Abstract:

This research, conducted in the North-West of England, examined what trainee teachers believe affects their wellbeing, while studying on a one-year post-graduate course.

Wellbeing is defined as, “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2022). Wellbeing is, therefore, of paramount importance for those training to teach, to enable them to both be successful in their academic studies and on school placements.

The trainee teachers, in this study, are students; attending university lectures, taking out student loans and managing their study workloads. There is an abundance of research on the wellbeing of student populations and practising teachers (Education Support Partnership, 2021, 2018; Eisenberg et al., 2009; Macaskill, 2013; Pereira et al., 2019; Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2011, 2013; White, 2020). In addition, they are also acting as teachers (in primary school); planning, assessing and teaching lessons as well as working with and amongst their school colleagues. However, research indicates the schools within which they train are not always thriving wellbeing space. The numbers of primary school teachers leaving the profession has been increasing each year since 2012 (DfE, 2023). Of those teachers who remain teaching in schools, the mental health picture is not a good one as “38% of teachers and education staff reported experiencing mental health issues in the past academic year (7% increase on 2020)” Education Support Partnership, (2021:3). It is important to highlight that this workforce provide mentorship, guidance and collegiality for the trainee teachers on placement in their schools. Training to be a teacher in a school with a perceived ‘negative’ work culture, or with a mentor who is experiencing their own wellbeing difficulties can be problematic for a trainee teacher looking for teaching and pastoral support.

Through an exploratory case study approach, the lived experience of a focus group of post-graduate (PGCE/PGDE training to teach the 5-11 age range) trainee teachers (van Manen, 1997) in the North-West of England (N=8) was undertaken using self-directed semi-structured group interviews as the data collection method.

Our analysis illuminates that trainee teachers’ intersectionality (being both a student and a trainee teacher), places them in a vulnerable position, whereby their wellbeing is affected by issues pertaining to both groups.

These issues include financial anxiety; difficulties managing workloads; poor relationships with school staff and perceived negative school cultures. Furthermore, it is the trainee teachers’ intersectionality which can exacerbate these reported challenges. As many of these issues are systemic, trainee teachers are often powerless to ameliorate these problems.

This study offers a unique contribution to the literature base for trainee teachers, in England, by highlighting that they are a particularly vulnerable group due to their intersectionality of being a student and teacher. Further research is now required in this area to examine more widely if these findings are replicated in larger trainee teacher populations and how recent events such as the teacher strikes and the cost-of-living crisis may have affected this population.

Keywords:

Trainee teachers, wellbeing, intersectionality, teacher identity, education policy, primary school.