Exploring the Patterns of Professional Adaptation and Influential Factors of Novice Secondary Teachers

Abstract

This study was conducted to classify novice middle and high school teachers into subgroups based on their adaptation, and to verify individual and school-related factors influencing group classification. To this end, the study was conducted on 611 teachers with less than 5 years of teaching experience in middle and high schools using data from the 1st year of the Seoul Educational Longitudinal Study of Teacher. The results of the latent profile analysis, using functional aspects (curriculum, guidance and counseling, career guidance, classroom management, academic administration) and psychological aspects (passion/morale, burnout) as indicators, are as follows. The adaptation of new secondary school teachers was divided into 4 groups (‘High’ (9.1%), ‘High-Middle’ (28.1%), ‘Middle’ (42.0%), ‘Low’ (20.8%)) depending on the level of the indicators. As for the individual factors influencing the classification of new teachers’ professional adaptation, it was found that motivation for choosing the teaching profession (intrinsic motivation, altruistic motivation, and extrinsic motivation), sense of belonging, and non-regular teaching experience were significant. Among the school factors, the principal’s visionary leadership showed significance. Based on the results of this study, educational implications for the professional adaptation of novice teachers were proposed.