Professional incorporation as a subjective experience: the case of novice teachers in Quebec¹

Abstract

This paper proposes to study the professional incorporation of novice teachers from a socio-interactionist perspective of the teaching work, using a phenomenological-pragmatist vision, applied to the study of this stage of professional life. Based on the above, we try to answer the following questions: What is the perception of novice teachers regarding their working conditions? How do they live the professional experience during the first years of their career? Can we identify elements that facilitate or impede the professional incorporation during this early phase of professional life? To answer these questions, we have studied the case of novice teachers who practice in various schools in Quebec, Canada, through semi-directed interviews (n=46), analyzed by thematic categorization. The results reveal that the working conditions are very different and that they are linked to the contractual situations of the novice teachers, the material means for exercising the profession and the organization of the various establishments. Teachers experience these objective elements in different ways: positive experience (easy integration), negative experience (lack of accompaniment) and mixed experience (relativization of experience). Finally, we were able to identify transversal elements that facilitate or impede the professional incorporation (professional community, contractual conditions, students’ involvement).

Work conditions; Experience; Professional incorporation; Novice teachers; Teaching work