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Successes and Struggles of Teaching:
Perspectives of Beginning, Mid-Career, and Veteran Teachers
Dr. Alyson Lavigne and Dr. Amanda Bozack
Wages that are not commensurate with level of education (National Association of
Colleges and Employers [NACE], 2013), demanding responsibilities, and pressures leveraged by
high-stakes testing and evaluation, have led to soaring rates of attrition and a disproportionate
number of beginning teachers in U.S. classrooms. Teacher experience has decreased from a
mode of 15 years in 1978–1988 to five in 2011–2012 (
Ingersoll, Merrill, & Stuckey, 2014
).
And, nearly half of all teachers leave within five years costing U.S. public schools 2.6 billion
dollars annually (Alliance for Excellent Education [AEE], 2004).
These trends in the teaching workforce have important implications for school
improvement, given that teachers show significant growth in their formative years (Henry,
Bastian, & Fortner, 2011; Kersting, Chen, & Stigler, 2013; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005) and
that
all
teacher turnover harms student achievement (Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013). For
these reasons, the insights of mid-career and veteran teachers who have successfully navigated
the treacherous first years are especially important, particularly in comparison to their early-
career counterparts. We wonder: Is there a way of thinking about the struggles and successes
within teaching that buffer teachers from their environmental stressors and supports retention?
Struggles
Beginning teachers often hold idealistic expectations (Rust, 1994), but soon face the
numerous challenges of reality, including: classroom management (Hong, 2012), higher student-
to-teacher ratios, conflicts with pupils, feelings of inadequacy, assignments outside of their
specialization (Manassero, et al., 2006), and a lack of curriculum guidance (Kauffman, et. al.,
2002). Their struggles outnumber successes (Romano, 2008), particularly in teaching students
with special needs and English language learners (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009). These
challenges can lead to burnout (Gavish & Friedman, 2010), increasing a teacher’s desire to leave
the profession (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010), especially without support from administrators,
mentors, and assistance from colleagues (Alhija & Fresko, 2010).
Veteran and mid-career teachers also experience challenges that can undermine
motivation—working with unfavorable external policies, poor student behavior, personal life
events, increased paperwork, heavy workloads and long hours, and results-driven systems (Day
& Gu, 2009). Yet, they report a continued desire for meaningful professional development and
recognition of their experience through leadership opportunities (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk
Hoy, 2007).