Preparing Early Career Teachers to Thrive

Teachers are the backbone of schools, yet they are leaving in droves. This book addresses the post-pandemic crisis of early career teacher turnover that is harming students and entire school systems. The author provides teacher educators and mentors with strategies to help new teachers proactively navigate the early years and thrive in the K–12 classroom. Based on 10 years of research and practical application, this guide will support teacher professional identity formation, resilience, and agency. The text offers a humanistic conceptual lens on the most pressing issues expressed by novice teachers. Chapters cover understanding the causes of burnout and attrition, promoting an authentic teacher identity, appreciating teaching as developmental, managing tension and conflict, encouraging self-care for busy educators, and authoring a personalized early career plan. Each topic features assignment ideas, reflection prompts, and other tools suitable for both teacher preparation courses and one-on-one coaching and mentoring.

Book Features:

• Offers field-tested tools to help preservice and new teachers avoid burnout and maintain their well-being.
• Includes step-by-step activities with templates that break down each of the tools discussed.
• Weaves together inspiring quotes, short anecdotes, and work samples from teachers who participated in the activities.
• Recommends distinct ways that K–12 induction programs, mentors, administrators, and early career teachers can use and adapt the ideas presented.

Kristina Marie Valtierra is an associate professor and chair of the Education Department at Colorado College.

“A breath of much-needed fresh air. . . . Dr. Valtierra guides you through the ebbs and flows of learning and developing the teaching skills that ultimately become the foundations of one's practice.”
—From the Foreword by William Anderson, director of teacher education and clinical assistant professor, Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver

“In the midst of a crisis of early career teacher burnout and turnover, Valtierra emerges as a beacon of hope, offering practical strategies and compelling insights to empower educators at the onset of their journey. With a humanistic lens and research backing, this book equips beginning teachers and those who support them with the tools necessary to foster resilience, cultivate professional identity, and navigate the challenges of the classroom with grace and purpose.”
—Tina H. Boogren, bestselling author and education consultant

“Valtierra offers a phenomenal insight into the imperative need to humanize the teaching profession. Throughout the book, readers are presented with a compelling, evidence-based argument for nurturing novice teachers into professionals equipped with resilience, agency, and a strong sense of purpose. This solution-focused guide is essential reading for teacher educators and early career mentors providing practical strategies, reflective practices, and firsthand accounts to support early career teachers in thriving amidst the challenges of the profession.”
—Victoria Harrison, education consultant, Mrs Humanities Curriculum Design & Consultancy