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we hypothesize that beginning teachers think in qualitatively different ways than their more
experienced colleagues.
Method
This cross-sectional analysis includes selected data from a larger study examining
teachers’ beliefs about the profession. Participants were asked to respond to two broad, open-
ended prompts as part of the survey:
1) Please describe the biggest breakthrough or highlight
you have experienced during your time in the teaching profession
, and
2) Please describe the
greatest struggle or low point you have experienced during your time in the teaching profession
.
Participants
Seventy-five teachers, grades K-9, from a large, suburban district located in the Midwest
participated in this study. Teachers were primarily Caucasian/White (87%) and female (91%).
The majority of participants held a Master’s degree (69%). Teachers in the sample had between
1 and 37 years of experience (
M =
10.7,
SD
= 10.1) and were organized into three categories
based on the conceptual framework: beginning (1-5 years,
n
= 32), mid-career (6-10 years,
n
=
16), and veteran (10+ years,
n
= 27).
Thematic Development
Data were analyzed using an interpretive approach to qualitative content analysis
(Bogdan & Biklen, 2003; Miles & Huberman, 1994)—a multi-step process using the constant
comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). From themes, a coding system was developed
and refined. The system organized into two overarching codes that were designed to capture
subtlety in teachers’ responses—complexity and content.
Complexity
was used to capture the
richness of thinking present in participants’ responses. A response was coded ‘simple’ if it was:
composed of a single theme or multiple themes that offer little or basic reflection, limited in
length without elaboration, or contained a list of themes. ‘Complex’ statements included
contrast or comparison, cause and effect, were analytical or reflective in nature, or discussed the
interconnectedness of two or more themes, people, or perspectives. The responses were also
examined for patterns in topical themes that could be used to capture the focus of teachers’
struggles and successes. The
content
themes focused on self, profession, students, parents,
workplace, and technology. Additional sub-codes were created to capture nuance. See Table 1.
Findings and Discussion
As a whole, teachers’
successes
were most frequently ‘professional’-themed and
‘student’-themed, while their
struggles
indicated equal concerns about the ‘profession,’
‘students,’ and the ‘workplace.’ Alternately, comments about parents were nearly absent in
teachers’ descriptions of success, but were present in their description of struggles (see Table 1).
Teachers’ responses were more frequently crafted in simple statements that focused on singular
themes (61%) than more complex statements that integrated ideas or themes (38%).
Successes across Career Phase
Complexity.
Results indicate that teachers become more complex in their
understandings of success across the three time points (see Table 2). Thirty-nine percent of