Maldivian secondary teachers’ reflections on their first year of teaching : enabling factors, perceived problems and proposed solutions

Abstract

This study investigated the reflections on the first year teaching of 10 beginning secondary teachers with a Bachelor of Teaching Secondary qualification through open ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The participants identified the high levels of student motivation and good student performance in their classes, constructive feedback from the school management and establishment of positive relationships with colleagues as enabling factors. The problems these beginning teachers faced include classroom management issues, time management problems, dealing with special needs students, being under-prepared for real classroom situations, high workload and low salary, dealing with parents, lack of status in the school, lack of resources, dealing with their own emotions and being subject to internal and external policies. Implications for teachers training include establishing support groups to help beginning teachers make the transition from pre-service to in-service teachers, evaluating the teacher preparation curriculum to incorporate coping strategies, improving some school related factors and providing them with more practice before they become fully fledged teachers.