Preparing Early Career Teachers to Thrive

Book excerpt: "Teachers are the backbone of schools, yet they are leaving in droves. Given the crisis of early career teacher burnout and turnover that harms teachers, their students, and entire school systems, Tools to Thrive: Priming Early Career Teachers to Thrive in an Era of Attrition provides teacher educators, early career mentors and new teachers alike with practical strategies to proactively navigate the early years and thrive. Using a humanistic conceptual lens and based on ten years of research and practical application, Tools to Thrive supports novice teacher professional identity formation, resilience, and agency. Based on the most pressing issues expressed by early career teacher participants, chapters include understanding the causes of burnout and attrition, promoting an authentic teacher identity, appreciating teaching as developmental, managing tension and conflict, self-care for busy new educators, and authoring a personalized early career plan. Each topic features practical and reliable reflection exercises, resources, and activities. This book weaves in inspiring quotes, short anecdotes, and work samples from early career teachers who participated in the Tools to Thrive activities"--