Comfort in the Role: The Core of Positive Veteran Teachers

Abstract

Teacher career trajectory studies have identified a small group of positive veteran teachers who have maintained an ongoing enthusiasm for and commitment to teaching. Research into teacher career trajectory frameworks suggests that comfort in the role remains a core tenet in supporting their sense of professional identity. While studies have identified this, there is little research into the subtleties of this tenet and how this helps these positive veteran teachers remain committed to teaching. This article reports on the qualitative findings about comfort in the role in sustaining positive veteran teachers’ commitment to teaching. Further, the article points to key support measures accessed by these teachers to maintain this commitment. The ability to identify what comprises comfort in the role may encourage curriculum organisations and executive school leadership to retain and capitalise on the skills of their positive veteran teachers. This research seeks to examine an important teacher education perspective that provides valuable examples for beginning and early career teachers of practical mechanisms for positive coping mechanisms and maintaining comfort in the role in the longer term in a dynamic and demanding profession.

1. Introduction

While considerable research attention has been devoted to early career teachers and their attrition rates, globally, it is estimated that there will be a shortage of 44 million teachers in 2030 [1]. As such, teacher retention has been and continues to be an acute and pressing issue in education policy as well as in research; little attention has been paid to veteran teachers—especially those who remain positive towards teaching—and the characteristics that sustain them. Consequently, schools may be potentially under-utilising good teachers. The purpose of this study was to develop insights into the characteristics of positive veteran teachers and how comfort in the role sustains them in their commitment to teaching. Teacher retention continues to be an acute issue in education policy as well as in research [1,2,3].

It is important to note that female teachers represent 72% of the teaching workforce in Australia [4], which underscores the need for further focused research on this demographic. Feminist theories, which are integral to this diverse theoretical framework, emphasise critical power analysis and often prioritize addressing social injustice, serving as a significant motivator for research efforts [5]. Considering the role of feminist perspectives within posthumanism and the aim to not only describe but also envision the potential future developments of research [6], it is crucial to examine both current and future studies by questioning who or what is afforded the opportunity for development and transformation in professional settings [7].

Veteran teachers have been broadly defined by a combination of years of teaching and/or life experience, and there is considerable flexibility in the definition. Drawing upon both the Latin etymology of the word ‘veteran’ (2019), meaning a person of long experience, and incorporating the wide range of respected researchers cited throughout this article, for the purpose of this research, the term ‘veteran teacher’ is used to refer to a teacher over the age of 40, or who has had 20 or more years teaching experience.

In examining the professional lives of teachers, four central frameworks have identified a cohort of veteran teachers who have maintained their commitment to the profession [8,9,10,11,12,13]. All four sought to examine the professional life phases of teachers from that of pre-service through to retirement. Over time, other researchers have sought to identify characteristics associated with various periods of their teaching experience [14]. While career trajectory studies identify groups of committed veteran teachers, it is useful to further examine the shared characteristics of this group. Day and Gu [12] reported commitment in veteran teachers as an outward expression of motivated teachers who believe they can make a difference. They report that their positive emotions of joy and pleasure are sustained and stored as fuel for times that challenge their resilience. The literature suggests four broad, dynamic dimensions associated with teacher commitment shared by positive veteran teachers. These researcher-derived labels of convenience are reflective of the multi-faceted and dynamic characteristics of this cohort, and the focus of this article is that of positive veteran teachers and comfort in the role.

The knowledge derived from this study may then be employed for school leadership to better support all veteran teachers and potentially re-engage their disengaged or disenchanted colleagues. It also acts as a valuable source of practical strategies for beginning or early career teachers.

1.1. Comfort in the Role across Teacher Career Trajectory Studies

Comfort in the role relates to a sense of agency or being comfortable and in control of the classroom [8] and, while many factors impact negatively on the enthusiasm of teachers in their later careers, research has consistently identified a small cohort of veteran teachers who remain enthusiastic about and committed to the profession despite its challenges [11,12,14,15]. Comfort in the role facilitates these teachers’ sense of self efficacy, commitment, and enthusiasm/internal motivation. Huberman [16] reported that veteran teachers typically no longer felt the need to prove themselves to others and thus required or sought less support or affirmation. Carrillo and Flores [17] concurred with this finding in their analytic review, suggesting that positive veteran teachers reported a high degree of confidence in their teaching skills. A more recent mixed-methods study conducted by Chiong et al. [2] affirmed perceived professional mastery as an important factor in enabling veteran teachers to stay committed to the profession.

