The roles of adaptability and school climate in first-year teachers' developing perceptions of themselves, their classroom relationships, and the career

Abstract

The teaching career, and especially the transition from pre-service to in-service teaching, is uniquely characterized by change. Adaptability is an internal characteristic that has been shown to benefit teachers and may be especially relevant as they begin developing initial perceptions of themselves as educators, of their relationships with students, and of the teaching career at large. Importantly though, it is likely that the impacts of adaptability depend in part on the broader context. One such contextual factor that is highly relevant to teachers is their school's climate. The present study explored direct and indirect (moderated) relations among first-year teachers' (N = 133) adaptability and perceived school climate and their teaching self-efficacy, perceptions of the classroom relational climate, and career optimism. Path analysis revealed positive main effects of adaptability on self-efficacy and perceptions of classroom relational climate, as well as positive main effects of school climate on self-efficacy and career optimism. In addition, an interaction effect was detected whereby relations among adaptability and self-efficacy were strongest among participants who reported high and average levels of school climate. Results can inform future research on teacher adaptability and can also be used to inform interventions and supports provided to new teachers by school psychologists and other school personnel.