Novice teachers of English in China : challenges and support

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore the challenges Chinese novice EFL teachers commonly encountered in their induction period and to analyze the benefits of the support they received that helped mitigate these challenges. Although extensive research has been conducted on Western educational settings, not much attention has been directed to both the challenges and support experienced by Chinese novice teachers of English. Therefore, the present study may lay the foundations for further research into what challenges novice teachers are commonly struggling with and what kinds of support are required in order to facilitate the teaching experiences of new teachers of English. The research problem was investigated by means of a mixed methods approach involving the distribution of a questionnaire amongst 50 participants and one-to-one, semi-structured interviews with eight participants. The findings of the present study reveal that novice teachers have to overcome a reality shock and they suffer from two main types of challenges, one being work-related challenges while the other involves social concerns. The two most frequent adaptation challenges appeared as classroom management challenges and relationship issues with parents. Concerning professional support, this was geared specifically for the needs of new teachers and included formal support and informal support. Among these forms of support, collegial support and classroom observation were highlighted by novice EFL as the two most frequent and beneficial methods to assist them in their professional and emotional aspects. This study incorporates the voice of novice English teachers in China and derives deeper insights from an examination of their experiences in order to inform school administrators and stakeholders on how to better assist novice teachers in their transition period at the workplace.