This paper also identifies a need for a greater body of exploratory research in a post-COVID-19 era as to how these teachers have maintained their commitment to teaching. In addition, greater research attention could be given to these mechanisms of comfort in the role that are employed by these positive veteran teachers to effectively support their younger, less experienced colleagues.

This study augments the understanding of this cohort by identifying and exploring comfort in the role of positive teachers drawn from four key teacher career trajectory studies [10,11,12,13,16]. Teacher career trajectory studies have been a popular and enduring research topic and have revealed that teachers progress through various stages of commitment throughout their professional lives [9,10,13,16,18,19,20]. Much of this research has focused on particular phases of teaching or teaching cohorts, specifically early career teachers [12,14,15].

Although middle-aged, experienced teachers often become demotivated, some teachers remain enthusiastic and committed. Four key studies that differed in structure from linear to dynamic or transformative [9,10,11,12,14,16], all identified comfort in the role as important to positive veteran teachers across the later career stages.

1.2. Comfort in the Role in Wider Literature

Huberman [9] characterised teachers of 20–30 years of experience as having “the perception of confidence, effectiveness and serenity” (p. 353). Day and Gu [11] reported a strong sense of agency and professional competency as leading characteristics identified among committed veteran teachers. Similarly, Fessler and Christensen [10] identified the career wind-down phase as one that positive veteran teachers perceive as a pleasant and enjoyable period of their teaching. Steffy and Wolfe [13] quantified comfort in the role as achieving certain expectations benchmarked against national certifications.

There appears to be a consensus that positive veteran teachers generally feel comfortable in their roles. However, Fessler and Christensen [10] asserted that although veteran teachers often feel a strong sense of efficacy or comfort in their classroom role, they still require external affirmation of their effectiveness. Steffy and Wolfe [13] stated that while veteran teachers have a strong sense of agency and self-efficacy, they still need to engage in transformative reflection to enable them to maintain agency and efficiency. In contrast, Huberman [16] reported that veteran teachers typically no longer felt the need to prove themselves to others and thus required or sought less support or affirmation. Finally, Day and Gu [8,9] noted that over the course of their teaching careers, most positive veteran teachers perceived themselves as becoming more effective but cautioned that those in challenging teaching contexts were at risk of reduced effectiveness and commitment. Additionally, they warned that age and experience is not always an indicator of teacher effectiveness; however, resilient teachers were more effective and positive about their role. Traditionally, the role of teachers has been to support and nurture students on their learning journey [18]. In describing veteran teachers, they asserted, “Rather than fighting off difficult challenges, they should be beacons of hope and optimism for all” ([12] p. 455). Broader challenges within a school context often include increased administrative duties or reporting responsibilities [20,21,22,23,24].

The wider literature has confirmed comfort in the role as common among positive veteran teachers. Positive veteran teachers felt the following: (1) comfortable in their abilities as teachers and (2) as though they were making a difference to their students. Comfort in their abilities as teachers was noted by Howard and Johnson [25], who reported that personal agency, competence, and achievement were protective factors for resilient teachers. Carrillo and Flores [17] concurred with this finding in their analytic review, suggesting that positive veteran teachers reported a high degree of confidence in their teaching skills. A more recent mixed-methods study conducted by Chiong et al. [2] affirmed perceived professional mastery as an important factor in enabling veteran teachers to stay committed to the profession.

