從理想到現實：臺灣高中初任英文教師第一年教學的現實衝擊與應對方式

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(1)國立臺灣師範大學英語學系碩. 士. 論. 文. Master’s Thesis Department of English National Taiwan Normal University. 從理想到現實：臺灣高中初任英文教師第一年教學的現實衝擊與應對方式. When Expectation Meets Reality: Taiwanese High School Novice English Teachers’ Reality Shock and Coping Strategies in the First Year of Teaching. 指導教授：葉. 錫. 南. Advisor: Dr. Hsi-Nan Yeh 研究生：陳. 英. 學. Ying-Hsueh Chen. 中華民國一百零七年二月 February 2018.

(2) 摘要本研究旨在探討臺灣高中英文初任教師在第一年授課時所面臨的現實衝擊、造成衝擊之可能原因、以及解決問題的策略。為達成研究目的，本研究進行為期一年的個案研究（106 學年），透過訪談與課室觀察，深入了解四名位於大台北地區教學的高中英文初任教師之教學成長歷程。研究結果顯示如下：第一，初任教師的實習與教學經驗不相符，以及初任教師本身的專業知識與能力發展為其在第一年教學時遭遇到現實衝擊的主因。再者，研究發現，時間不足、課程規劃、流程安排、以及教學能力不夠熟練等問題，在第一年教學中對於初任教師影響最劇，雖然初任教師在其他如班級經營以及行政工作等層面也有面臨困難，但其並未對初任教師造成嚴重影響。最後，本研究發現，初任教師在面對現實衝擊與困難時所得到或尋求的協助，可粗略分為以下七種：自我嘗試、輔導教師與同事、共同修習師資培育課程的同學、同為英語教師的朋友、參加研討會與工作坊、學生，以及家人；其中，同事對於初任教師的協助，被認為是最俱全面性與最有效益的。文末，將根據本研究結果，對未來研究提出建議，期許能幫助臺灣高中英文初任教師減少第一年教學時的現實衝擊。. 關鍵字：現實衝擊、初任教師、以英語為外語、師資培育、初任教師導入策略. ii.

(3) ABSTRACT The present study aims to delve into Taiwanese high school novice English teachers’ first year of teaching experiences in order to identify potential causes and problems of reality shock and the types of coping strategies and resources that they employed to overcome these difficulties. To achieve the research aim, a case study was conducted, involving four novice English teachers who worked in different senior high schools in Greater Taipei area. Research data was collected via semi-structured interviews and classroom observations throughout the 2017 academic year. Based on the analysis of the collected data, three major findings were identified. First, the participants’ reality shock seemed to be derived from the discrepancy between their pre-service and in-service teaching experiences and the development of their professional knowledge and competence. Second, the problems of not having sufficient time and being unskillful in conducting effective instruction were discovered to be the most critical to the participants. The impact of other problems, such as classroom management and administrative duties, appeared to be mild. Lastly, the study identified seven types of sources that helped the participants to cope with their reality shock, including self-endeavor, their mentors and colleagues, classmates from the same teacher education institutes, friends of the same profession, seminars and workshops, their students, and family members. Among all, the assistance provided by their colleagues was found to be the most comprehensive and helpful. In the end, some suggestions and recommendations for future studies were made in the hope of reducing Taiwanese novice English teachers’ reality shock in the initial year of teaching.. Key words: reality shock, novice teachers, English as a foreign language, teacher education, novice teacher induction. iii.

(4) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to pay tribute to several people who have helped me complete my master’s thesis. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Hsi-Nan Yeh, who was always patient in answering my questions and provided me with practical and valuable advice in organizing my thesis. I would also like to express my thankfulness to my dearest committee members, Dr. Yuh-Show Cheng from National Taiwan Normal University and Dr. Ya-Ming Tai from National Taipei University of Education, for spending considerable time discussing how to help me refine my thesis. In addition, I want to express my gratefulness to all the professors in the NTNU TESOL program. Their professional guidance and inspiration have sharpened my critical thinking ability and has equipped me with sufficient research competence and knowledge to accomplish my study. My thesis could never be completed without the participation of David, Tiffany, Angela, Judy, and Cynthia. I am deeply thankful that they accepted my request and were willing to be observed and interviewed for one year despite being paralyzed by numerous tasks and challenges. Their commitment and personal stories have indeed enriched my thesis and my life, which I will never forget. Furthermore, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my friends Jessy, Angela, and Byes, and my classmates Vivian, Rita, Annie, Amy, Sherry Wu, and Sherry Lee in the NTNU TESOL program for giving me strong emotional support whenever I felt depressed. To me, the process of writing thesis was tremendously painful and lonely. Their constant comfort, company, and words of encouragement have eased away my concern, helped me build up my confidence, and driven me to persevere in finishing my thesis. I am truly lucky to have them all in my life. Finally, I would like to show my greatest appreciation to my family, who is always supportive and never gave me pressure on completing my thesis. They took. iv.

(5) good care of me when I was sick and under enormous pressure, and they were always patiently listening to my complaint without making ruthless comments. My love to them is beyond description, and I am extremely blissful to be a part of this family.. v.

(6) TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION.............................................................................1 Background of the Study........................................................................................1 Teacher Education in Taiwan.........................................................................1 Reality Shock in the Beginning Years of Teaching.......................................3 Coping Strategies: Teacher Induction and Self-initiated Practices................5 Purpose of the Study..............................................................................................8 Significance of the Study.....................................................................................10 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................12 Possible Causes of Reality Shock........................................................................12 Unrealistic Expectations...............................................................................12 A Gap between Pre-service Training and In-service Teaching....................13 A Gap between Practicum and Actual Teaching Experiences.....................14 Problems in the First Year of Teaching...............................................................16 Types of Coping Strategies..................................................................................21 Definition of Teacher Induction...................................................................22 Mentoring.....................................................................................................23 Self-Initiated Practices: One vs. Multiple Assistance Providers..................27 CHAPTER THREE METHOD....................................................................................32 Participants and Sites...........................................................................................32 Selection Mechanism...................................................................................32 Background of the Participants....................................................................35 Data Collection Procedure...................................................................................39 Interview.....................................................................................................40 Classroom Observation...............................................................................43 Data Analysis Procedure......................................................................................44 vi.

(7) CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS......................................................................................46 Merlin...................................................................................................................46 Lily.......................................................................................................................60 Ronda...................................................................................................................74 Betty.....................................................................................................................90 Angel....................................................................................................................94 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION...........................................110 Reality Shock: Problems and Causes.................................................................110 Not Having Sufficient Time.......................................................................110 Struggling with What to Teach and How to Teach....................................113 Struggling to Manage the Class.................................................................116 Summary....................................................................................................118 Coping Strategies...............................................................................................119 Instruction...................................................................................................119 Classroom Management.............................................................................127 Administrative Work..................................................................................128 Affections...................................................................................................129 Assimilation into the Teaching Context.....................................................130 Summary....................................................................................................131 Implications of the Findings...............................................................................132 Teacher Education Institutes......................................................................132 Senior High Schools...................................................................................135 Novice Teachers.........................................................................................136 Limitations of the Present Study and Suggestions for Future Research............137 REFERENCES...........................................................................................................140 APPENDIX................................................................................................................146. vii.

