Author Identifier
Christina Gray: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8464-1961
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
British Journal of Sociology of Education
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Education
Abstract
This paper shares data from a longitudinal study into secondary performing arts teachers’ perceptions of their first five years of teaching. Utilising Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of rhizomatic becomings and Braidotti’s posthuman knowing subject, our research explores the embodied, relational, and fluid identities of early career teachers. This is important when exploring nascent teacher becomings because it takes into consideration the configuration of bodies and hyper-performative expectations in neoliberal educational assemblages. Our longitudinal qualitative research in Western Australia revealed that early career teachers (ECTs) experienced concerning levels of mental ill-health in response to insecure employment, high stress, long hours, performative school cultures, the COVID-19 pandemic, teacher shortages, and normative socio-cultural [mis]conceptions of what counts in education. This intersection of factors resulted in 35% of our participants resigning from the profession in the first five years.
DOI
10.1080/01425692.2025.2460012
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Lambert, K., & Gray, C. (2025). ‘Survival mode’: Navigating the first five years of teaching performing arts in neoliberal education assemblages. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 46(3), 341-357. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2025.2460012