Comfort in the role also emerged in relation to the impact that positive veteran teachers had on their students. Comfort in the role manifested itself as a sense of satisfaction watching their students achieve, as well as developing positive relationships with their students. McIntyre [26] commented, “The boundaries between home and school are reconceptualised as notions of belonging, and school, colleagues and pupils take on the role of extended family” (p. 61). Others [22,25,27] reported that the positive veteran teachers described deep respect for their students, coupled with satisfaction about watching their students learn. A broadly similar perspective was noted by Palmer [28] who observed, “Good teaching is an act of hospitality towards the young, and hospitality is always an act that benefits the host even more than the guest” (p. 51). This view is supported by Thorburn [29], who noted that the veteran teachers’ hardiness and comfort in the role sustained their interest in teaching while also juggling family responsibilities. Correspondingly, Fransson and Frelin [24] and Gu [30] reported constructive relationships between teacher and student in the form of positive feedback from both parties playing a central role for committed veteran teachers in maintaining their commitment to teaching.

In contrast, Acker [31] emphasised a slightly different perspective on comfort in the role, noting differences in the career trajectories between men and women. She reported that the differing nature of trajectories might see women enjoying comfort in the role more than men, because they may have engaged in work–life demands in alternate ways throughout their careers. Women are historically more likely to have taken time out of the workforce than men, and these career breaks may have enabled them to resume with a new sense of commitment. It is evident that much of the literature supports comfort in the role as an appropriate label of convenience to describe the efficacy and agency of positive veteran teachers. This article sought to identify, for positive veteran teachers, how comfort in the role has played a part in sustaining their ongoing commitment to teaching.

2. Materials and Methods

Having identified the association between comfort in the role and positive veteran teachers, this study set out to examine the question of how comfort in the role sustained this cohort’s commitment to and enthusiasm for teaching. In seeking to add to what is known, an ontological perspective of critical reality was selected. This allowed for the addition of depth and breadth of knowledge about this cohort while allowing for a degree of researcher interpretation and situated context. A post-positivist epistemology facilitated the etic and emic contexts of this research and enhanced understanding of the participants within this study. The combination of a critical reality ontology and post-positivist epistemology facilitated the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. While there are several definitions combining both elements to create a mixed-methods approach, ref. [32] developed a definition that results from, “many years of reviewing mixed-methods articles and determining how researchers use both quantitative and qualitative approaches in their studies” (p. 55).

This aligns with the clear gap in the knowledge identified by van der Want, Schellings, and Mommers [33] who noted that further research into how veteran teachers maintain their comfort in the role is needed, stating “further research should, instead of a focus on situations, include a broader perspective on how experienced teachers maintain their positive professional identity” (p. 818). A post-positivist approach recognises the researcher is actively involved in shaping and developing research, and the multiple and potentially subjective nature of the research findings [34]. The use of a survey questionnaire method would enable me to gather the relevant data from an etic perspective. The nature of these questions implies an emic role, that is, anything performed from within the culture, and required interviews with positive veteran teachers.

The study was conducted in Western Australia, a state comprising one-third of the continent of Australia, with a population of approximately 2.6 million people. Despite its size, its arid outback means the population is largely situated in the southwest of the state. While most of the population is situated in the southwest, the study attempted to reach as many teachers across the state as possible. This included city-based, rural, and remote veteran teachers across primary, secondary, and K–12 schools. Drawn from the literature review, the selection criteria comprised the following: (i) teachers over 40 years of age or (ii) teachers with 20 or more years of teaching experience. Twenty years was selected as a working compromise based upon the tenure and age as described in the literature review. A purposive sample was used, chosen from those schools willing to participate and with the consideration of maximising the representativeness of positive veteran teachers. In education, questionnaires represent a standard form of data collection. In addition to obtaining a broad picture from a large research cohort, they also facilitated the gathering of a large amount of data in a statistical format [35]. Providing a sample is large enough, it allows for comparability and generalisability across a variety of settings. In this study, a survey was useful for identifying the shared characteristics of positive veteran Western Australian teachers. The questionnaire was designed to address the ‘what’ surrounding research question one, while the interviews were designed to explore the ‘how’ surrounding social support. The purpose of the questionnaire was to identify whether the hypothesised constructs of experimentation, challenge acceptance, leadership, and comfort in the role, as drawn from the wider literature, were a valid way of identifying positive veteran teachers. In addition, the questionnaire sought demographic information on where positive veteran teachers were located in Western Australia, their gender, age, and school types, that is, primary or secondary or both.