(8) LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Sources of Problems that Novice Teachers may Face in the First Year of Teaching................................................................................................................20 Table 2. Summary of the Participants and the Research Sites.....................................34 Table 3. Assigned Duties of the Participants...............................................................36 Table 4. Data Collection Schedule: Interview.............................................................41. viii.

(9) CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION This chapter was divided into three sections. The first section gave a brief introduction to the background of the present study, incorporating the teacher education in Taiwan, the reality shock that novice teachers may face in their initial years of teaching, and the coping strategies they may employ to reduce their reality shock. The second section demonstrated the areas where the previous research has yet to cover and the factors that have not been taken into consideration in examining the reality shock and its coping strategies, clarified the purpose of the present study, and ended with the proposal of the research questions. Illustrated in the last section was the significance of the present study, that is, the contribution the present study wishes to make.. Background of the Study Teacher Education in Taiwan Teaching is often considered a sacred and influential career since it has a significant impact on the lives of the youth. Through teaching, teachers need to not just pass down knowledge of a particular field. They are also expected to teach things beyond the scope of their expertise, such as morality, critical thinking, and ways to cooperate and interact with the peers, which are all important elements of socialization, that is, the process of becoming a member of a society. From the comprehensive nature of teaching, it is apparent that the road towards becoming a qualified teacher is never easy. In Taiwan, to become a qualified English teacher, a student needs to first fulfill certain requirements so as to gain admission to a teacher education program. The requirements usually vary from one university to another. However, in general, it. 1.

(10) is mandatory for students to maintain good academic performance and reach a certain score threshold on well-recognized English proficiency tests, such as TOEFL and TOEIC. After the admission, those “teachers-to-be” need to undergo fundamental trainings from two institutes respectively, the teacher education program and the Department of English. The former provides courses that aim to equip students with knowledge about education and relative issues in general, such as fundamental theories of teaching, psychology of teaching, and philosophy of teaching; while the latter provides courses that enrich and expand their professional knowledge in the field of English language teaching and learning, which, according to Richards (1988), can be categorized into six domains, including general theories of teaching, teaching skills, communication skills, subject matter knowledge, pedagogical reasoning and decision making, and contextual knowledge. Among all, pedagogical reasoning and decision making, also known as “pedagogical content knowledge” (Shulman, 1986), was recognized as “the essence of teaching” since it embodies “the capacity of a teacher to transform the content knowledge he or she possesses into forms that are pedagogically powerful and yet adaptive to the variations in ability and background presented by the students” (Shulman, 1987, p.15). Without proper training of pedagogical reasoning and decision making, a teacher may be unable to design lessons or activities that cater for his or her students’ needs. Some researchers have suggested that instead of emphasizing the instruction of theories and teaching pedagogies, the knowledge of teaching should be accumulated through the practice of teaching, that is, learning by doing (Lortie, 1975; Veenman, 1984). Being aware of the significance of learning by doing, almost every teacher education program in Taiwan provides student teachers with various means to convert their professional knowledge into real use in the pre-service training. Activities such as practice teaching, microteaching, and practicum are commonly 2.

(11) administered. Among all, practicum is often thought of as the most crucial pre-training activity since student teachers have to completely immerse themselves in a particular teaching context for approximately 6 months, taking similar responsibilities as the qualified teachers do, including doing administrative work and supervising a class. These early hands-on experiences may help student teachers identify the deficiencies they have and make further improvement. These experiences may also help student teachers realize the complicated nature of teaching and learn how to cope with unexpected incidents occurring in the classroom. Most important of all, these teaching experiences may help student teachers to realize the discrepancy between the ideal and the reality, and help them better adapt to the future career in advance.. Reality Shock in the Beginning Years of Teaching With thorough trainings and various opportunities provided by teacher education institutes, the problems that student teachers may face after becoming qualified teachers should have been effectively reduced. However, according to the studies in recent decades, the transition from pre-service training to in-service teaching still remains problematic (Veenman, 1984; Ryan, 1986; Olson & Osborne, 1991; Hebert & Worthy, 2001; Moir & Gless, 2001; Wang, Odell, & Schwille, 2008; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011; Bickmore, 2013). Studies have shown that most novice teachers still suffer from “reality shock,” the feeling derived from the situation where the expectation of the novice teachers is not in accordance with what they truly experience in the initial years of real teaching (Gaede, 1978). The initial years of teaching were considered the most challenging yet crucial period throughout the entire teaching career. Studies have also shown that novice teachers have been under enormous stress since they are expected to take the same 3.

(12) responsibility as the experienced teachers, even though they have nearly no teaching experience and are still familiarizing themselves to the school context and culture (Wildman, Niles, Magliaro, & McLaughlin, 1989; Wang, Odell, & Schwille, 2008). Even worse, studies have indicated that beginning teachers are sometimes assigned to the most challenging classes and given tremendous workload, compared to other experienced colleagues (Veenman, 1984; Olson & Osborne, 1991; Hebert & Worthy, 2001; Moir & Gless, 2001; Farrell, 2003; Wang, Odell, & Schwille, 2008; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011; Bickmore, 2013). Marso and Pigge (1987) maintained that “work load, equipment of teaching, inservice help, and physical facilities were found to be the four top ranked job conditions contributing most to the feelings of reality shock” (p.54). These feelings of reality shock would further provoke novice teachers’ negative emotions, such as frustration, self-doubt, anxiety, and fear (Olson & Osborne, 1991; Hebert & Worthy, 2001; Meyer, 2002; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011; Bickmore, 2013), and might have high probability to hinder novice teachers’ professional development. Terrible working conditions may not be the sole cause to the problem of reality shock and the rise of negative emotions. Studies have revealed that novice teachers often felt the pre-service training they received “were too theoretical and too impractical” (Marso & Pigge, 1987, p.54), and thus might not offer appropriate assistance for them to face the authentic teaching context (Olson & Osborne, 1991; Hebert & Worthy, 2001). The discrepancy of the relatedness between pre-service preparation and in-service teaching experiences often leads to a series of pedagogical problems. Veenman (1984) conducted an international review on the problems that novice teachers experienced and identified eight common pedagogical problems that novice teachers frequently faced, including classroom discipline, motivating students, dealing with individual differences, assessing students’ work, relationships with 4.

