Language Teacher Wellbeing across the Career Span

Astrid Mairitsch, Sonja Babic, Sarah Mercer, Giulia Sulis

Description

Responds to the need for more research into how to support language teachers though periods of high occupational stress

This book explores language teacher wellbeing across the career span from an ecological perspective. It reports on empirical findings from an extensive investigation into language teacher wellbeing in various social, cultural and linguistic contexts. It is unique in casting light on the professional trajectory of language teachers and opening up discussions on the characteristics, psychological needs and strengths of language teachers at different points in their careers. It examines wellbeing in terms of the dynamic interplay between the challenges individuals encounter in their personal and professional lives, and the psychological, social and contextual resources that they draw on to buffer the impact of these challenges. The findings of the study will help readers to understand how language teachers can protect and nurture their wellbeing, not only to remain in the profession, but also to thrive in the long-term. The book will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the lives, wellbeing and psychology of language teachers in diverse contexts and career phases.

Tables and Figures

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Language Teacher Wellbeing

Chapter 3. Pre-Service Language Teachers

Chapter 4. Early-Career Language Teachers

Chapter 5. Mid-Career Language Teachers

Chapter 6. Late-Career Language Teachers         

Chapter 7. Teacher Wellbeing Across the Career Span

Chapter 8. Implications and Future Directions

Appendices

References

Index

Sujets

• Disciplines
• Language Arts
• Teaching
• EDUCATION
• Lettres et linguistique
• Ecological Systems Theory
• Teacher education
• Study
• Professional
• Personality
• Postgraduate education
• Research
• Postgraduate
• SLA