After gaining Institutional ethics approval (19,732) participants in this research project were selected from a wider study identifying positive veteran teachers and the role of social support in sustaining their commitment to teaching. This project’s participants were all identified as positive teachers who had worked in a variety of sectors with decades of teaching experience ranging from schools with one to twenty or more years’ teaching experience.

The first stage was quantitative in the form of a questionnaire designed to identify positive veteran teachers in Western Australia. The second stage was qualitative in the form of semi-structured interviews designed to explore the emergent aspects of comfort in the role. While positive veteran teachers took part in the study from certain education sectors, an additional limiting factor on sampling was the challenge of obtaining ethics approval for state schools despite the rigorous efforts in liaising with them. The survey instrument contained four sections and comprised 16 items relating to the four proposed constructs of experimentation, challenge acceptance, leadership, and comfort in the role. The final version of the survey was placed online for six weeks. Participants who volunteered to take part were sent an email link to the online survey instrument.

After gaining institutional ethics approval, we identified five participants who had scored highly in the quantitative survey data. We then held an in-depth qualitative interview with the five participants, which lasted up to 100 min.

This small, non-random, purposive sample [36] facilitated what Patton [37] described as an “information rich” approach, “Studying information-rich cases yields insights and in-depth understanding” (p. 264). Participants were selected based upon a diverse range of professional experience across school types in line with a purposive approach. Rowley [38] claimed the most common form of interview is semi-structured. These can contain varying numbers of questions, and the order of these can also be adapted to suit the needs of the participant. The overarching research questions were developed to identify what I wanted to understand, while the interview questions were designed to gain these understandings [38]. A range of interview questions was designed to elicit insightful responses as opposed to simply, “a mechanical conversation of the research questions” [39]. Following the guidelines presented by [39], the interview protocol comprised 16 questions divided into four sections of varied length, and it could be adapted based on participant responses. The full version of these is provided in Appendix A.

A profile of each participant is provided and includes details of their gender and current role in education. Each participant has been provided with a pseudonym and their schools have been de-identified.

Participant titles are as follows:

Matthew (aged 64) is a highly experienced Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) teacher at a rural high school who has taught locally and internationally. He has undertaken a range of roles within schools, always seeking a lattice based rather than vertical approach to leadership. During his career, he has taught across all year groups in secondary school and has enjoyed a variety of leadership roles including the head of department, as well as working as a director of administration and finance within a school. He has also engaged in further study, completing a Master of Education degree. In his final years of teaching, Matthew is working both as a HASS teacher and a senior mentor, supporting students as they leave school. He is responsible for maintaining contact with students after graduation and supporting their transitions into further study, trade, or apprenticeship pathways. This leadership role was created for him in conjunction with his principal. Matthew had worked with his school leadership in managing his retirement plan, and transition arrangements had been put in place to enable him to move to part-time work before eventually leaving the school. Matthew reported positively on the social support provided by his colleagues, describing his relationships with them as providing him with comfort in his role.

Deanne (aged 52) is a kindergarten teacher at an independent kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12) school. She is a mature-aged entrant to the teaching profession; she had a lifelong desire to become a teacher but wanted to undertake other career challenges first. Deanne has taught the same kindergarten year level for nine years. In addition to her classroom role, she had taken on responsibility for the whole school in establishing leadership habits for both staff and students. Using the model of Covey (2004) in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, she has trained fellow staff members in implementing the program in their classrooms, as well as liaising with school parents about it. Deanne was contemplating the opportunity to engage in further study at the end of 2019.

Deanne reports having a strong rapport with her colleagues and values their support in school. She team-teaches with her support assistants whom she referred to as ‘co-educators’ and is in continuous communication with them throughout the school day via iPad updates about the engagement and progression of her students. Deanne commented that her school is a faith-based school with overlaps between the school and faith community. As a result, she often sees her students and colleagues outside school hours. However, she had consciously decided to keep her personal and professional life as separate as possible in order to sustain her commitment to her teaching practice. Deanne stated that she had sometimes deliberately avoided social events in order to maintain boundaries for herself as a teacher and as a community citizen.