(13) parents, organization of class work, insufficient or inadequate teaching materials and supplies, and dealing with problems of individual students. Sadly, novice teachers were often left alone when facing all sorts of problems and concerns resulting from the reality shock. Analogies, such as “sink or swim approach” (Olson & Osborne, 1991, p.331), “trial by fire” (Moir & Glass, 2001; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011), and “trial and error search” (Olson & Osborne, 1991; Hebert & Worthy, 2001), were used by different researchers to depict how hopeless and struggling novice teachers were in their first years of teaching. To help alleviate the situation, more and more researchers on the issue of reality shock shifted their focus from examining the problems that novice teachers face in the first years of teaching to exploring the coping strategies they tend to use to deal with the reality shock.. Coping Strategies: Teacher Induction and Self-initiated Practices Undoubtedly, assistance is essential for novice teachers during their initial years of teaching. Halford (1998) once denounced that teaching would only be a “profession that eats its young” (as cited in Renard, 1999, p.27) without appropriate assistance. Appropriate scaffolding was found to be beneficial to strengthen beginning teachers’ self-confidence, increasing their job-satisfaction, improving their teaching capacity, and even reducing the attrition rate (Huling-Austin, 1992; Meyer, 2002; Kelly, 2004). Results of the studies in regard to assisting novice teachers to reduce their reality shock have shown that teacher induction is the most widely used approach to expedite novice teachers’ adaption to the teaching career (Tomlinson, 1995; Hobson, 2002; Harrison, Dymoke & Pell, 2006; Wang et al., 2008; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). Teacher induction, as defined by Ingersoll and Strong (2011), encompasses various types of assistance, such as orientation sessions, faculty 5.

(14) collaborative periods, meetings with supervisors, developmental workshops, extra classroom assistance, reduced workloads, and mentoring. The purpose of teacher induction is to help novice teachers to adjust the transition of the role from “student of teaching” to “teacher of students.” In addition to role adjustment, recent studies have shown that teacher induction excels in providing instantaneous personal comfort for beginning teachers (Fletcher, 2000; Wang et al., 2008). Among all types of induction assistance, mentoring has been found to be widely administered worldwide and has long been the research focus in the field of teacher induction in the past decade (Fletcher, 2000; Feiman-Nemser, 2001; Moir & Gless, 2001; Meyer, 2002; Harrison et al., 2006; Sundli, 2007; McCann & Johannessen, 2009a, 2009b; Orland & Hasin, 2010). It was defined as “the one-to-one support of a novice or less experienced practitioner by a more experienced practitioner, designed primarily to assist the development of the mentee’s expertise and to facilitate their induction into the culture of the profession and into the specific local context” (Hobson, Ashby, Malderez, &Tomlinson, 2009, p.207). Mentoring was recognized to be able to reduce beginning teachers’ feelings of isolation, increase their confidence and self-esteem, facilitate their professional growth, and improve their self-reflection and problem-solving capacities (McIntyre & Hagger, 1996; Fantilli & McDougall, 2009; Hobson et al., 2009). In other words, mentoring can not only cater to beginning teachers’ emotional needs, but also enable them to be more competent in facing pedagogical problems. Although mentoring was of great benefit to novice teachers in their career adaptation, its effectiveness was found to be easily influenced by some uncontrollable factors such as the school and the mentors (Wang et al., 2008) due to its highly contextualized essence. In general, if the school is not supportive or does not have sufficient resources to provide any induction assistance, novice teachers may not 6.

(15) receive adequate affordance (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011) and will end up relying solely on their own. Time is another important factor that determines the effectiveness of mentoring since it is very difficult for mentors to allocate additional time to provide guidance for novice teachers (Stansbury & Zimmerman, 2000). Selection of mentors, in contrast to the previously mentioned factors, is believed to be the most decisive factor in determining the effectiveness of mentoring. It involves issues of “who” to select and “how” to select. In other words, a mentor should be carefully selected by the school based on their capability, such as having strong interpersonal and pedagogical skills (Mori & Gless, 2001; Stanulis & Floden, 2009; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). If a mentor is not selected well, he or she may slow down or even pose a risk to novice teachers’ professional development. Since there are too many variables to manage so as to ensure the effectiveness of mentoring, some researchers have probed into other types of induction assistance, in which novice teachers change from people who passively receive assistance from the school to those who actively look for resources both inside and outside of the school in order to help themselves assimilate into the unfamiliar working environment, improve their professional knowledge, and cope with the problems they face in the initial years of teaching. These types of assistance are referred to as “self-initiated practices” throughout the present study in order to emphasize the different role that novice teachers play in looking for assistance and the various backgrounds of the assistance providers in these alternatives in contrast to mentoring. Commonly seen self-initiated practices include class observation, study groups, seminars, and workshops (Gilbert, 2005; Fantilli & McDougall, 2009; Bickmore, 2013). Class observation may give novice teachers an opportunity to learn from experienced colleagues without using extra class hours. Study groups, seminars, and workshops have been found to be emotional shelters for novice teachers to voice out their 7.

(16) concerns (Fuller, 1969). They can also give novice teachers opportunities to not only interact with teachers from various schools with different teaching experiences, but also help them be exposed to diverse pedagogical issues related to the subject matter.. Purpose of the Study Studies within the near decades have incorporated the identification of possible causes to the reality shock, problems that novice teachers may encounter in the initial years of teaching, and feasible coping strategies that can mitigate their reality shock. However, the results of the aforementioned studies still seem to be insufficient to provide detailed insights into how high school novice EFL teachers in Taiwan cope with the feelings of reality shock and how they have grown and improved from the chaotic initial years of teaching. The possible reasons are as follows. First of all, studies that centered on high school novice English teachers are rare. The participants in the majority of the studies being reviewed (e.g., Fuller, 1969; Olson & Osborne, 1991; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011) have high disparity in the subject they teach and the level of schools where they work, ranging from elementary school to middle school. Hence, these studies may ignore the fact that teachers who teach in different school levels with different disciplines may be very likely to encounter different pedagogical problems. Second, most of the studies were conducted in countries where English is the first or second language. Studies that focused on the contexts where English is the foreign Language (EFL) are rare (Gan, 2013). Even if there were few studies conducted in EFL settings (e.g. Farrel, 2003; Trân & Nhâm, 2014), the results of these studies may still be inapplicable to the teaching contexts in Taiwan since the curriculum guidelines and school culture vary significantly. Thus, the causes of the reality shock and the induction assistance available to the novice. 8.

(17) English teachers in Taiwan might probably be different from the findings of the previous research. Most important of all, previous studies seem to overlook the importance of contextual factors in examining the causes of reality shock and the induction assistance. The types of school, for example, may be a strong variable in affecting novice teachers’ feelings of reality shock. A novice teacher who teaches in a boy’s or girl’s high school may face different challenges comparing to the one who teaches in a gender-balanced school. Similarly, a novice teacher who teaches in a school with high academic ranking may encounter different problems in contrast to the one who teaches in a school with low academic ranking. In addition, the responsibility that a novice teacher takes may also differ. Aside from teaching, some teachers may be assigned administrative work while others may be assigned class advisors. The educational policy of the country and the school may also influence the types of assistance that novice teachers receive. The construct of mentoring was introduced and administered in Taiwan in the early twenty-first century (Chang & Wang, 2010). It is still under developed and may need further improvement. Thus, it can be inferred that there may be other induction practices that novice EFL teachers can rely on when dealing with their reality shock and consequent problems. In summary, due to the insufficient results of the previous studies on the issue of reality shock, the present study aimed at delving into Taiwanese high school novice English teachers’ first year of teaching experiences in order to provide a comprehensive perspective on identifying possible problems and causes of their reality shock and the coping strategies they employ to overcome the difficulties. To achieve this research aim, three research questions were proposed for further exploration as follows:. 9.

