Solo, collaborative or collective? Newly qualified teachers’ experiences of being stirred into induction practices

Abstract

This study investigated newly qualified primary and lower secondary school teachers with a master’s degree in Norway and how they experienced being stirred into induction practices in their school. The theory of practice architectures was the theoretical framework used in the analysis, and the term ‘stirred into’ refers to the dynamics of entering and becoming a practitioner of a specific practice. A thematic analysis of 42 interviews revealed three induction practices: 1) solo practices where the teachers plan and evaluate the teaching alone, 2) collaborative practices where the teachers plan and develop the teaching through collaboration with a few colleagues and 3) collective practices where the teachers can discuss their teaching with all their colleagues and engage in mutually beneficial and productive interactions. The study identifies how the schools’ site-specific practice architectures prefigures and shapes newly qualified teachers’ practices during the induction phase.