The New Lives of Teachers

The New Lives of Teachers examines the varied, often demanding commitments on teachers’ lives today as they attempt to pursue careers in primary and secondary education. Building upon Huberman’s classic study, it probes not only teachers’ everyday lives, but also the ways in which they negotiate the pitfalls of professional development and the different life and work ‘scenarios’ that challenge their sense of identity, well-being and effectiveness.

The authors provide a new evidence-based framework to investigate and understand teachers’ lives. Using a range of contemporary examples of teaching, they demonstrate that it is the relative success with which teachers manage various personal, work and external policy challenges that is a key factor in the satisfaction, commitment, well-being and effectiveness of teachers in different contexts and at different times in their work and lives. The positive and negative influences upon career and professional development and the influences of school leadership, culture, colleagues and conditions are also shown to be profound and relate directly to teacher retention and the work-life balance agenda. The implications of these insights for teaching quality and teacher retention are discussed.

This book will be of special interest to teachers, teachers’ associations, policy makers, school leaders, and teacher educators, and should also be of interest to students on postgraduate courses.

“'This is one of the best books ever written about the working lives of primary and secondary school teachers. It draws not only on the science in the field but also on the real life experiences of the teachers themselves--on their joys of teaching, on the stresses and strains of their job and the impact on theses on their working and personal lives. This is a must read for all interested in education.' Professor Cary L. Cooper, Lancaster University, UK' New Lives of Teachers foregrounds an old truth much neglected by contemporary educational reformers: Teachers' passion and commitment are foundational to high quality teaching. Day and Gu persuasively show how and why the emotional and professional contexts critically affect teachers' capacity and willingness to teach their best.' Milbrey McLaughlin, Stanford University, US'This book is a wakeup call for governments and how they support the teaching profession. Day and Gu provide us with compelling evidence of how the changing social, economic and political conditions are having a significant impact on teachers' lives. ' Judyth Sachs, Macquarrie University, Australia'Through this book, Day and Gu offer insightful portraits of teachers that shed new light on traditional views of expertise as being built solely on age and experience. They hold up for critical analysis teachers' working lives in ways that make clear what it is like to be confronted by the ongoing challenges of change so endemic in education today.' John Loughran, Monash University, Australia'Carefully documented, thoughtfully unravelled and systematically represented. An insightful must read for anyone who cares for teachers and teaching and who hates simplistic discussions about them.' Geert Kelchtermans, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium”

'A compelling read that makes you appreciate teachers, but equally will spur teachers on to increase the impact they have on their colleagues and on the children they serve. Interesting to read, deeply meaningful-Day and and Gu have written a book for all educators, young and old.' -- Professor Michael Fullan, University of Toronto, Canada 'This is one of the best books ever written about the working lives of teachers. It draws not only on the science in the field but also on the real life experiences of the teachers themselves--on their joys of teaching, on the stresses and strains of their job and the impact on theses on their working and personal lives. This is a must read for all interested in education.' -- Professor Cary L. Cooper, Lancaster University, UK 'This book is a wakeup call for governments and how they support the teaching profession. Day and Gu provide us with compelling evidence of how the changing social, economic and political conditions are having a significant impact on teachers' lives.' -- Judyth Sachs, Macquarrie University, Australia 'New Lives of Teachers foregrounds an old truth much neglected by contemporary educational reformers: Teachers' passion and commitment are foundational to high quality teaching. Day and Gu persuasively show how and why the emotional and professional contexts critically affect teachers' capacity and willingness to teach their best.' -- Milbrey McLaughlin, Stanford University, US

Chris Day is Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham, UK. Qing Gu is an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, UK.

The (New) Lives of Teachers examines variations in teachers' identify, commitment and resilience across the span of their professional lives of primary and secondary school teachers in different school contexts. Its theoretical conception builds on Huberman's classic study of teachers' lives "The Lives of Teachers". However, the research on which it is based goes further in probing not only teachers' lives but also the ways in which they manage variations in different professional life phases and in different life and work 'scenarios' which challenge their sense of positive professional identify, well-being and effectiveness.This book, The (New) Lives of Teachers complements and extends Huberman's seminal work on the lives of teachers by providing a 'new' evidence-based conceptual framework to investigate and understand teachers' work and lives in contemporary contexts of teaching. It demonstrates clearly that it is the relative success with which teachers manage various personal, work and external policy challenges which is a key factor in the satisfaction, commitment, well-being and effectiveness of teachers in different contexts and at different times in their work and lives and discusses the implications for teaching quality and teacher retention. The positive and negative influences upon career and professional development and the influences of school leadership, culture, colleagues and conditions are profound and relate directly to teacher retention and the work-life balance agenda.This book's readership will include teachers, teachers' associations, policy makers, school leaders, Local Authority Advisers and/or Inspectors and teacher educators (pre and in-service). The book will have an international appeal since there is nothing else on the market of this kind or quality, andthe book is likely to be in demand as a generic text in PGCE, MA and EdD courses.

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