(18) 1.. What are the problems that Taiwanese high school novice English teachers face in the first year of teaching?. 2.. What are the possible causes perceived by Taiwanese high school novice English teachers that contribute to their reality shock in the first year of teaching?. 3.. What coping strategies do Taiwanese high school novice English teachers adopt to deal with the problems they face in the first year of teaching?. Significance of the Study Through examining Taiwanese high school novice EFL teachers’ first year of teaching experiences, it is hoped that the results of the present study can provide useful directions not just for the researchers in the field of teacher education, but also for the teacher educators, faculties of the schools, and future high school English teachers in Taiwan to follow in facing the issue of reality shock. For teacher educators, the results of the present study may serve as reliable reference to help them modify the content of the pre-service training courses in order to help future teachers to be both mentally and cognitively prepared before entering the real world. For the faculties of the schools, the results of the present study may help them better understand the struggles that novice teachers will undergo and hence provide immediate and appropriate support. Finally, for the future high school English teachers, the participants’ first year of teaching experience may be a good model to learn from because it enables them to realize how the life of a first-year qualified English teacher appears to be. Based on this experience, future teachers may be able to create expectations that are closer to the authentic teaching context and further reduce the reality shock and the chances of being confronting with too many problems that could have been avoided. Moreover, the results of the present study may also 10.

(19) shed lights on the assistance and the resources that future teachers can turn to in adapting to the role as an actual teacher.. 11.

(20) CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter, comprised of three sections, demonstrated some significant theoretical foundations and empirical studies that were in relation to reality shock. The first section enumerated some possible causes of reality shock, such as the discrepancy between pre-service training and in-service teaching experiences. The second section synthesized studies within near decades on various problems that novice teachers have faced in their first year of teaching. The last section presented research studies exploring different types of coping strategies such as mentoring and seminars that novice teachers could employ to conquer the problems they face in the first year of teaching.. Possible Causes of Reality Shock Reality shock is a problem that seems to occur to almost every novice teacher in his or her initial years of teaching. It manifests the “collapse of the missionary ideals formed during teacher training by the harsh and rude reality of everyday classroom life” (Veenman, 1984, p.143). Factors that lead to the disillusion of the ideals may be attributed to the unrealistic expectations towards the teaching career and a gap between the pre-service training and in-service teaching experience. To better clarify the factors, studies on practicum experiences would be used to elucidate the insufficiency of teacher education courses in catering to the needs of teachers at the end of this section.. Unrealistic Expectations In the study of teacher development, Ryan (1986) proposed a model that explains how a teacher typically grows towards professionalism. This model consists of four 12.

(21) stages, including the stage of fantasy, the stage of survival, the stage of mastery, and the stage of impact. According to the model, a teacher would first undergo the stage of fantasy, which usually takes place in the last year of pre-service training. It is the time when student teachers have high tendency to form unrealistic fantasy towards the teaching career. Once student teachers become qualified teachers, they will enter the stage of survival, in which they will realize the discrepancy between their fantasy and the actual teaching experiences and need to make tremendous effort to bridge the gap between ideals and reality. Since expectations are formed during the pre-service stage, reviewing studies that looked into the content of pre-service training may contribute to locating the possible causes to the problems of having unrealistic expectations.. A Gap between Pre-service Training and In-service Teaching Studies in the past and at present have both indicated that inadequate training provided by teacher education institutes to be the major cause to novice teachers’ reality shock (Fuller, 1969; Marso & Pigge, 1987; Farrell, 2012; Correa, Martíneze-Arbelaiz, & Aberasturi-Apraiz, 2015). Marso and Pigge (1987) contended that the content of the courses in the pre-service training was “too theoretical and impractical” (p.54). Therefore, it was difficult for students to apply what they had learned to actual teaching. The problem of having inadequate training still prevails in current teacher education programs. In the study on the gap between pre-service and in-service novice teachers, Farrell (2012) pointed out that many teacher education programs nowadays still have minimal information about the life that novice teachers live in their initial years of teaching. As a result, student teachers may lack sufficient preparation to face the upcoming challenges after becoming qualified teachers. Additionally, in the research into EFL novice teachers’ self-concept and motivation in Japan, Kumazawa (2013) discovered that “there are no specific courses 13.

(22) to prepare pre-service teachers for administrative duties” (p.47). The results of Kumazawa’s study may be regarded as a valuable reference since it was conducted in Japan, a country that is similar to Taiwan where novice teachers are responsible for administrative work. In other words, it is probable that the novice English teachers in Taiwan may undergo the problems derived from the lack of understanding of administrative duties. Aside from lacking the inclusion of the understanding of administrative duties, the research conducted by Wang et al. (2008) suggested the need to incorporate the understanding of the school context into the pre-service training since the school is where teaching takes place. Teaching usually involves constant and dynamic interaction with people within the context. Hence, it is important to help future teachers to be aware of the general characteristics of the school beforehand, such as the school culture and the way it is organized, in order to help them to adapt to the teaching context without being intimidated by the reality.. A Gap between Practicum and Actual Teaching Experiences It is acknowledged that the teacher education courses alone are not sufficient in fully preparing the student teachers to face the reality since there are certain knowledge and skills that can only be acquired through real teaching experiences (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). The construct of practicum was then built with a view to providing student teachers with an authentic context where they can employ the knowledge and skills they have acquired into real use before becoming qualified teachers. The administration of practicum is also believed to amend the problems of practicality in teacher education programs. However, the results of the previous studies have displayed that there was still a gap between practicum experiences and actual teaching experiences. Gaede (1978) 14.

(23) first questioned the authenticity of the context of practicum. In his study on the impact of reality shock to a group of participants with and without teaching experiences, Gaede discovered that the environment that practicum provided “can only be viewed as a simulation of actual teaching” (p.407). Similar to Gaede, Ryan (1986) cast his doubt on the issue of whether the practicum could reflect actual teaching in examining the problems that novice teachers have faced in their first year of teaching. Based on the findings, Ryan argued that the main reason that practicum failed to provide authentic teaching context for student teachers lay in the amount of responsibility that they needed to take. In other words, Ryan maintained that the responsibility taken by the student teachers in practicum was significantly less than the one taken by actual teachers. For example, student teachers did not have full power to manage a class, and were barely engaged in the process of establishing a classroom culture. Ryan even used “a sheltered reality” (p.12) to describe the context of practicum, implying that the student teachers were still protected by their supervisors. Recent studies such as Xu (2013) also indicated the significance of the authenticity of the teaching context. Xu investigated this issue from the perspective of novice teachers’ identity shift between pre-service and in-service stage. According to Xu, a teacher would develop two identities in the process of teacher training: an “imagined identity”, which was built upon the beginning teachers’ imagination towards the teaching career, and a “practiced identity”, which was formed through the process of applying the knowledge and skills they have to real use. Based on the findings, Xu discovered that the teacher education programs appeared to be insufficient to create environments that reflect the actual teaching contexts in novice teachers’ initial years of teaching since the practiced identity was barely identified in the pre-service training.. 15.

