It’s Not Better or Worse, It’s Just Different.’: Examining Jamaican Teachers’ Pedagogical and Emotional Experiences During Their First Year of Teaching in the Us

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-14-2011

Publication Title

Teacher Development

DOI

10.1080/13664530.2011.635269

Abstract

The problem of teacher shortage is of grave concern internationally, impacting countries such as the US, England and Australia. One popular approach to addressing issues of teacher attrition has been to hire international teachers (a.k.a. overseas-trained teachers) to fill the gap. In this paper the authors document the challenges and barriers that five Jamaican teachers faced in their first year of teaching in the US school system and the strategies they employed to overcome these difficulties. The study applies qualitative methods, specifically using thematic analysis to thread together the common descriptions the teachers provided of their experiences during that first year. Despite the overwhelming and emotionally charged situations, the teachers were able to draw on their past experiences and a range of cognitive and affective strategies to overcome the challenges. Given the success of these teachers within the US system, the authors believe that an examination of their experiences provides knowledge about ways we can improve the effectiveness of the teacher induction process.

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