Lisa (aged 53) is Head of Career Development and Vocational Educational Training at an independent secondary school. She also works as a career counsellor and with the heads of year on their pastoral care programs. Lisa has worked at a variety of schools across Australia, commencing in Canberra and then Perth. After two decades of working in primary schools, she moved into a secondary school role with a focus on literacy, numeracy, and life skills. She also studied at several points throughout her career to gain qualifications in career development and transition management. Lisa has remained in the secondary sector for nearly a decade and currently occupies a leadership role working closely with other staff to support students in subject and career choices.

Lisa valued the social support available within her school, especially from her colleagues, and she actively sought to work with colleagues in similar roles at nearby schools. She noted the importance of social support from the leadership group, which enabled her to implement curriculum changes when necessary. Lisa noted that, in her previous school, a lack of leadership support had resulted in her seeking a new school in order to maintain her commitment to the profession. She reported her current leadership provided her with autonomy and passive support, and her subsequent enjoyment and enthusiasm for her role which has facilitated her sense of comfort in the role.

Anna (aged 65) is Head of Library at an independent K-12 school. She initially trained and commenced as a primary school teacher before subsequently working two roles as a classroom teacher and teacher librarian. She initially trained and commenced as a primary school teacher before subsequently working two roles as a classroom teacher and teacher librarian. During this time, Anna studied and qualified as a teacher librarian. Anna moved from primary into secondary school and occupied a head of library role at two schools prior to her current role. Anna stated that having been in teaching for 45 years, she continued to find teaching a joy. She has also enjoyed roles with the Western Australian Library Association and was the former president of the Australian School Library Association. She appreciated the opportunities teaching and her volunteer roles had given her for professional development and travel and had attended conferences across Australia and in Singapore.

Anna reported that collegiality was important to her maintaining a positive capacity in her role. Departmental issues with colleagues in recent years had been difficult and affected her. Challenges with a couple of colleagues had made her question her teaching ability. However, relevant professional development at the time had rekindled her passion.

Josie (aged 53) is a year six teacher at an independent K-12 international school and is also the year co-ordinator of student leadership and primary school community service. Josie began her career in the Catholic sector but moved to the independent sector and has worked at both rural and urban schools in Western Australia. Josie had undertaken several leadership roles in addition to her classroom teaching throughout her career, including coordinator of community service and student leadership.

Josie valued the social support of colleagues and outlined a deep commitment to team-teaching which provided considerable comfort in the role. She consciously maintained positive working relationships with colleagues in both teaching and administration. Josie had left her previous school after an internal promotion application had turned into what she described as a “critical moment”. Rather than become disenchanted, she moved schools and applied for a new leadership position.

2.1. Instrument

Semi-structured interviews allow the researcher to gain an insight into the lived daily world from the perspective of the participant. As Pietkiewicz and Smith [40] reported, they enable the researcher, “to elicit detailed and first-person accounts of experience and phenomena under investigation” (p. 365) while simultaneously remaining free from preconception or opinion. The immediacy of this medium also allows participants to propose their own answers and clarify or qualify the statements they are making. This study used semi-structured, individual, face-to-face interviews to provide understandings about positive veteran teachers and further insight into comfort in the role. In drawing on Alvesson’s [41] localist approach, this study is grounded in the understanding that the researcher remains open to new and unforeseen phenomena rather than imposing ready-made frameworks or categories. “The semi-structured interview involves prepared questioning guided by identified themes in a consistent and systematic manner interposed with probes designed to elicit more elaborate responses” ([42] p. 246).

The interviews for this research were initially designed and constructed using the five stages of interviewing developed by Kvale and Brinkmann as follows [43]: (i) thematising, (ii) designing, (iii) interviewing, (iv) transcribing, and (v) analysing. This drew on the dual role as interviewer, as that of both a miner seeking information and a traveller who remains curious and open to discovery. This facilitated a heuristic structured process which was simultaneously open to the diversity of human experience and complexity.

The interview included questions designed to maintain the direction and focus of the inquiry while retaining a conversational tone. Castillo-Mantoya [44] suggested using the following four types of questions: “(1) introductory questions, (2) transition questions, (3) key questions and (4) closing questions” (p. 822). This section pertains to those questions related to comfort in the role as contained in these four question types. The introductory question was designed to elicit general information from participants in relation to their journey through teaching and eased each participant into the interview process. It asked them to describe their journey to their current role in the school. The following transition questions were designed to elicit understandings in relation to the shared characteristics identified in the literature. The second question focused on their leadership roles, while the third focused on their perception of comfort in the role, and the fourth question related to experimentation and challenge acceptance.

