commitment to the profession. The most prominent theme relating to mastery experiences connects to how living through and learning from difficult situations over time helped participants remain committed to their field while also supporting their understanding that they could get through the next challenge presented. Further, because of the number of years of experience held, participants in the late-career stage have reached a common acceptance that difficult situations would come in a variety of contexts because of the complexity described in regard to the field of elementary
education. Getting through challenges built resilience, impacting their feeling of success,
which is a direct component of a mastery experience. Of the 15 participants, 11 shared situations that demonstrated their persevering through what they felt were challenges throughout their careers. This ended up being a broad theme that was elicited from experiences shared as responses within all four sources of information.
Some indicated that, compared to when they first started teaching, they had to figure out the difficulties of getting the majority of their students where they needed to be through their own learning instead of having left college properly trained. Many of the experiences related to this self-learning occurred because of failed teaching experiences or initiatives that did not go well. Initiatives mentioned included those induced from the state, district, and school site levels. Others shared how frustrated they were at the beginning of their careers because they were not properly trained for some of the
specifics related to elementary school teaching because multiple subject teachers not only teach all subjects, they also could be assigned any grade-level from transitional
kindergarten to eighth grade. The specific skills needed to achieve literacy and
mathematical understanding changes and shifts developmentally depending on the age-level of the children being taught. Participant K shared,
When I first started teaching, I was just trying to figure out how to do this. I was very happy when I figured out how to get the majority of the kids where they’re supposed to be. You know, laying that foundation successfully.
Staying the course provided a sense of resiliency, which in turn impacted their commitment to continuing in education. While reaching an understanding about
perseverance during difficult situations did not happen quickly for some of the teachers, their continuing forward through those tougher situations over time helped them
understand that they benefitted from living through those experiences and their knowledge about what to do grew. Additionally, they learned valuable insights into better teaching strategies, learning modalities of students, and how to handle difficult situations in various contexts. Several spoke directly that perseverance producing commitment was a result of the fact that they are late-career teachers. Therefore, they have had years in which so many experiences to have occurred, compared to when they started. Participant O shared,
It just feels so good to get through difficult times. It gives you a purpose. And you just need more of those early in your career to keep going on. There was never a time when I said I’m stopping. I kept going. There was a time I was going to stop here [referring to her school site]. That was my first year here and the culture of the parents was entitled, and it was really hard. But obviously, I didn’t stop.
Some participants valued the concept of perseverance so much, and how it impacted their TSE, that they incorporated perseverance as a learned behavior into their teaching. Participant M gave a specific example of this when she shared,
I’m excited about it [referring to a particular project that is difficult for students]
and then I know from past experience that those kids are different after having done that project. For the rest of the year, I can always point them back to when we did that. When we’ve hit a tough area in math, I can say, “Hey, remember when you did that project? You didn’t think you’re going to finish the star, either.
But you did, right?
In regard to content area as a context for difficulty, some participants were quick to target specific areas that made them feel less successful as a teacher because they were not as comfortable with the content themselves. In the late-career stage, one that came up often was the area of technology. Because teachers in this stage have been in the
profession since the 80s or 90s, technology is not an area that is natural to most of them, and it has evolved significantly since they started teaching. Two teachers mentioned how they had completed their master’s degrees using a typewriter and microfiche. Having evolved with technology, however, made several of them quite proud of themselves and it was apparent their TSE was higher regarding technology than might be assumed of a late-career elementary teacher. Further, it can be inferred that because late-career
elementary teachers have developed a deep understanding of how students learn, a theme that will be discussed later in this chapter, they also understand the importance of how something like technology impacts student learning. Therefore, they shared how imperative it was for them to persevere through their own learning as part of the profession, essentially building their mastery experiences as a result. Participant K shared a specific example of this when she shared,
I'm really proud of the fact that I haven't let my fear of technology stop me from pushing those boundaries because I can see that education is shifting right now.
And for my kids to be prepared for their future. [Technology] is the bigger, wider picture for students. They need these skills. I need these skills to be able to give them these skills. So, I would say that one because it's going to have more impact in the long run.
Through the shared stories of the participants, it became clear that experiencing success with persevering through various difficulties impacted the TSE of late-career elementary teachers such that they are willing to persist in the field. Their overall responses when asked directly if a negative or positive experience impacted their TSE more most often went toward the positive because they had built a core belief that the negative times will come, but they can and will get through it. That core belief defines resiliency. It was the most frequently occurring theme within the source of mastery experiences with 25 references (see Table 4).
Table 4
Frequency of Mastery Experiences: Theme 1
Theme Sources References
Persevering through challenging situations increases a teachers’ commitment to the profession.
11 25