An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?

In this article, I discuss reasons why languages teachers stay in teaching. A former languages teacher myself, I believe that language teaching poses particular challenges in the classroom context. The teachers who are the focus of this bicultural study comprise ten teachers from schools in Lower S...

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Main Author: Jane Jones
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Wissenschaftliche Einrichtung Oberstufen-Kolleg der Universität Bielefeld 2020-11-01
Series:PraxisForschungLehrer*innenBildung
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.pflb-journal.de/index.php/pflb/article/view/3954
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author Jane Jones
author_facet Jane Jones
author_sort Jane Jones
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description In this article, I discuss reasons why languages teachers stay in teaching. A former languages teacher myself, I believe that language teaching poses particular challenges in the classroom context. The teachers who are the focus of this bicultural study comprise ten teachers from schools in Lower Saxony and Hamburg, and ten in the Greater London area. Given the attention in research on teachers who leave or wish to leave, it seems apt to look at reasons that attract and keep teachers in the profession. My main interest is to see if, and to what extent, wellbeing could be a factor for teachers to remain in the profession. I used a questionnaire to ask the teachers about their reasons for staying, about the challenges they face and what might, ultimately, cause them to leave or, at least, contemplate leaving. Despite differences in the German and English contexts, some common core beliefs emerge from the teachers’ responses, such as the enjoyment of working with students, commitment to language teaching, creative opportunities and autonomy in their work. These beliefs promote job satisfaction and wellbeing and can, in a positively charged environment, contribute to resolve problematic issues.
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spelling doaj.art-0b7630047bcb464c84861242b412c5172023-11-16T06:41:14ZdeuWissenschaftliche Einrichtung Oberstufen-Kolleg der Universität BielefeldPraxisForschungLehrer*innenBildung2629-56282020-11-012510.4119/pflb-3954An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?Jane Jones0King's College London In this article, I discuss reasons why languages teachers stay in teaching. A former languages teacher myself, I believe that language teaching poses particular challenges in the classroom context. The teachers who are the focus of this bicultural study comprise ten teachers from schools in Lower Saxony and Hamburg, and ten in the Greater London area. Given the attention in research on teachers who leave or wish to leave, it seems apt to look at reasons that attract and keep teachers in the profession. My main interest is to see if, and to what extent, wellbeing could be a factor for teachers to remain in the profession. I used a questionnaire to ask the teachers about their reasons for staying, about the challenges they face and what might, ultimately, cause them to leave or, at least, contemplate leaving. Despite differences in the German and English contexts, some common core beliefs emerge from the teachers’ responses, such as the enjoyment of working with students, commitment to language teaching, creative opportunities and autonomy in their work. These beliefs promote job satisfaction and wellbeing and can, in a positively charged environment, contribute to resolve problematic issues. https://www.pflb-journal.de/index.php/pflb/article/view/3954staying teachersstudentslanguagescreativityautonomywellbeing
spellingShingle Jane Jones
An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?
PraxisForschungLehrer*innenBildung
staying teachers
students
languages
creativity
autonomy
wellbeing
title An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?
title_full An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?
title_fullStr An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?
title_full_unstemmed An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?
title_short An Exploration of Why Languages Teachers in Germany and in England Stay in Teaching: To What Extent Is Wellbeing a Reason?
title_sort exploration of why languages teachers in germany and in england stay in teaching to what extent is wellbeing a reason
topic staying teachers
students
languages
creativity
autonomy
wellbeing
url https://www.pflb-journal.de/index.php/pflb/article/view/3954
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