Careers Under Stress: Teacher Adaptations at a Time of Intensive Reform |
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| Authors: | Geoff Troman Peter Woods |
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| Institution: | (1) The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | There is currently a crisis of recruitment and retention of teachers in the United Kingdom. One feature of this trend is the number of teachers who are leaving the profession prematurely in reaction to the changed nature and organization of their work. This article focuses on how the crisis was experienced at the level of the individual. It explores the perceptions and interpretations of a group of teachers who left teaching or who considered leaving but remained by making adaptations to their roles; adaptations of retreatism; downshifting; and self-actualisation. The article uses data from a longitudinal study of a sample of English primary school teachers who are experiencing or have experienced occupational stress and stress-related illness. Unpredictable and stress-induced breaks in the teachers' careers are defined as `fateful moments' involving a `reassessment' and `redefinition' of each teacher's self, commitment and career. This case study of teacher stress makes emerging patterns and experiences of teacher career in the conditions of `late modernity' highly visible. The article concludes by arguing that the new and unplanned disruption in careers can involve the teachers in repeated re-inventions of the self (a stressful and convoluted process in itself) and that a reconceptualisation of teacher career is required. |
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