Building and Sustaining a Teaching Career: Strategies for Professional Experience, Wellbeing and Mindful Practice

Professional experience in initial teacher education programs can be both a challenging and rewarding experience. As student teachers take their first steps in the classroom, they often encounter stresses that compromise their teaching and learning. Within this context, well-being, resilience and self-efficacy are critical to their success. Building and sustaining a teaching career introduces the coping strategies, informal and formal practices, time management and organisational skills, and positive psychology critical to self-care for professional experience. The text uses case studies, 'fill your bucket' strategy building solutions, reflection activities and discussion and journaling questions designed to build capacity and develop reader knowledge, while pre-service teacher voices highlight key elements through real-world perspectives and experiences. Drawing upon a combination of teaching experience and education research, Narelle Lemon and Sharon McDonough present thoughtful, practical approaches that equip pre-service teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge for embarking on a successful teaching career.