Relationships Between Novice Teachers’ Social Resources and Workload Manageability

TLDR

Novice special education teachers report feeling overwhelmed, and their workload perceptions predict burnout and turnover, yet research offers few actionable strategies for leaders. This study examined how school social resources influence novice SETs’ and general education teachers’ perceptions of workload manageability. Novice SETs’ manageability was predicted by instructional interactions with colleagues and a collective responsibility culture, but not by mentor interactions, while the pattern differed for GETs, indicating distinct support needs.

Abstract

Novice special education teachers (SETs) consistently report feeling overwhelmed by their workloads, and their perceptions of their workloads predict outcomes of concern, such as burnout and plans to quit teaching. Yet, to date, research provides few insights into feasible strategies school leaders could use to help novices better manage workloads. Therefore, we examined how school social resources contribute to novice SETs’ and general education teachers’ (GETs) perceptions of workload manageability. We found that novice SETs’ perceptions of workload manageability were predicted by instructional interactions with colleagues and schools’ cultures of collective responsibility for students with disabilities, but not by instructional interactions with mentors. The pattern of relationships differed for GETs, suggesting different populations of novices may benefit from different supports.