Self-determination: Using Agency, Efficacy and Resilience (AER) to Counter Novice Teachers’ Experiences of Intensification

Abstract

The intensification process associated with the first year of teaching has a significant impact on beginning teachers' personal and professional lives. This paper uses a narrative approach to investigate the electronic conversations of 16 beginning teachers on a selfinitiated group email site. The participants' electronic exchanges demonstrated their qualities of agency, efficacy and resilience (AER), and an increased sense of self-determination as they journeyed through the five phases typical of first year teacher experience. Findings suggest that the provision of similar peer-based support mechanisms would benefit other beginning teachers, perhaps working to counteract current high attrition rates from the profession.