The Socialization of a Novice English Teacher Into an Urban Public School : Possibilities and Challenges to Become an Agent of Change

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Teacher induction comprises the first years of in-service teaching. To analyze this stage, the literature presents three conceptualizations: Induction as a formal program, a situated learning process and induction as a socialization process. This study revolves around the last perspective. This one conceives induction as the interplay among teacher professional interests and school factors as novice teachers enter specific school contexts. This exploratory case study reports the analysis of the induction as a socialization process of a Colombian novice English teacher into an urban secondary school. Since critical approaches to socialization highlight the role of novice teachers as agents of change or professionals able to disclose political issues and participate in critical school transformation, this study also aims to disclose his possibilities and challenges to play that role during his induction. The data collection procedures included interviews, class observations and document analysis. The findings revealed that his socialization was not a smooth transition and his challenges and possibilities to contribute to school transformation differed in accordance with the interplay among his professional interests and school factors. Two main trends underlay this process: a reactive struggle with some school factors and a proactive encounter with others. Concerning the former, the data analysis revealed that his interaction with factors such as lack of formal induction, a distant relation with administrators, lack of collaborative work among teachers and an inappropriate teaching load reflect the absence of institutional support as well as a disregard of his novice teacher status. Eventually, this situation decreased his level of job satisfaction, commitment and sense of belonging. With reference to the second trend, the teacher’s actions and decisions when dealing with factors such as the school’s discipline approach, relation with students, students’ low academic performance and a predetermined curriculum revealed his rejection of the school’s authoritarian discipline approach, the hierarchical teacher-student relationship and his commitment to provide quality education. However, despite his challenging socialization process, he managed to materialize classroom-level actions that revealed his role as agent of change. This reveals the importance of providing novice teachers with support that encourages them to actively participate in critical school-reform.