Does My Job Love Me? - A Story of Transforming While Investigating Newly Qualified Teachers’ Knowledge of and Practices in Early Reading.
For nearly 50 years, a vast amount of evidence shows that a Phonological Awareness (PA) deficit is a primary risk factor for reading difficulties (Wagner and Torgesen, 1978 and Kilpatrick, 2012, 2016, 2019). The initial aim of my research in early 2019 was to investigate, over a period of a year, Newly Qualified Teachers’ (NQTs’) knowledge of and practices in early reading, with a specific focus on NQTs' knowledge and understanding of PA. Policy for Education in England requires all teachers to show effective early reading education (Rose, 2009 and Department for Education and Employment, 1998a). According to the Teachers’ Standards (2012), NQTs are expected to demonstrate effective teaching of early reading, including a clear understanding of Systematic Synthetic Phonics, which includes children having PA as a prerequisite for successful early reading development, as defined by Rose (2009) and the Department for Education and Employment (1998a). By using the methodological concepts and analytical framework originating from Activity Theory (AT) (Engeström 1987, 2001, 2011), I took the approach of combining a longitudinal collective case study design. The study included four NQT participants whose data was analysed in a diachronic sequence (Tochon and Munby, 1993) with the data being compared at three points of data collection over the NQTs’ Induction Year (IY). The validity of my research is enhanced by considering individual cases alongside comparisons across multiple cases, allowing for a more interesting understanding of effective practices and areas for improvement. During 2024, my Doctoral Supervision Meetings began to give rise to very different ways of thinking and writing and I started linking my academic contribution to my deeply intertwined personal history of trauma and neglect. I also began to introduce auto-ethnographic methods, and the use of imagery linked to my personal narrative. Using these methods began to unearth deeper feelings of neglect as a child, an adult and an educator. I revisited the data analysis at this point with a different approach and uncovered feelings of neglect, as well as traumatic experiences, amongst the NQTs during their IY. The findings indicate that NQTs’ feelings were controlled or shaped by important elements of the Activity System (AS). There were systemic issues with mentoring, highlighting how NQTs often feel unsupported and molded by mentors, leading to feelings of neglect and burnout. This study makes an original contribution to knowledge by offering new information about the NQTs’ experiences during their IY and the impact of the AS on NQTs. Findings from this study will contribute to the development of Education Policy by generating appropriate recommendations to address issues identified in this study. All these interesting elements of my life and my research are now woven together to form my contribution to research. I hope that the exposure of my extraordinary life experiences shared within this auto-ethnographic Thesis illustrates how I connected my personal narrative with my research, to help theorise my own educational perspective and my PhD enquiry.
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