(24) In summary, from the aforementioned studies, it can be inferred that novice teachers’ unrealistic expectations are built upon some impractical and insufficient pre-service training. If teacher education institutes are able to incorporate sufficient information about the actual teaching experiences into the pre-service training, future teachers’ reality shock may be effectively reduced since the expectations they form will be closer to the reality (Hebert & Worthy, 2001). To better provide useful information to improve pre-service training and prevent the occurrence of reality shock, it is necessary to explore studies identifying problems that novice teachers have faced in the first year of teaching.. Problems in the First Year of Teaching Studies have shown that the feelings of reality shock are very likely to be reinforced since the first year of teaching is often found to be traumatic and full of complicated problems (Farrell, 2012). Veenman (1984) was the first researcher that investigated the issues of reality shock and identified problems that novice teachers faced in the first year of teaching. Based on his review, Veenman pointed out eight common problems that novice teachers from various professional background would face in their first year of teaching, including the problems of classroom discipline, motivating students, dealing with individual differences, assessing students’ work, relationships with parents, organization of class work, insufficient or inadequate teaching materials and supplies, and dealing with problems of individual students. Based on the synthesis of the studies, Veenman discovered that some of the problems that novice teachers encountered in their initial years of teaching were identical to the problems faced by experienced teachers. Similar results were reported in the study of Marso and Pigge (1987), which supports the assumption that it requires considerable. 16.

(25) time for novice teachers to solve the problems they face in their initial years of teaching. Furthermore, in the examination of reality shock, Veenman also identified five factors that influence the intensity of novice teachers’ feelings of reality shock, including the way they perceived problems, the change of attitude, personality, and behavior, and the desire to quit the job. In other words, Veenman suggested that if the novice teachers see things negatively, it would lead to the cultivation of negative thoughts and behaviors. Being bombarded with negative thoughts might lead to the decision of leaving the job. These five factors were later found to be highly correlated with the construct of professional growth, which defined by Kagan (1992), as “changes over time in the behavior, knowledge, images, beliefs, or perceptions of novice teachers” (p.131). Hence, exploring novice teachers’ professional growth in the first year of teaching might provide important insights into the process of how they cope with the feelings of reality shock. Similarly, the study of Ryan (1986) complemented Veenman’s study and clearly classified common problems that novice teachers faced in their first year of teaching under six categories. The first is “the shock of the familiar,” which included problems that novice teachers thought to be easy to handle at first or problems that were out of their anticipation. The second category was student, which comprised the problems of understanding the students, maintaining the social distance with the students, and classroom discipline. Ryan pointed out that novice teachers often craved for establishing a closer relationship with their students. This desire might derive from their needs to be liked. It might also come from the feelings of insecurity and the eagerness to get approval from their students. However, this desire would often lead to discipline problems since novice teachers might compromise too much in winning their students’ trust and would hence weaken their authority in managing a class. 17.

(26) Aside from students, novice teachers might also encounter problems from their students’ parents. According to Ryan, “many parents are a significant source of the new teacher’s satisfaction and sense of worth” (p.22). Therefore, novice teachers might be very likely to face problems in the process of meeting their students’ needs and the parents’ expectations. Furthermore, novice teachers might face problems arising from the administrators, such as the principal of the school. They might be forced by the principal to follow decisions that were against their teaching beliefs. They might have problems understanding the responsibilities that different administrators took and the perspectives they adopted in dealing with an issue. The fifth source of the problems came from the colleagues. Ryan mentioned that novice teachers often felt isolated due to the jealousy and indifference of their colleagues. This finding also suggested the significance of maintaining a good collegial relationship, which would be reviewed in the following section. The last category specified problems that resulted from novice teachers’ ability to teach. Ryan contended that novice teachers came across a great number of instructional problems in their first year of teaching since some skills could only be acquired through teaching, which echoes the results of Olson and Osborne’s (1991) study. Also looking into the first-year teaching experiences of the novice teachers, the study of Olson and Osborne (1991) provided more insights into the instructional problems that novice teachers faced. They found that the tasks given to novice teachers were often too difficult and beyond their expectations, which resonated with the problems of “the shock of the familiar” pinpointed by Ryan (1986). Moreover, this situation seemed to be deteriorated since novice teachers did not know appropriate ways to teach what they wanted to teach, that is, the problem of lacking sufficient pedagogical content knowledge (Richards, 1998). In addition to instructional problems, Olson and Osborne found that novice teachers tended to have 18.

(27) more concerns about themselves over their students. This finding confirmed the hypothesis proposed by Fuller and Bown (1975) that novice teachers would develop stages of concerns, starting from self-oriented concerns to situation-oriented and student-oriented concerns. Due to the concerns of self, novice teachers at this transitional period would suffer from negative emotions such as uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. They might even focus on the insufficiency they have rather than the improvements they have made. The same problems that were identified in the previous studies still prevail among the novice teachers nowadays. They are still found to be assigned difficult tasks or positions in their first year of teaching (Moir & Gless, 2001; Fantilli & McDougall, 2009; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). They also have problems communicating with parents (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009) and managing students’ behaviors (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009; Farrell, 2012; Gan, 2013). From the emotional aspect, novice teachers still suffer from the feelings of isolation, anxiety, stress, and insecurity (Herbert & Worthy, 2001; Meyer, 2002; Fantilli & McDougall, 2009; Ingersoll & Strong 2011; Bickmore, 2013). From the instructional aspect, aside from the previously addressed problems, novice teachers are found to have difficulties in time-management (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009; Gan, 2013) and designing instructions that cater to individual differences (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009). Gan (2013) also indicated that novice EFL teachers might face problems resulting from students’ proficiency level and have difficulty in using English to teach the subject matter since English is not their mother tongue. Gan discovered that EFL teachers tended to think in their mother tongue and then translated the ideas into the English during instruction. Accordingly, novice teachers might not be able to convey their thoughts in English smoothly and accurately. Moreover, Hebert and Worthy (2001) pointed out that unfamiliarity with the school, including the school culture and 19.

