Abstract

Today, education as a development industry is the basis of development in all fields such as cultural, social, economic and political ones; and schools as the social institutions have a special and sensitive position. Undoubtedly, teachers are the most important property of any educational organizations, and also have an effective mediating role between teaching and learning, and teaching is their most visible activity. Novice teachers are those who are in their first years of teaching and are facing unprecedented challenges in their professional work. The current research was conducted with the aim of detailed analysis of the experiences of novice elementary school teachers from the first year of teaching with a qualitative approach and by using the phenomenological method. The research populations were the novice primary teachers with one year of teaching experience in Yazd in the academic year 2018 -2019. Data collection was done by the purposeful sampling method until achieving the theoretical satisfaction. In this research, theoretical satisfaction was achieved in the tenth interview. Semi-structured interviews with novice teachers were conducted individually by the researcher (first author) to examine their views and performance regarding the research topic. Data analysis was done manually by Smith's method. About 1500 primary codes were extracted from 10 interviews. The opinion of expert professors was used for ensuring the validity of the interview questions. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the interview text and the concepts extracted from them, it was returned to the participants to be reviewed and then confirmed. Findings about the lived experiences of novice teachers emerged in five main themes and thirty three sub-themes: Contextual factors (9 sub-themes), Professional qualifications (12 sub-themes), Interactions (4 sub-themes), Pressure (4 sub-themes) and Preparation (4 sub-themes). Although the concepts of contextual factors and pressure explain the general conditions and the specific conditions that novice teachers are affected by respectively; the concepts of professional qualifications, interactions and preparation have focused on representing the adopted solutions for solving these challenges. According to the research findings and the obtained sub-themes, the background factors that caused the formation of this phenomenon were described as follows: The quality of the training courses offered to those who are accepted the employment test (Article 28), the quality of training courses offered to Farhangian University graduates, management of education system, school management, incomplete evaluation of teachers, class atmosphere, curriculum, facilities and equipment, and salary. According to the influence of the contextual factors perceived from the data which play a role in solving teacher's challenges, it can be said that the education, which wants to deliver a valuable product to the society, must train good organizational staffs and, also provide teachers with adequate training; so that they can deliver qualified students who are closer to the ideal to the community for satisfying the society. Professional competence is the second main theme that emerged in relation to the lived experiences of novice teachers from the first year of teaching. The teacher must have a good knowledge of psychology and counseling in such a way that he can know and understand the student and his age and individual requirements, and know his psychological characteristics to a certain extent, too. The third main theme that emerged in relation to the lived experiences of novice teachers from the first year of teaching is interactions that sorted in four categories: communication with parents, communication with families, communication with the principal, and communication with other teachers. Creating a relationship is the first step in education process. Just as teachers are skilled in teaching, they need to have knowledge and skills to communicate effectively. The fourth main theme is pressure. Class management by a novice teacher is one of the most stressful things. Preparation is the fifth main theme. Novice teachers must have the necessary mental preparations to get off to a good start. Most of the interviewees state that they faced a new atmosphere and environment upon entering the school. Novice teachers had felt deficiencies in themselves, including: not being familiar with all educational content, not being familiar with school programs, not being familiar with the manager's expectations and the age requirements of students, not being familiar with families and their expectations. Also, they feel the need for help and guidance when they face with teaching challenges and misunderstandings of students in the first weeks. One the limitations of the current research is the less generalizability of the results of qualitative studies compared to quantitative studies, because the analysis of qualitative data is somewhat dependent on the researcher, and may be the results are affected by other time and location conditions. Based on this, in the field of research, it is suggested to study the lived experiences of novice teachers in different cities, even the quantitative methods can be used. Based on the results of the present research, it is suggested that experienced school administrators and teachers support and guide new teachers; moreover, training courses for entrance exams and also Farhangian University courses should be held more effectively and efficiently. Of course, new teachers can actively accept the challenge of new work by doing individual study, participating in study courses and engaging in action research, consulting with the principal and experienced teachers. Obtaining consent from novice teachers to enter the interview process and record the interview, the confidentiality of the identity of novice teachers in the stages of data collection and analysis and publication of the results, freedom of the interview process from any physical and mental/ psychological harm to the participants, maintaining confidentiality in the transmission of the experienced challenge are the most important ethical considerations of this research. Findings show that teachers' experiences emerged in five contexts: contextual factors, professional competencies, interactions, stress and readiness. These five themes can clarify the lived experience of teachers in relation to; Characteristics, behaviors, interactions, reactions between students themselves, family, school, other teachers, school management, education management, quality of courses offered, facilities, salary, work conscience, class management, teacher work pressure, talent identification, challenge In the first weeks, teaching methods, psychological knowledge, counseling, and curriculum content identify potentially positive factors, and as a result, by using these results, the ground can be provided to direct the energy of teachers and students towards their development