The Micropolitics of Teacher Induction:
A Narrative-Biographical Study on Teacher Socialisation
Kelchterman and Ballet (2002) in the University of Leuven argue that the period of
teacher careers has getting more research attention than the induction period, the first year as
a beginning teacher. The authors also add that the ‘praxis shock’ of beginning teachers is
appeared even though some countries have established the induction programs. Praxis shock
is defined as “the teacher’s confrontation with the realities and responsibilities of being a
classroom teacher that puts their beliefs and ideas about teaching to the test, challenges some
of them, and confirms others.” (p.105). However, most research on beginning teachers has
only focused on problems related to the classroom teaching not the fact that beginning
teachers become members of an organisation, Therefore, the study centers on the
socialisation process, the meaningful interaction between the beginning teacher and the
school as an organization. The purposes of this study are to understand the character of these
interaction and how they affect beginning teachers’ action and beliefs.
Kelchterman and Ballet examined the teachers’ experiences in Belgium and the
meaning they gave to the experience. There were 14 beginning teachers who had been
teaching for minimal 3 and maximum 5 years in Flemish primary schools, who had received
their teacher certificate from two teacher training institutes. In this procedure, the beginning
teachers were stimulated to reflect back on their career (auto-biographical) and narratively
share their experiences. The authors combined the narrative-biography and the micro-politics
as the approaches of teacher socialization. In the interpretative analysis of the data, the
authors used the narrative-biographical concepts such as ‘‘professional self’’ and ‘‘subjective
educational theory’’. Firstly, there are the teacher’s conceptions about him/herself as a
teacher (the professional self) and the second component is the personal system of knowledge
and beliefs on teaching (the subjective educational theory). The micro-political perspective as
the second approach takes the idea of different interests among members of an organisation
(teacher colleagues, principals, parents and others) as the central focus in its understanding of
organisational behavior. Micropolitics, then, refers to the strategies and tactics used by
individuals and groups in an organisation to further their interests.
In this study, the authors find the five different professional interests of the
micropolitical reality that are at stake for the teachers involved. They are self-interest,
A Narrative-Biographical Study on Teacher Socialisation
Kelchterman and Ballet (2002) in the University of Leuven argue that the period of
teacher careers has getting more research attention than the induction period, the first year as
a beginning teacher. The authors also add that the ‘praxis shock’ of beginning teachers is
appeared even though some countries have established the induction programs. Praxis shock
is defined as “the teacher’s confrontation with the realities and responsibilities of being a
classroom teacher that puts their beliefs and ideas about teaching to the test, challenges some
of them, and confirms others.” (p.105). However, most research on beginning teachers has
only focused on problems related to the classroom teaching not the fact that beginning
teachers become members of an organisation, Therefore, the study centers on the
socialisation process, the meaningful interaction between the beginning teacher and the
school as an organization. The purposes of this study are to understand the character of these
interaction and how they affect beginning teachers’ action and beliefs.
Kelchterman and Ballet examined the teachers’ experiences in Belgium and the
meaning they gave to the experience. There were 14 beginning teachers who had been
teaching for minimal 3 and maximum 5 years in Flemish primary schools, who had received
their teacher certificate from two teacher training institutes. In this procedure, the beginning
teachers were stimulated to reflect back on their career (auto-biographical) and narratively
share their experiences. The authors combined the narrative-biography and the micro-politics
as the approaches of teacher socialization. In the interpretative analysis of the data, the
authors used the narrative-biographical concepts such as ‘‘professional self’’ and ‘‘subjective
educational theory’’. Firstly, there are the teacher’s conceptions about him/herself as a
teacher (the professional self) and the second component is the personal system of knowledge
and beliefs on teaching (the subjective educational theory). The micro-political perspective as
the second approach takes the idea of different interests among members of an organisation
(teacher colleagues, principals, parents and others) as the central focus in its understanding of
organisational behavior. Micropolitics, then, refers to the strategies and tactics used by
individuals and groups in an organisation to further their interests.
In this study, the authors find the five different professional interests of the
micropolitical reality that are at stake for the teachers involved. They are self-interest,