(28) physical environments, would lead to difficulty for novice teachers in adapting to their teaching career in the first year of teaching.. Table 1 Sources of Problems that Novice Teachers may Face in the First Year of Teaching Sources. Problems. Administrative work. The assignment of unexpected or challenging tasks. Students. Classroom discipline, understanding students, motivating students, dealing with individual differences, proficiency level of the students. Parents. Relationship with parents, and communication with parents. School. Conflicts with administrators, and familiarity with the school (i.e., environment and culture). Colleagues. Poor collegial relationship. Ability to teach. Lack of pedagogical content knowledge, time management, designing teaching materials, organization of classwork, lack of preparation, assessing students’ work, and language for instruction. Emotions. Anxiety, tension, uncertainty, self-doubts, feeling of insecurity, feeling of isolation. In summary, the review of the preceding studies has affirmed the chaotic nature of novice teachers’ first year of teaching, and has raised various problems that novice teachers would encounter. Based on the reviewed studies, these problems could be categorized into seven groups in order to present an organized picture of the problems that novice teachers have faced in their first year of teaching. As Table 1 illustrated, the sources of problems include administrative work, students, parents, school, colleagues, ability to teach, and emotions. The first six categories were adapted from the study of Ryan (1986) since the problems raised by the aforementioned studies seemed to precisely fall under these six categories. The last category, emotions, was. 20.

(29) built upon the fact that novice teachers suffered great emotional problems such as feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and isolation in their first year of teaching. The problems synthesized and listed in Table 1 would be functioned as reliable reference for the present study in collecting and analyzing the research data. Under the category of students, the problem of classroom discipline was reported to be the most serious to novice teachers. As the studies suggested, novice teachers tended to spend tremendous time managing a class (Hebert & Worthy, 2001; Grossman & Thompson, 2008; Wang et al., 2008; Fantilli & McDougall, 2009) since it is widely assumed that teachers might be unable to pass down knowledge to their students if they were incompetent to take the class under control (Fuller, 1969; Olson & Osborne, 1991). However, it should be noted that overemphasizing the problem of classroom management might impede novice teachers from improving their teaching capacities and their students’ academic performance (Veenman, 1984) due to the limited instructional time they have.. Types of Coping Strategies There are various coping strategies that novice teachers can use to overcome the difficulties they face in the first year of teaching. Accodring to Stansbury and Zimmerman (2000), these strategies could be divided into two types: low-intensity support and high-intensity support. Low-intensity support strategies involve orienting new teachers, matching novice and veteran teachers, adjusting working conditions (e.g. reducing their workload or assigning less challenging classes), and promoting collegial collaboration. High intensity support strategies, on the other hand, include providing ample time for novice teachers to attend seminars or arranging meetings between novice teachers and their colleagues or veteran teachers, encouraging them to keep a journal, or opening courses that address common pedagogical challenges. The 21.

(30) difference of these two types of support strategies lies in the degree of directness of the support in helping beginning teachers to solve the problems. These supportive strategies, according to Ingersoll & Strong (2011), were embodiments of teacher induction.. Definition of Teacher Induction Generally speaking, Teacher induction refers to activities, strategies, and resources that help beginning teachers to overcome the difficulties they face in the first year of teaching. It also helps beginning teachers to assimilate into actual teaching context and bridge the gap between pre-service and in-service experiences (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). Common practices of teacher induction include orientation sessions, faculty collaborative periods, meetings with supervisors, developmental workshops, extra classroom assistance, reduction of workloads, and mentoring. Studies such as Hawkins (2004) and Chang and Wang (2010) have shown that the construct of teacher induction was mainly built upon sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978). According to sociocultural theory, it is believed that learning takes place in a context in which a less experienced learner is assisted by a more experienced learner. It is their constant interaction and cooperation that facilitates successful learning. In other words, in the process of transitioning from student teachers to the teachers of students, novice teachers can be seen as less experienced learners, while the assistance providers can be recognized as learners with more experiences. Through the interaction and cooperation with the assistance providers, novice teachers would be better accustomed to the actual teaching contexts and be ready to face the obstacles during teaching. Among all types of teacher induction assistance, mentoring has long been the research focus since it not only maintained a 22.

(31) strong connection with sociocultural theory, but was also found to be the most effective practice in helping novice teachers overcome their problems in the first year of teaching. To understand the nature of mentoring, the following sections would first provide the definition of mentoring, identify factors that result in the effectiveness of mentoring, and move on to compare and contrast the mentoring systems in the US and Taiwan.. Mentoring Definition and advantages of mentoring. Mentoring was defined as the “one-to-one support of a novice or less experienced practitioner by a more experienced practitioner” (Hobson et al., 2009, p.201). It played a significant role in helping beginning teachers to adapt to their career in a particular context (Carter & Francis, 2001; Harrison et al., 2006). According to the study of Hobson et al. (2009), mentoring excelled in providing emotional and psychological support for novice teachers, and was effective in reducing their negative feelings such as feelings of isolation and anxiety. Moreover, numerous studies have specified that mentoring was useful in building novice teachers’ self-confidence and helping them become more motivated in facing difficulties (McIntyre & Hagger, 1996; Fletcher, 2000; Sundli, 2007; Hobson et al., 2009). Not only does mentoring serve as a safe emotional shelter, but it also functioned as a reliable knowledge source and a model for novice teachers to learn from. It was uncovered that mentoring was effective in helping novice teachers develop problem-solving capacities and become more competent in classroom and time management (Hobson et al., 2009). With the help of mentors, novice teachers could learn suitable approaches to effectively design a lesson and pass down knowledge to their students (Sundli, 2007). Due to the aforementioned. 23.

(32) advantages, mentoring has been widely administered in many countries, and was found to be frequently enforced in urban districts (Feiman-Nemser, 2001). Factors that influence the effects of mentoring. The characteristics of mentors were found to be one of the crucial factors that lead to the effectiveness of mentoring since they are the only resources that novice teachers can count on in mentoring. In the research of the criteria of good mentors, Orland-Barak and Hasin (2010) contended that having rich content and pedagogical content knowledge should be seen as the priority in selecting a mentor. Having thorough professional knowledge could enable mentors to give practical, immediate, and specific advice to novice teachers in dealing with the problems they faced. In addition to having abundant professional knowledge of the subject matter, having suitable personalities and good interpersonal competence was viewed to be significant criteria in mentor selection (Cater & Francis, 2001). An effective mentor, as Moir and Gless (2001) stated, requires “strong interpersonal skills, credibility with peers and administrators, a demonstrated curiosity and eagerness to learn, respect for multiple perspectives, and outstanding instructional practice” (p.112). Since mentoring is a highly contextualized practice (Hiebert, Gallimore, & Stigler, 2002; Wang et al., 2008), its’ effectiveness is often constrained by numerous factors. Studies have indicated that the outcome of mentoring is heavily influenced by the means of selection. In the study of the effects of mentoring system on beginning teachers, Stanulis and Floden (2009) observed that “the assignment of mentors is typically based on convenience, volunteerism, and entitlement” (p.114). Therefore, it would be difficult to ensure whether the mentors being chosen have appropriate knowledge and competence to facilitate novice teachers’ learning. After all, it is the mentors’ willingness, commitment, and their experiences that determine the success of mentoring (Meyer, 2002). Aside from the problems of mentor selection means, 24.