2.2. Data Analysis

The reflexive thematic analysis Six-Phase Framework of Braun and Clarke [45] was adopted for this research. These phases were as follows: (1) familiarisation with the data, (2) generation of initial codes, (3) searching for themes, (4) reviewing themes, (5) defining and naming themes, and (6) producing the report. As Nowell, Norris, White, and Moules [46] noted, while Braun and Clarke’s model [45] appeared at the outset as a six phased linear method, “it is actually an iterative and reflective process that develops over time and involves constant moving back and forward between phases” (p. 4). The original research questions were drawn on as an organisational framework through which to categorise the themes and sub-themes emerging from this research. Within the context of this article, the research question asked the following: What are the characteristics of positive Western Australian teachers?

The writing process commenced from the outset in line with recommendations from Braun and Clarke using a phase-based approach. Data were simplified by developing codes based upon these immersions. Phase One required familiarization of the data.

Phase Two involved generating initial codes, “full and equal attention to each data item” was given ([45] p. 89). This phase required coding for all potential themes, including as much data as possible.

Phase Three was where the initial codes were organised in relation to the overarching characteristics identified in the initial survey. This approach applied to all areas of the research undertaken. For the purpose of this article, only the findings related to the characteristic of comfort in the role are presented below. Figure 1 presents an example of an initial and randomised thematic map of all the initial coded themes in relation to the characteristic of comfort in the role.

Phase Four involved reviewing themes by reading collated extracts of coded data to check for patterns within them. This required two levels of refinement and review. All extracts were read to check for themes and emerging patterns. The next phase involved considering the whole dataset and checking that the themes were valid in relation to it [45]. This process was carried out again in relation to the characteristics identified in the literature review and then the role of social support inside and outside school, respectively. The “refinement process” ([45] p. 91) is illustrated as an example in relation to comfort in the role in Figure 2. This infographic visually illustrates these emergent sub themes.

Phase Five pertained to reviewing the themes in relation to comfort in the role, where the researchers then considered what ‘story’ was being told by each theme and how these themes added to the narrative in relation to the overarching research question [45]. A further refinement through this process was the emergence of sub-themes that gave structure for more complex themes or showed a hierarchy of meaning. This infographic visually illustrates these emergent sub-themes. That is, some of the emergent themes were deemed to be of more significance than others [45]. A final thematic map in relation to the characteristics of comfort in the role is illustrated in Figure 3. It illustrates the iterative and reflective process that develops over time as a result of the analytical and dynamic movement between phases of analysis.

Phase Six was the final phase of writing up the report for this article. During this phase, extensive use of participant quotations served to highlight the themes that emerged. Nowell et al. [46] noted that this process enables the researcher to go, “beyond a description of the data and convince[ing] the reader of the validity and merit of the analysis” (p. 11). The respondents’ voices and views are foregrounded in this thesis, allowing their unique perspectives primacy [47]. “In light of the enormous value of this highly experienced participants the respondents’ voices and views are foregrounded in results section of the paper, facilitating their unique perspectives primacy not often given to this little researched cohort of educators”.

2.3. Findings on Comfort in the Role

Participants spoke at length about their sense of comfort in the role of teacher. Four themes emerged during coding, as displayed in Figure 3. Findings in relation to each theme are discussed below, beginning with the theme of comfort or discomfort. Each sub-theme will be examined in turn, commencing with the sense of self-efficacy.

3. Results

3.1. Sense of Self-Efficacy

All participants noted in their discussion about a sense of self-efficacy in the teaching role. Participants were comfortable with the content they delivered and had confidence in their teaching abilities. Josie noted that her comfort and efficacy, borne of years of experience, was often something she took for granted and was only highlighted by new teachers watching her in the classroom. She described how pre-service teachers frequently said how impressed they were with what or how she had taught, commenting, “And I think to myself, ‘Actually I just did that without even thinking.’ And that’s the real pleasure of being so experienced.”

