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Mid-career teachers are often described as experienced and comfortable in their jobs with higher motivation and self-efficacy (Hargreaves 2005); yet, at the same time, the mid-career phase has also been portrayed as a period marked by a career plateau and feelings of stagnation (Farrell 2014). Despite the criticality of this career phase and the paradoxical research findings, mid-career teachers' lives have been rarely examined in-depth (Day and Gu 2010). This study employed semi-structured interviews with 16 mid-career foreign language teachers at secondary schools in the two different settings, Austria and England, to explore the characteristics of this career phase and the factors contributing to the wellbeing of these teachers. Inductive data analysis revealed that these mid-career language teachers benefitted from an established sense of confidence but also sought further professional growth opportunities. The teachers drew positivity and satisfaction from the meaning they took from their work, although their wellbeing appeared occasionally threatened by tensions between their job commitments and additional responsibilities in both personal and professional domains. The findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of this under-researched population and indicate the kind of support such teachers would need to remain in the profession and thrive during this critical period.

The issue of early-career teacher attrition is a pressing concern across a variety of educational settings. Research in predominantly anglophone contexts has shown that rates of foreign language teachers leaving the profession are particularly high. Noting the important role that well-being plays in fostering teacher retention, this study examines factors affecting the well-being of early-career foreign language teachers in the United Kingdom and Austria, and the subsequent possible consequences for their decision to leave or remain in the profession, drawing a comparison across the 2 settings. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 early-career foreign language teachers at secondary schools in Austria (n = 6) and the United Kingdom (n = 8). Inductive data analysis revealed an interplay among intrapersonal, societal, and contextual factors in relation to well-being, which might contribute to shaping participants' decision to remain or leave the profession across the 2 settings. These factors include perfectionism, self-efficacy, work-life spillover, self-regulation, relationships within the school, and foreign language teacher status. Our findings suggest the need for systematic approaches toward improving teacher well-being, not only for surviving in the profession but also for flourishing and thriving in the long term.

The present paper seeks to explore the contextual factors shaping the emotional labour experiences of secondary school teachers and explain the ways these educators manage their emotions. Data were generated through a series of 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with modern language (ML) teachers in the UK. The findings showed that teachers experienced primarily negative forms of emotional labour and these experiences were driven by five interrelated contextual factors: the lack of institutional support, heavy workload, low perceived status of MLs, students' lack of motivation, and classroom misbehaviour. To manage their emotions, the study reveals that teachers used a wide range of coping mechanisms such as suppression, venting, social support, positive reframing, and the development of positive student–teacher relationships. In light of our results, we call for the emotional dimension of teaching to be better integrated into training programmes, an improvement in working conditions and better support mechanisms for teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the emotion of pride has received increasing attention in general psychology, it has gone largely overlooked in the field of education generally, and language education specifically. This study explores the sources of pride reported by 140 English language teachers from various contexts across the globe. Data were generated through an online survey using a series of open‐ended items addressing various dimensions of participants' professional pride. The results revealed two main orientations in terms of the sources of professional pride experienced by participants, namely, self‐ and other‐oriented. Furthermore, data showed that participants in this study reported only on authentic pride as opposed to hubristic pride. The data indicated how these teachers' sense of pride is socially determined and interconnected with key psychological constructs such as motivation, self‐esteem, sense of meaning, agency, and well‐being. The concluding section of the paper considers how pride can be conceptualized in the domain of language education, how it can potentially be leveraged to boost teacher well‐being, and what pathways this study opens up for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellbeing is crucial for teachers, not only for themselves but also for ensuring that they teach to the best of their abilities. Thus, identifying ways of empowering teachers to take action to boost or maintain their wellbeing is vital. In this article, an ecological lens is adopted to understand what determines language teachers' agency for wellbeing. A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 30 EFL teachers based in Austria revealed four key themes which help to explain how teachers exercise their agency for wellbeing. These are: triggers, reflection, affordances, and action. The results show that critical incidents in their personal and professional domains act as triggers drawing teachers' attention towards their wellbeing and starting a process of deeper reflection. However, a prerequisite for taking action following this reflection appears to be a perceived sense of control about their ability to change things in their personal and professional lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mid-career teachers are often described as experienced and comfortable in their jobs with higher motivation and self-efficacy (Hargreaves 2005); yet, at the same time, the mid-career phase has also been portrayed as a period marked by a career plateau and feelings of stagnation (Farrell 2014). Despite the criticality of this career phase and the paradoxical research findings, mid-career teachers' lives have been rarely examined in-depth (Day and Gu 2010). This study employed semi-structured interviews with 16 mid-career foreign language teachers at secondary schools in the two different settings, Austria and England, to explore the characteristics of this career phase and the factors contributing to the wellbeing of these teachers. Inductive data analysis revealed that these mid-career language teachers benefitted from an established sense of confidence but also sought further professional growth opportunities. The teachers drew positivity and satisfaction from the meaning they took from their work, although their wellbeing appeared occasionally threatened by tensions between their job commitments and additional responsibilities in both personal and professional domains. The findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of this under-researched population and indicate the kind of support such teachers would need to remain in the profession and thrive during this critical period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]