English Teaching: Practice and Critique
Volume 2, Number 1 (May 2003): Focus: Beginning to Teach: Experience, Reflections, and Critique
Co-editors: Jackie Manuel (University of Sydney, Australia) and Sue Brindley (University of Cambridge, UK)
Rationale: It is well understood that "few experiences in life have such a tremendous impact on the personal and professional life of a teacher as does the first year of teaching" (Gold, 1996). We seek contributions for a special issue of English Teaching: Practice and Critique that are rich in detail and substance about what it means to be a beginning or early-career teacher of English. What are the motivations, challenges, aspirations, expectations and experiences of beginning teachers of English, whether it be at the outset of or during a pre-service preparation program, in the early days of a first appointment, or after several years into teaching? Are there characteristics of the early-career experience that are particular to teachers of English? What are the values, philosophies and attitudes of those entering the profession in this new century? What are the forces that shape and drive the development of the English teacher through the professional preparation and employment continuum? With the issue of teacher supply and retention at the forefront of policy, how and in what ways does the early career experience influence the longer-term career goals of the newly-appointed teacher? To what extent do initial teacher education programs impact upon the early-career experience? We would welcome research-based and/or scholarly articles, as well as narratives from early-career teachers that address these or other questions and issues that focus on beginning teaching and teachers of English