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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412446

Professional agency in the classroom and burnout among early career teachers in China

Provisionally accepted
Liyuan E Liyuan E 1*Auli Toom Auli Toom 1,2Janne Pietarinen Janne Pietarinen 3Tiina Soini-Ikonen Tiina Soini-Ikonen 4Kaisa Haverinen Kaisa Haverinen 4Kirsi Pyhältö Kirsi Pyhältö 1
  • 1 Centre for University Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
  • 2 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • 3 School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland
  • 4 Faculty of Education and Culture, University of Tampere, Tampere, Pirkanmaa, Finland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The aim of the present study is to investigate early career teachers' professional agency in the classroom. In addition, the association between early career teachers' professional agency in the classroom and the burnout they experienced was examined. In this study, 779 early career teachers, teaching in primary and junior secondary schools in China, responded to the study survey in 2021. The Mplus statistical package (version 8.4) was used to conduct the analysis and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling. The results indicated that early career teachers' professional agency in the classroom consists of three elements: motivation, self-efficacy beliefs, and skills to manage new learning, which entails building a collaborative environment by transforming teaching practices and reflection in the classroom. The results also showed that early career teachers' professional agency in the classroom was negatively related to their burnout.

    Keywords: Teacher learning, Professional agency, Teacher Burnout, structural equation modelling, Chinese context

    Received: 04 Apr 2024; Accepted: 17 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 E, Toom, Pietarinen, Soini-Ikonen, Haverinen and Pyhältö. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Liyuan E, Centre for University Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Uusimaa, Finland

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