Building and Sustaining a Teaching Career
Strategies for Professional Experience, Wellbeing and Mindful Practice

This text supports pre-service teachers in developing mindfulness strategies as they undertake professional experience.

Narelle Suzanne Lemon (Author), Sharon McDonough (Author)

9781108724722, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 May 2020

260 pages, 9 b/w illus. 62 colour illus. 7 tables
25.5 x 19 x 1.2 cm, 0.5 kg

Professional experience in initial teacher education programs can be both a challenging and rewarding experience. As student teachers take their first steps in the classroom, they often encounter stresses that compromise their teaching and learning. Within this context, well-being, resilience and self-efficacy are critical to their success. Building and sustaining a teaching career introduces the coping strategies, informal and formal practices, time management and organisational skills, and positive psychology critical to self-care for professional experience. The text uses case studies, 'fill your bucket' strategy building solutions, reflection activities and discussion and journaling questions designed to build capacity and develop reader knowledge, while pre-service teacher voices highlight key elements through real-world perspectives and experiences. Drawing upon a combination of teaching experience and education research, Narelle Lemon and Sharon McDonough present thoughtful, practical approaches that equip pre-service teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge for embarking on a successful teaching career.

Introduction. Building mindful resources as a pre-service teacher. Section 1. Mindfulness and its place in being a teacher: 1. What is mindfulness?
2. Becoming and being a mindful teacher. Section 2. Developing mindful practices as a teacher: 3. Developing the confidence to teach: Communicating and working with others
4. Developing your skills as a teacher: Learning in school and in university contexts
5. Developing as a teacher: Learning from professional experience
6. Learning to teach: identifying and addressing stressors
7. Organising and caring for yourself as a teacher
Conclusion. Putting your best foot forward.

Subject Areas: Teacher training [JNMT], Educational strategies & policy [JNF], Education [JN]