Similarly, Lisa believed her teaching mastery, coupled with her age, generated high self-efficacy in her ability to carry out her role effectively. Lisa stated, “I guess since I’ve gotten older I’ve become even more sure of my abilities. I’m definitely not the best thing since sliced bread, but I think I can value myself appropriately.”

In the same way, Matthew, Deanne, and Anna all reported confidence in their ability to teach effectively and an appreciation for their years of experience. As veteran teachers, their sense of self-efficacy, or confidence in their ability, emerged as a strong theme within comfort in the role.

3.2. Respectful Approach with Colleagues and Students

All participants spoke of being respectful of their relationships with students and colleagues. Anna described working closely with her colleagues and was keen to ensure that she supported them in managing their workloads. She described how she offered practical resources and team-taught with them. This had been a consistent feature of her practice over the years.

Deanne described her respectful relationship with her students in positive terms saying, “You look for the leader inside all your children, doesn’t have anything to do with academics.” She later reinforced this, saying, “I think teaching any year level is amazing. It’s a privilege to teach them all.” Anna also reported the benefit of respectful relationships with students noting when the relationships were positive, “You don’t have to tell them a whole lot about your life and the kids just tell you the most amazing, wonderful things.”

Josie held a similar view with her primary school students, explaining that she worked closely with them to foster their own voices. She was passionate about helping her students be heard by their teachers and peers, commenting:

We’ve got a very big push on student voice within the school, and it includes the house captains. I coach them through the process, and while they’re working out what is in their job descriptions, I help them create what they have to do.

Lisa also reported on the importance of respect for her secondary students, saying, “Don’t talk to them any other way than you would want your own children spoken to and give them the respect that you would expect that your own children would be given.” Matthew reflected on how his approach to students was shaped by his positive perception of them. He commented:

I cannot remember, in 42 years of teaching, ever teaching a kid that I thought was a complete waste of space and never going to make anything of their life. I cannot think of one student. I’ve had some really tough classes over the years, but there’s always a spark you can see in a kid.

Matthew also noted that his strong sense of self-efficacy meant his classes were generally enjoyable for him and his students, saying:

I love the fact that there’s a sense of excitement and a buzz when kids find out they’ve got me or when I walk into a classroom. Kids know that something interesting is generally going to happen in lots of ways.

These findings suggested a respectful approach to colleagues and students to be an important aspect of the characteristic of comfort in the role for all participants.

3.3. Comfort with Discomfort

All participants acknowledged a degree of discomfort with some aspects of their profession and discussed varying ways in which they coped with such discomforts. Participants described an increase in administrative duties over recent years while acknowledging they did not always like them. Josie and Deanne adapted to the increase in administration in different ways. Josie reduced her administrative workload by offering to take up other duties for colleagues in exchange for them doing tasks for her. She stated:

Administration is not something that comes naturally to me, and I don’t enjoy it. I’m lucky that I have colleagues I’ve always been partnered up with and I’m upfront. I’ll say, “I really don’t like doing that part of it. If you do that, I’ll do something else”.

Deanne explained she had worked closely with school administration to demonstrate how she tracked the development of her students’ learning. While her early childhood teaching environment was not a traditional desk and classroom set-up, requirements for monitoring student progress were still the same. Deanne outlined how she managed this, saying:

They understood that this is actually the language that children learn from, and this is what they connect with, how they make sense of their world. I did that through giving them professional development because it’s teaching and awareness. It wasn’t that they were against it.

Lisa took a philosophical approach, explaining how administrative responsibilities including reporting were a part of the role for teachers, “It’s just part of the job, and you just have to accept that it’s part of the job, and it’s a professional expectation.”

Matthew perceived increased administrative responsibilities differently and spoke excitedly about how the implementation of SEQTA at his school had provided the opportunity to streamline both his reporting and communications with parents and colleagues. Similarly, Anna used technology to help rationalise her administrative responsibilities. She often presented at middle school conferences and used the features of the Microsoft program OneNote to increase her efficiency in preparing for presentations. All participants unanimously acknowledged an increased number of administrative responsibilities but accepted and described a variety of approaches to adapt and cope.