(33) studies pointed out that having insufficient time for mentoring might also be one major factor that influences the effects of mentoring (Stansbury & Zimmerman, 2000). Hobson et al. (2009) observed that teachers who became mentors were unable to spare additional time having regular meetings with their mentees due to their busy schedule. In addition, factors such as the age of mentors (Ryan, 1986), the gender of mentors, the physical location and the general availability of mentors to novice teachers, and the grade level of the students they teach (Carter & Francis, 2001) were identified to be essential to the effects of mentoring. The results of these studies suggested that mentors who were in the approximate age and the same gender with their mentees would contribute to the establishment of a close mentor-mentee relationship, which was believed to be effective in facilitating novice teachers’ professional growth. Furthermore, mentors who were accessible to their mentees were more likely to provide instant assistance to solve the problems of the mentees and hold frequent meetings to monitor their professional growth (Orland-Barak & Hasin, 2010). Finally, having students who were at the same grade level as their mentees might help mentors to strongly relate to the sufferings of their mentees and give practical advice to help them overcome the difficulties. The development of mentoring systems in the US and Taiwan. Many countries have been aware of the importance of mentoring and have developed mentoring systems since 1980s. The United States followed this rising trend and has developed mentoring systems since 1990s, which is slightly late compared to the majority of the countries (Hobson et al., 2009). The development of mentoring systems in the US was in full bloom in the turn of twenty first century. According to Feiman-Nemser (2001), by the year of 2000, 28 out of 50 states in America had implemented mentoring programs that were mandatory in nature to help novice 25.

(34) teachers in their initial years of teaching. However, although mentoring was recognized as the most common assistance among other teacher induction practices, it was found to be underdeveloped in most school contexts (Stanulis & Floden, 2009). In contrast, the development of mentoring systems in Taiwan was approximately one decade later compared to other countries. Taiwan started to incorporate the construct of mentoring into teacher induction and has been developing mentoring systems since 2001 (Chang & Wang, 2010). The mentoring systems in Taiwan are voluntary rather than mandatory in nature. According to Ministry of Education Executive Guidelines for Teacher Professional Development Evaluation (2003), schools in primary and secondary levels are encouraged to administer mentoring systems for novice teachers to stimulate their professional development. If a school decides to administer mentoring, it has to first organize a committee consisting of the principal of the school, the director of the Office of Academic Affairs, the representative of parents’ association, and the representative of the school faculty. Then, it has to submit a proposal to the city government and waits for its approval. However, it was found that the requirements and regulations of the mentoring systems usually varied from cities to cities. Some cities, such as the Department of Education in Taipei City, clearly demanded that the candidates of the mentors should have at least four years of teaching experiences and undergo a series of trainings, while other cities did not (Chang & Wang, 2010). The lack of consistency in legislation might significantly hinder the development of mentoring systems in Taiwan and affect the amount of assistance that novice teachers can receive from mentoring. To conclude, although mentoring has been discovered to be beneficial to novice teachers in previous studies, its effects on Taiwanese novice teachers might be limited due to the chaotic condition of the mentoring systems in Taiwan. Moreover, the issue of mentor selection seems to overshadow the benefits of mentoring on novice teachers. 26.

(35) If mentors were poorly selected and found to be incompetent in providing sufficient support to their mentees, the mentor-mentee relationships would then be jeopardized, causing more burdens to novice teachers. Consequently, it is necessary to probe into other induction practices that have fewer constraints to help novice teachers cope with the problems in their initial year of teaching.. Self-Initiated Practices: One vs. Multiple Assistance Providers In the process of overcoming the problems that novice teachers faced in their initial years of teaching, it is nearly impossible to rely solely on the assistance provided by one mentor (Bickmore, 2013). They may need to collaborate with their colleagues in order to expand their knowledge, see things from different perspectives, and gain emotional supports while dealing with the problems (Harrison et al., 2006; Farrell, 2012). Novice teachers may also seek assistance from multiple resources other than teachers to accommodate to the dynamic and complicated teaching context (Farrell, 2012). They may need assistance from “the clerical or custodial staff member who knows the history and culture of the school, the college friend who can help one reflect on the development of a lesson, and the family member who can be a sympathetic listener” (McCann & Johannessen, 2009b, p.121). In contrast to the assistance given by mentors, the assistance provided by people around the novice teachers, within and without the teaching context, are more diverse and flexible. Instead of being assigned a mentor who they might be unfamiliar with, novice teachers are able to take a more active role in deciding whom they want to turn to for support. To draw a distinction, the present study described practices in which novice teachers are actively engaged and more than one assistance provider is involved as “self-initiated induction practices.” In the following review, more emphasis would be put on the self-initiated induction practices that took place in the 27.

(36) teaching context since it is the place where teachers usually spend most of their time. These self-initiated induction practices include participating in teacher professional community, classroom observation, seminars, workshops, and study groups. Teacher professional community. Recent studies have discovered that novice teachers who have positive collegial relationship with their colleagues tended to have a smooth start in their initial years (Farrell, 2003; Hobson et al., 2009; McCann & Johnnessen, 2009a). There are many ways to foster collegial relationship. Among them, establishing teacher professional community was found to be the most significant. The notion of teacher professional community was mainly built upon the theory of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991, 1998). As defined by Lave and Wenger, communities of practice were formed due to constant interaction among a group of people who work in the same professional domain. Establishing communities of practice was said to be beneficial to the newcomers since it offered opportunities for them to learn the nature of their profession, the culture of the working context, and ways to deal with problems that they have already encountered or yet to face. As the theory indicated, teacher professional community was reported to provide novice teachers with a safe and secure place to share their dilemma with other teachers (Noddings, 1992). It also gave novice teachers opportunities to observe and be observed by their colleagues during teaching. In addition to the collaboration between novice teachers and experienced teachers, Fiene et al. (2009) in the study of professional learning community, indicated the needs to establish a community of teachers who graduated from the same teacher education institutes. This community, known as alumni teacher support groups, was believed to help teachers to expand the scope of their teacher professional community. It was also found to be beneficial in preparing pre-service teachers for their future careers since the graduated teachers 28.

(37) were not only familiar with the content of their pre-service training, but also able to provide up-dated information about the current teaching contexts. In all, as Chang and Wang (2010) observed, teachers in the same professional community were often found to share similar teaching philosophies and objectives, work cooperatively, exchange practical teaching experiences, and encourage reflective dialogue. It was assumed that the collaborative nature of the teacher professional community and the commonality shared by the teachers in this community would result in the establishment of a strong collegial relationship and further reduce novice teachers’ reality shock and facilitate their adaptation to the teaching career (Bullough & Baughman, 1993; Farrell, 2003). Classroom observation. Classroom observation in the past was thought of as one type of assistance under mentoring. However, it was suggested that classroom observation should be regarded as one independent induction practice and should be conducted frequently in order to effectively help novice teachers to survive in their initial years (Gilbert, 2005; Kelly, 2004). Classroom observation was discovered to trigger novice teachers to critically reflect on their teachings (i.e., critical reflection), ponder on the problems they have, and look for suitable solutions from the observed teachers (Richards, 1998; Kelly, 2004). As defined by Richards, critical reflection is the competence to assess one’s own teaching based on the incorporation of his or her teaching beliefs, professional knowledge, and teaching experiences. In consequence, it may be inferred that through observing their colleagues’ teaching, novice teachers may be able to modify their ways of instruction and grow towards professionalisms. The effects of classroom observation were found to be influenced by the characteristics of the school context. In the study of teacher socialization, that is, “the process by which an individual becomes a participating member of the society of teachers” (Bliss & Reck, 1991, p.6), Farrell (2003) discovered that if novice teachers 29.

