Coping strategies used by second-career student teachers

Background: When second-career teachers (SCTs) learn to teach, they need to cope with the tension-evoking moments they encounter. Little is known about the coping strategies SCTs use to manage tensions.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the coping strategies SCTs use during the first 1.5 years of teacher training. The SCTs' own perceptions about the usefulness, evolution and specificity of these coping strategies were also studied.

Sample: Twenty-four SCTs in the alternative teacher training programme (ATTP) at the University of Amsterdam participated in this study. These SCTs aspired to become teachers of mathematics, physics, economics, computer science or chemistry.

Method: For each participant, written logbook fragments and interviews were analysed in Atlas-ti.

Results: The SCTs used in decreasing order: intrapersonal approaching (e.g., resolving problems autonomously), interpersonal approaching (e.g., consulting others) and intrapersonal avoiding strategies (e.g., ignoring an undesired situation). Interpersonal avoiding strategies were not mentioned at all. While the SCTs reported approaching strategies (inter- and intrapersonal) as being useful for their development, we also found disadvantages to intrapersonal approaching strategies and advantageous uses of avoiding strategies. The SCTs noted several inter- and intrapersonal approaching coping strategies that they considered typical for SCTs.

Conclusion: Intrapersonal approaching coping strategies can be a risk because of the invisibility of these strategies. Interpersonal strategies should be stimulated because SCTs benefit from the social network in school. Avoiding strategies may serve a purpose for managing the complexity of the teaching profession.