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What do alternatively certified secondary teachers consider the most frustrating and challenging situations of their first years of teaching? Several issues poised challenges to the participants that they shared during their interviews. Student behavioral problems, lack of materials, resources, and parental involvement were topics mentioned several times in the interviews. Half of the participants expressed their frustration with the lack of communication with district administrators about meeting the alternative certification program requirements within the prescribed timeline. The participants compared the challenges they faced as teachers to the challenges they faced in previous careers.

Student behavioral problems. Most participants struggled with student behavioral problems during their initial years of teaching. T5 believed,

They put the wrong personalities together in my classroom. I had all the boys that wanted to fight. The administrators did not know the children well enough to ensure those who had issues with each other were not in the same classroom. It was a challenge correcting the unwanted behavior.

T6 found working the behavior of special education students in her general English class frustrating.

We did not have any help with the special education students. We did not have enough money to pay for special education teachers. Our special education students were severe and they needed more help than could give them. Because of the behavioral problems in my room, I did not have time to do one on one activities with my students. It was a frustrating environment. Lack of communication with district administrators. Some of the teachers expressed their frustration about the lack of communication with district

administrators about the alternative certification program requirements. T5 shared her frustration with her district administrators.

When I first started the program, it was not spelled out to me. I was a pure science person, not an educator. They should have sat down with me in the beginning and discussed the details of the program. I was caught up in a situation where I could not get the courses taken in the timeframe. I was called to the central office, and the superintendent at that time gave me two options – resign or be terminated. So I resigned. I was a single mom and very frustrated.

T2 shared a similar experience as he described his frustrating situation during his initial years of teaching. T2 explained,

The lack of communication between the employee and employer about the certification process was frustrating. I needed to know how long I had to meet the requirements and was caught up struggling to finish within the timeline. I needed to know at the start of the year from them specifically what I needed to do to meet the requirements and how long I had to get it done. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when your options are gone, and you do not finish the requirements in time.

Comparison of challenging situations to other careers. The participants compared the challenges during their initial years of teaching with the challenges they faced in as they started their other careers and jobs. T1 expressed,

The biggest difference is that I had a foundation in athletics administration. I was already familiar with what I was going to do at that new job. I had everything I needed to do the work. It was different with teaching because I did not have a foundation for how things would work. If I had known the inner workings of it and been given everything that I needed to teach, my transition would have been so much easier.

T2 stated, “In my other job, we were provided the resources and tools to get the job done. In education, I am working with children, our future, and the resources are limited to none.” T3 shared similar sentiments, “I used to work for the federal government. I had everything that I needed to get the job done… In teaching,

resources were not readily available.” T4 expressed similarities and difference between teaching and her old job.

The jobs were similar. As a bank teller, I had to take tests. I had to take mathematical exams and score a certain percentage on them before I could be considered for the job. Banking allows you to work with adults…the public. It is more personable. Customer relations are very important. You want the public to come back. Technology is always available. The supplies that you need to work will be available. There was one set of rules. In the classroom, there is not enough training in the world to prepare you. I have to work to children. They are there for 180 days. Education is constantly changing. Once you learn one thing, it changes.

Although teaching is T5’s first career, she made a comparison to the training and experiences from other jobs that she worked. She shared,

This was my first career. But when I worked at restaurants and in retail during college, my trainer stood by me for a timeframe before they allowed me to work solo. It was scary in the classroom alone with a room full of kids only to see my next door teacher during class changes, lunch, before and after school when I had questions that needed to be answered, and I wondered am I doing this right.

In addition, T6 discussed the fact that during her initial years of teaching “I believed that all alone, I didn’t have anyone to help me. I believed that like the young teacher that nobody wanted to talk to.”

Lack of materials, resources, technology, and parental involvement. Participants reported lack of materials, resources, and technology as frustrating and challenging situations. Although lack of materials and resources were identified as challenges for most new teachers, AC T1 stated that,

As a new teacher, we tend to lean on resources. Having not going through the traditional teacher prep program, you tend to rely on the textbooks’ teacher edition and resources. Not having access to those makes it tough for me. In the first year, when you are trying to organize and you do not have what the curriculum says that you are supposed to have in order to teach---it is very frustrating.

T3 echoed T1’s response about his challenges due to lack of resources. T4 expressed frustration for lack of resources and technology.

The most frustrating situations during my initial years of teaching were lack of technology and supplies. I was docked on my evaluation during my first performance observation. I started teaching on mid-September. All of the technology in the library had been checked out by teachers who started at the beginning of the school year in August. By the time, that I was hired there were no supplies and technology available to me, which resulted in a low score on my evaluation for lack of use technology. I had absolutely no control over having access to technology. It was aggravating.

T3 and T4 believed that lack of parental involvement was also frustrating during their initial years. T3 stated, “I couldn’t believe it when you have a problem and you called

a parent and their response was why are you calling me?” T4 suggested, “Parents need to check on their children.”

Summary. Theme 3 was characterized by the challenges the participants described in their classrooms and gave information to the following research question:

What do alternatively certified secondary teachers consider the most frustrating and challenging situations of their first years of teaching? Leading among the challenges named was student behavioral issues. Although the classroom management course was identified as the most beneficial in the alternative teacher preparation program, classroom management was a challenge to the

participants. Lack of materials, resources, technology, and parental involvement were also identified as challenges of the participants during their first years of teaching. Half of the participants also identified lack of communication with district

administrators about the Alternative certification program requirements and timelines as a challenging situation during their first years of teaching.

The participants compared the challenges they faced during their initial years of teaching to their probationary periods in their other careers. They reported minimal frustration during that time. The participants expressed that training was provided prior to being allowed to work solo. They also discussed that resources and materials were readily available to complete their assigned job tasks. However, in spite of these challenging and frustrating situations, these teachers have earned tenure and worked more than three years.