Informations

• Publié par: Channel View Publications
• Date de parution: 12 avril 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781800412828
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Language Teacher Wellbeing across the Career Span
PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING
Series Editors : Sarah Mercer , Universität Graz, Austria and Stephen Ryan , Waseda University, Japan
This international, interdisciplinary book series explores the exciting, emerging field of Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching. It is a series that aims to bring together works which address a diverse range of psychological constructs from a multitude of empirical and theoretical perspectives, but always with a clear focus on their applications within the domain of language learning and teaching. The field is one that integrates various areas of research that have been traditionally discussed as distinct entities, such as motivation, identity, beliefs, strategies and self-regulation, and it also explores other less familiar concepts for a language education audience, such as emotions, the self and positive psychology approaches. In theoretical terms, the new field represents a dynamic interface between psychology and foreign language education and books in the series draw on work from diverse branches of psychology, while remaining determinedly focused on their pedagogic value. In methodological terms, sociocultural and complexity perspectives have drawn attention to the relationships between individuals and their social worlds, leading to a field now marked by methodological pluralism. In view of this, books encompassing quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies are all welcomed.
All books in this series are externally peer-reviewed.
Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com , or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK.
PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING: 21
Language Teacher Wellbeing across the Career Span
Giulia Sulis, Sarah Mercer, Sonja Babic and Astrid Mairitsch
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Bristol • Jackson
DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/SULIS2804
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Names: Sulis, Giulia, author. | Mercer, Sarah, author. | Babic, Sonja, author. | Mairitsch, Astrid, author.
Title: Language Teacher Wellbeing across the Career Span/Giulia Sulis, Sarah Mercer, Sonja Babic and Astrid Mairitsch.
Description: Bristol ; Jackson : Multilingual Matters, [2023] | Series: Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching: 21 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “This book explores language teacher wellbeing across the lifespan, casting light on the professional trajectory of language teachers. It reveals the personal and professional challenges and resources of teachers at different phases of their careers, and how they can preserve and nurture their wellbeing and thrive in the long-term”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022055522 (print) | LCCN 2022055523 (ebook) | ISBN 9781800412798 (paperback) | ISBN 9781800412804 (hardback) | ISBN 9781800412828 (epub) | ISBN 9781800412811 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Language and languages—Study and teaching—Psychological aspects. | Language teachers—Mental health. | Well-being.
Classification: LCC P53.7 .S85 2023 (print) | LCC P53.7 (ebook) | DDC 418.0071—dc23/eng/20230315 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022055522
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022055523
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-280-4 (hbk)
ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-279-8 (pbk)
Multilingual Matters
UK: St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol, BS1 2AW, UK.
USA: Ingram, Jackson, TN, USA.
Website: www.multilingual-matters.com
Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters
Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com
Copyright © 2023 Giulia Sulis, Sarah Mercer, Sonja Babic and Astrid Mairitsch.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.
The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned.
Typeset by SAN Publishing Services.
Contents
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
1.1 The Study Presented in this Book
1.2 Organisation of the Book
2 Language Teacher Wellbeing
2.1 What is Wellbeing?
2.2 The Definition of Wellbeing in this Study
2.3 Why Wellbeing Matters?
2.4 Why Teacher Wellbeing?
2.5 What Factors Affect Teacher Wellbeing?
2.6 Why Wellbeing of Teachers Across the Career Trajectory?
2.7 Teacher Wellbeing in Language Education
3 Pre-Service Language Teachers
3.1 Managing Student Life and School Life
3.2 Building Knowledge and Experiencing the Realities of Classroom Life
3.3 Scaffolding Social Support
3.4 Summary
4 Early-Career Language Teachers
4.1 Learning on the Job
4.2 Developing Realism
4.3 Learning to Balance Personal and Professional Lives
4.4 Seeking Support Within School
5 Mid-Career Language Teachers
5.1 Maturing with Experience
5.2 Taking on Additional Responsibilities
5.3 Shifting Centres of Attention
6 Late-Career Language Teachers
6.1 Managing the Transition to Retirement
6.2 Awareness of One’s Age
6.3 Taking Stock
6.4 Summary
7 Teacher Wellbeing Across the Career Span
7.1 Challenges and Resources: Cross-Comparison Across Career Phases
7.2 Lessons Learnt on Challenges and Resources
7.3 A Holistic Perspective on Language Teacher Wellbeing
8 Implications and Future Directions
8.1 Implications
8.2 Future Directions
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
References
Index
Tables and Figures
Tables
Table 1.1 Participants – Phase 1
Table 1.2 Participants – Phase 2
Table 3.1 Pre-service teachers’ biodata and demographic information (pre-pandemic)
Table 3.2 Pre-service teachers’ biodata and demographic information (during the pandemic)
Table 4.1 Early-career teachers’ biodata and demographic information (pre-pandemic)
Table 4.2 Early-career teachers’ biodata and demographic information (during the pandemic)
Table 5.1 Mid-career teachers’ biodata and demographic information (pre-pandemic)
Table 5.2 Mid-career teachers’ biodata and demographic information (during the pandemic)
Table 6.1 Late-career teachers’ biodata and demographic information (pre-pandemic)
Table 6.2 Late-career teachers’ biodata and demographic information (during the pandemic)
Table 7.1 Summary of findings
Figures
Figure 7.1 Our conceptualisation of wellbeing
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our colleagues Jun Jin, Sun Shin, Jim King, Kata Csizér, and Ursula Lanvers for their invaluable contribution to the original FWF-funded project and their help in collecting and analysing some of the data presented in this book. We would also like to thank our colleagues at the ELT Research and Methodology department for their continuous support. Finally, a special acknowledgement goes to all the teachers who participated in the study; without their time and commitment, this book would not have been possible.
This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [project number: P 31261-G29].
1 Introduction
Teachers are essential to the quality of education (Hattie, 2008). Yet, educators across a variety of educational settings are currently experiencing significant levels of occupational stress, burnout, and decreased job satisfaction leading to increasing rates of attrition (Chang, 2009; Vesely et al., 2014). The sources of teachers’ occupational stress are diverse and include factors such as workload, discipline problems, time pressure, conflicts with parents, emotional dissonance, lack of support, job insecurities, and low salaries (Antoniou et al ., 2013; Krause et al. , 2011). The period of the pandemic amplified the challenges and drew attention to the difficulties teachers face in their professional lives, not only in a time of crisis but ongoing (MacIntyre et al ., 2020; Zacher & Rudolph, 2020).
While some of the demands and strains remain similar for teachers across all subjects, for language teachers, there are potentially unique additional stressors. For instance, language teachers often experience intense levels of emotional labour as learners negotiate the close relationships between language, identity, and face (Gkonou & Miller, 2019). The methodologies typically employed to teach languages are also known to be particularly energy-intense compared to other subjects (Borg, 2006). Furthermore, language educators are typically required to deliver lessons in a language that is not their L1, which can lead to a reduced sense of efficacy and language anxiety (Horwitz, 1996). Additional pressure is caused by the ever-growing dominance of English as a lingua franca, which is associated with a sharp decrease in the teaching of other modern languages, thus compromising the professional standing and prospects of those teaching languages other than English (Mason, 2017).
Further challenges may include poor induction and mentoring programmes for beginning language teachers (Mason & Poyatos Matas, 2016), large numbers of students with varied levels of proficiency in language teaching (Mason, 2010), and limited budget and resources for language departments (Ewart, 2009). Additionally, the introduction of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programmes in various settings across the globe and espec