Our pan-Canadian research study examined the differential impact of teacher induction and mentorship programs on the early-career teachers' retention. Using the results from a pan-Canadian "Teacher Induction Survey" (N = 1343), we compared ECTs' experiences with induction, mentorship and career development within their first five years.…

The beginning years of a teacher's career can be an overwhelming experience, and combined with being in an isolated, fly-in community, particularly during a pandemic, can be debilitating. This qualitative research is aimed to support and account for the story of a Black Afro-Caribbean, early career teacher (ECT) in a Northern Ontario First Nation…

Early career teachers continue to flee the profession in many countries around the world. In a series of our own studies, we have attempted to better understand the intentions of early career teachers. In this paper, we build on themes that emerged in a 2015 study, published in Teaching Education, with 40 second- and third-year teachers, and…

Our pan-Canadian research study examined the differential impact of teacher induction and mentorship programs on the early career teachers' retention. This article details the stories from our interview participants (N=36) in relation to what their lived experiences were during their first years of teaching and how they dealt with the…

This research revealed several themes that have an impact on six novice teacher participants as: understanding school culture and how they navigate the nuances within, what it means to be an effective teacher, access to mentors or mentorship programming, effective mentorship qualities, and school policies on mentorship. The literature supports the…

This article aims to describe teacher induction (TI) with reference to two physical and health education (PHE) teachers based on three variables: 1) self-efficacy, 2) motivation and 3) satisfaction. Our case study relies on individual telephone interviews conducted during each teacher's first five years of teaching and allows for describing the…

In this paper, we focus on questions around who we are as teacher educators as well as our responsibilities in helping pre-service teachers compose forward-looking stories as they prepare to begin teaching. We draw on the results of two studies in this paper: one a semi-structured interview study with 55 second- and third-year teachers in two…

We began this research by asking questions about the high number of teachers who leave teaching in their first five years of teaching. The literature on early career teacher attrition (Borman & Dowling, 2008; Guarino, Santibanez & Daly, 2006; Macdonald, 1999; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004) left us with wonders around the experiences of…

Early career teacher attrition has most often been conceptualized as either a problem associated with individual factors (e.g. burnout) or a problem associated with contextual factors (e.g. support and salary). This study considered early career teacher attrition as an identity making process that involves a complex negotiation between individual…

The field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) is similar to other fields in that we must not take it for granted that novice teachers will survive their first year without some kind of support. This paper outlines how three novice ESL teachers in Canada survived their first year without any support from the school they were…

In this paper, the authors review current practices in pre-service teacher education. They suggest that radical improvements are possible and that, if practiced, would help mediate many of the pressures young teachers face. To do so, the authors: 1) outline the experiences of young teachers to consider how teachers might thrive in a difficult…

This paper explores why beginning teachers in Saskatchewan chose to enter the profession and the importance of these motivations in their first year as teachers. More specifically, using survey and interview methodologies, the purpose of this study was to: (1) investigate the entry motivations of Saskatchewan beginning teachers; (2) determine if…

This study examines the relationship between the reported career intentions and perceptions of preparedness of graduating secondary teachers in Quebec, across a two-year period, in an effort to identify factors which contribute to growing attrition rates among beginning teachers. The study reveals that those beginning teachers most concerned with…

In recent years, it has been reported that an alarming number of teachers are leaving the profession in the first three years after graduation from a pre-service program. This phenomenon is common in North America and it is essential that educators identify the challenges surrounding new teachers and provide supports to assist them. The vast…

This article is a recollection of events as the author began her teaching career. Her first experience was an "alternative route" she claims, since it involved her joining the Peace Corps and accepting a teaching position in Uganda. In the article, she discusses that although the breadth and depth of induction programs vary widely both…