Teacher buoyancy: harnessing personal and contextual resources in the face of everyday challenges in early career teachers’ work

Early career teachers (ECTs) face great stress arising from the demands of the teaching job which are translated into everyday challenges. This article reports a mixed-methods study which examined teacher buoyancy, focusing on how ECTs harness personal and contextual resources when facing the everyday challenges of teaching. The quantitative data analysis showed six factors which constituted the personal and contextual dimensions of teacher buoyancy. The qualitative findings offered an in-depth understanding of these dimensions. ECTs counted on the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural emphases of personal resources in making immediate to short-term responses to everyday challenges. Striving for professional growth and Taking care of one’s well-being were distal personal resources that enhanced ECTs’ potential to manage these challenges. Accessibility to contextual resources and ECTs’ utilisation of these resources constituted the dual facets of the contextual dimension of teacher buoyancy. Implications for initial teacher education and induction of ECTs are discussed.