Graduate Preparedness for the Transition to Teaching: An Examination of Predictors of Transitional Difficulties during the First Year of Employment

Abstract

This thesis focused on the transition from university education to the first year of teaching. This may be a difficult transition, with several researchers reporting that 20% to 25% of newly qualified teachers do not teach beyond the first five years (Fimian & Blanton, 1987; Goddard & O'Brien, 2003a; Keeffe, Patton, & Spooner-Lane, 2005; Mackel, 2002; Stevens, Parker, & Burroughs, 2007), and that some teachers may experience symptoms of burnout after just eight months of employment (Fimian & Blanton, 1987; Goddard & O'Brien, 2003a, 2003b, 2006; O'Brien, O'Keeffe, & Goddard, 2008). The aim of this thesis was to examine graduate preparedness for teaching, and identify a set of skills and personal resources that may ameliorate burnout and turnover intentions during the first year of employment. Theories of Person-Environment Fit, along with the adaptation approach to stress, were adopted as conceptual frameworks for the thesis, and possible determinants of Demands-Abilities and Supplies-Values Fit were examined as resources that may enhance graduate preparedness and prevent burnout and turnover intentions. More specifically, graduates‟ perceptions of their own competency (perceived competency), their teaching self-efficacy and the training pathways they had followed to obtain their qualifications were considered as factors that may enhance Demands-Abilities Fit; while the graduates‟ sense of commitment to their careers (career commitment), their expectations regarding the rewards associated with teaching (reward expectations) and their expectations of the difficulties they would face in the workplace (challenge expectations) were considered as factors that may impact on Supplies-Values Fit.