Making the Transition from Preservice to Inservice Teaching: Beginning Teachers' Reflections

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to discover commonalities that pervade beginning teachers' experiences and (2) to use these commonalities to better prepare future teachers. Forty-two, non-tenured classroom teachers of kindergarten through twelfth grades were interviewed in focus groups. Twenty-five of the participants were elementary school teachers; seventeen, secondary. All the teachers' reflections for this study were based on their first teaching experience. Although the actual teaching experiences of the 42 teachers were diverse, cutting across all grade levels, subject areas, and school district demographics, several common perceptions emerged. These common perceptions can be categorized under three broad themes: Managing behavior and diverse needs of students, dealing with time constraint and work overload, and conflict with parents and other adults in the school.