit of children, their families and society alike. For the benefits of ECEC to be realised, however, the educators who deliver these services need to be well. Despite growing attention to attracting and retaining a high-quality early childhood…

This study explored the challenges faced by 23 primary early career teachers (ECTs) in their second, third or fourth years of teaching. Qualitative data were collected through an online semistructured interview. Three themes were evident: parents, workload and behaviour management. These results were also reflected in the review of the literature.…

The past 20 years have seen the steady 'datafication' of school systems -- i.e. the rendering of key aspects of school practice into data that is digitally collected, processed and circulated. In contrast to assumptions of 'data-driven' schools as sites of more efficient and automated forms of data work, this paper examines the extensive human…

Background: Identifying factors implicated in teachers' well-being and turnover intentions is important for driving research, policy, and practice to better support teachers in their work. Aims: This study examined the role of three job resources (autonomy-supportive leadership, relatedness with colleagues and students) and three job demands…

Teacher wellbeing is a growing international concern. Despite teachers' experiences being deleteriously impacted by education policies and organisational conditions, dominant discourses of wellbeing focus on strategies that enhance individual self-management of wellbeing. This paper critically examines teacher wellbeing and the counter-discourses…

Increasing global teacher attrition rates and the difficulty of filling teacher positions in Australian schools have led to rising concerns about teacher supply and demand. While attrition factors and rates have been known for over thirty years, little has changed or improved. This raises the question, 'how and why do some teachers continue while…

The work of teachers is often understood primarily in relation to student learning rather than as a form of labour for the worker in question. While such a focus is understandable, it can fail to recognize the relationship between conditions of work and the character or nature of that work. In this article, we engage with the issue of teachers'…

Australian policymakers are currently attempting to address an 'unprecedented teacher shortage'. Through a survey of 905 teachers in Australian government schools, this paper examines some of the key factors influencing the career intentions of teachers in Australian government schools. Drawing upon the concept of the psychosocial work environment…

While a growing body of research has investigated gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) educators' workplace experiences with the aim of understanding how GSD-inclusivity and awareness in schools impacts these educators' sense of wellbeing and professional identity, far less research has worked specifically with gender diverse educators. Such…

The collection of papers presented in this issue of Critical Studies in Education adds to the expansive body of work on teachers and teaching. Collectively, the papers draw our attention to new ways the field is problematising the emerging and evolving conditions that shape the work, lives and identities of teachers. With this editorial…

This paper explores the hyper-performative expectations of early career teachers (ECTs) in the context of neoliberal education assemblages. The need to support and retain beginning teachers is a salient issue in the context of troubling rates of teacher attrition. The study explores how ECTs perceive teacher identities in response to national…

We examined the role of gender in teachers' perceived autonomy support (PAS), relatedness with students, workplace buoyancy, and organizational commitment. With 276 Australian secondary school teachers, structural equation modelling showed predominant similarities across gender in associations between PAS, relatedness, buoyancy, and commitment.…

The role of two leadership factors (autonomy-supportive and autonomy-thwarting leadership) and one personal resource (workplace buoyancy) were examined as predictors of three teacher outcomes: somatic burden, stress related to change, and emotional exhaustion. Data were collected from 325 Australian teachers in May, 2020 during the first wave of…