Accessed or latent resources? Exploring new secondary science teachers' networks of resources

Abstract

Abstract Although new teachers clearly need resources and support, little is known about the types of resources new science teachers' access during their early years of teaching. To increase knowledge of their needs, the study described in this article focused on the primary resources (i.e., human, material, and social) and secondary resources (i.e., strategic and symbolic) new science teachers' access and how those resources interact in new teachers' instructional contexts. The participants for this qualitative study were 15 new secondary science teachers in the United States, and data sources included a contextual interview, teaching observations, and a follow‐up interview. Findings revealed that these teachers had a variety of resources available to them, of which social resources were particularly important. Some resources were not accessed and remained latent resources. In addition, some interactions of resources in the new teachers' context led to the development of the network of resources model to represent how resources can interact in contexts to support a new teacher. This model highlights the importance of considering the interaction of multiple resources in a teaching context.