How early-career teachers can develop resilience
Written By: Author(s): Ian Flintoff
8 min read
An exploration of resilience and how new teachers can develop it, with help of their school
The abiding challenge of our times in schools is to recruit, train and retain our teachers. Effective teachers are those that have developed resilience within the many daily challenges and for whom their working environment provides the necessary support to maintain commitment over the span of a career.
This article explores the concept of resilience in psychological and educational research, what it might mean for early-career teachers and how it is built. I draw on the outcomes of my research with trainees on a large school-based training course to suggest what may be useful to both individuals and to schools in developing resilience in their early years of teaching.
The concept of resilience
Psychological literature
The nature of resilience is well-explored in psychological literature. In a review of 122 studies Meredith et al., (2011) use an operational definition “resilience is the capacity to adapt successfully in the presence of risk and adversity”. Other researchers s
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This article was published in May 2018 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.
References
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