(38) who worked in a school where collaboration among colleagues was not encouraged, they might lose the chances to observe their colleagues and thus hinder their professional growth. The findings seemed to imply the significance of a school to advocate and maintain a collaborative working environment so that novice teachers would have more opportunities to conduct classroom observation. Seminars, workshops, and study groups. Aside from classroom observation, seminar was reported to be beneficial to enhance beginning teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. In the study of investigating the effectiveness of how seminars promoted beginning teachers’ professional growth, Bickmore (2013) founded a program, “A Group of English Mentors: Developing a Community of Learners between Novice and Experienced Teachers,” which held summer seminars for teachers. The results showed that the summer seminars created a simulated teaching context that helped novice teachers to put what they had acquired in pre-service training into real use. Since the discussion topics were raised based on the problems that novice teachers confronted during their teaching, they would be able to get more concrete and practical advice from the experienced teachers who also attended the seminars. Similar to Bickmore (2013), some studies have discovered that the use of study group (Stanulis & Floden, 2009) and subject-specific workshops (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009) were helpful to provide assistance in solving novice teachers’ pedagogical problems. The factors contributing to the success of seminars, workshops, and study groups lie in the fact that they all involve the participation of multiple experienced teachers. Compared to mentoring, the nature of seminars, workshops, and study groups seemed to be more simple and straightforward. For example, taking part in seminars does not engage the cultivation of a long-term mentor-mentee relationship with the experienced teachers. Instead, novice teachers are free to interact with 30.

(39) different teachers, from whom they may learn to approach the problems from various points of view. To conclude, this section has presented detailed examination of the potential causes of novice teachers’ reality shock, organized seven categories of the problems faced by novice teachers in the first year of teaching, and contrasted common teacher induction practices that novice teachers relied on while overcoming these difficulties. Results of the studies have unanimously indicated the significance of collaboration between novice teachers and people from various backgrounds in coping with their problems in the first year of teaching. As Stansbury and Zimmerman (2000) argued, “beginning teacher support should be looked at as a continuum, starting with personal and emotional support, expanding to include specific task- or problem-related support, and, in ideal, expanding further to help the newcomer develop a capacity for critical self-reflection on teaching practice” (p.5). Furthermore, contextual factors, such as the school culture and the members within the context, were identified to determine the types of problems that novice teachers would face and the effects of assistance that they seek. With thorough inspection of the studies on the issue of reality shock, the findings provide a clear direction for the present study to follow and may help the present study to further expand the scope of the issues being raised or touch upon areas that have yet to be unraveled.. 31.

(40) CHAPTER THREE METHOD In the present study, a qualitative case-study approach was adopted since it was helpful for the researcher to “gain entry into teaching initiates’ understanding of their workplaces, students, and jobs, the ways they interpret and negotiate specific problems in their contexts, and their view of selves as teachers” (Hebert & Worthy, 2001, p. 898). It was believed that the use of case study would allow the researcher to deeply explore the problem-solving process of the Taiwanese high school novice English teachers in overcoming the difficulties they may face in the first year of teaching. In this chapter, the selection mechanism and background information of the sites and the participants were first addressed, followed by detailed elaboration on the data collection and data analysis procedure.. Participants and Sites Selection Mechanism Familiarity between the researcher and the potential candidates was recognized as the priority in the participant selection since the present study required the participants to confide the difficulties and negative emotions they faced to the researcher. If the participants were not of the researcher’s acquaintance, it would prevent the researcher from establishing a close bond to the participants and might negatively affect the quality of the collected data. To increase the diversity of the findings, the present study took the following factors into consideration during the selection. Regarding the selection of the participants, it was assumed that novice teachers’ teacher identity might have impact on the outcome of their first year of teaching experiences. In Taiwan, it has become a phenomenon that many qualified English teachers nowadays work as substitute 32.

(41) teachers since the job vacancies for English teachers with tenured positions (i.e., tenure track teachers) are few. The temporary nature of their identity as substitute teachers may lead them to problems that are distinct from the ones faced by tenure track teachers. As indicated in the previous chapter, the school context would influence the types of problems that novice teachers encountered in their first year of teaching and the resources that are available to them in solving those problems. Hence, in the present study, the research sites were selected based on two contextual factors, the academic rankings of the school and the gender distribution of the students within the school. In Taiwan, every school has different academic ranking, which is determined by the scores that their students got in the senior high school entrance examination named Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students (CAP). In other words, the academic ranking of a school manifests its students’ general academic performance. It is a significant contextual factor since novice teachers who teach in a school where students had low academic performances may come across problems that are different from those who teach in a school composed of high achievers. Moreover, since males and females perceive things differently, it could be inferred that novice teachers who teach in a school where students are gender-balanced may encounter different problems in contrast to those who teach in a single-gender school. Based on the aforementioned selection mechanism, five research sites and five novice English teachers were identified and displayed in Table 2, including the names, gender, the teacher identity of the participants, the names of the schools, and the average CAP scores that the students needed to attain for school admission. Pseudo names were used on the participants and the schools in order to protect their personal information. All the participants were of the researcher’s acquaintance, and the 33.

(42) schools where they worked were located in Greater Taipei area, with three schools in Taipei City (Rose, Lion, and Cloud) and two schools (Mountain and Bridge) in New Taipei City. The students’ average CAP scores in each school was provided and organized by Linmath (2017), a well-known learning institute in Taipei City, and the full score of CAP is thirty six.. Table 2 Summary of the Participants and the Research Sites Name. Gender. Identity. Cites. Average CAP Scores. Merlin. M. Tenured. Rose Girls High School. 31.8. Lily. F. Substitute. Lion Boys High School. 31.8. Betty. F. Tenured. Mountain High School. 13.6. Ronda. F. Substitute. Cloud High School. 16.6. Angel. F. Substitute. Bridge High School. 28.6. Note. The full score of CAP is 36.. As Table 2 demonstrated, both Merlin and Lily taught in the single gender schools consisting of students with high academic performances in terms of the characteristics of the school contexts. The only difference between Merlin and Lily lay in their teacher identity, with the former being a tenure track teacher while the latter being a substitute teacher. Similar to Merlin and Lily, Betty and Ronda taught in the mixed gender schools in which students were academically low achievers. Hence, through the comparison between Merlin and Lily and the one between Betty and Ronda, the present study might be able to raise problems resulting from the differences in the novice teachers’ identity. Moreover, since the students that Merlin and Lily taught were considered high achievers whereas the students that Betty and 34.