Deanne explained that while her early childhood classroom did not use worksheets, teachers were required to find other ways to record evidence of student progress. Administrative demands were a key area of discomfort for her. She explained, “My evidence would be from capturing images, talking to that image and backing it up with kindy guidelines. I’d say that’s the worst part of the job is the admin.”

Deanne and her co-educators electronically recorded information in order to simplify this process. She noted it had streamlined communication considerably, and it was a useful coping resource. Josie raised similar concerns about how her administrative duties had increased over time, observing:

The amount of administration is phenomenal. The amount of time you spend face-to-face teaching, versus the time that you are data inputting, or you are replying to emails. A massive difference from when I first started. Teachers don’t like doing that.

Josie also worked with colleagues to manage this load. She was honest with them about her dislike and offered to undertake additional teaching duties for them in return for them completing administrative duties for her. Matthew also acknowledged the increase in administrative demands over 40 years of teaching. He humorously described using his age to gain assistance from colleagues, saying,

“And I am very likely to use old age and senility as a wonderful excuse for everything. And it is. I may say, look, I’m sorry, I’m getting old.”

Matthew was able to get advice or support from his colleagues in order to complete administrative tasks and commented that once he had been through one cycle of changes to reporting, or a new administrative system, he was more comfortable with using them in subsequent terms or years.

Lisa was uncomfortable with a different part of the job, namely marking, but was pragmatic and reconciled it being part of her workload, saying,

“I love planning curriculum. I love delivering curriculum, and I like being with the kids. But I hate marking. But that’s part of the job.”

Overall, participants freely acknowledged areas of discomfort in teaching. However, all described coping strategies that mitigated discomfort. It is important to note nuances and discontinuities across the data in terms of the coping mechanisms used by the participants. In each case, participants had sought support from colleagues or school leadership in order to address the issues. The nature of this support ranged from listening to sharing, collaborative exchanges, acceptance, strategic responses, use of technology, or division of tasks to streamline processes.

3.4. Using Strategies to Maintain a Sense of Perspective

While all participants maintained a sense of perspective about their roles as teachers, they used different mechanisms including resilience, humour, self-discipline, as well as a willingness to learn and engage in other opportunities. Matthew noted this was particularly important in his classroom teaching, saying, “I think that ability to bounce back is a really important one. If I have had a bad lesson, I’ll make sure the next one is a beauty.” Josie echoed a similar viewpoint, adding that humour and camaraderie were important in maintaining a sense of perspective, “There must be humour in my day; otherwise I couldn’t do it.” She noted that working with a colleague had enabled her to thoroughly enjoy her year of team-teaching, “We just had a ball. We just laughed our heads off, and that is a massive key for me.”

In contrast, Deanne maintained her perspective through a clear sense of purpose and focus on why she was a teacher. She commented, “I’m disciplined and I’m in the habit of planning my life, knowing what I want, where I’m going, how I’m going to get there.” Lisa took a broader view, saying that it was being willing to be a lifelong learner that sustained her. She noted:

I do think that we have to be willing to keep learning. Some of the teachers I’ve seen that are very resistant to change get unhappy more quickly, whereas I think that we do have to just continue to learn.

Anna also expressed appreciation for the opportunities that teaching had provided her. She noted that even when she had dealt with challenging colleagues describing them as, “really tricky”, she had been able to travel to an international conference, and this had enabled her to keep a sense of perspective. She remarked, “I’ve had lovely opportunities. I’ve found something that I really love and I’ve enjoyed it.” She noted that the experience enabled her to look at things differently after that, and these kinds of opportunities had occurred throughout her career. Teaching had its challenges, but she engaged in opportunities that, in different ways, helped her to retain her sense of perspective and renew her love of the job.

In summary, all participants described an ability to retain a sense of perspective in their profession.

4. Discussion

This paper explored how these positive veteran teachers’ sureness of ability, coupled with their capacity for relationship generally, can contribute to the building of a sense of perspective that has sustained them throughout their professional life phases. It has begun to identify the various enablers and inhibitors of their comfort with discomfort, as illustrated through the increased administrative demands, coupled with their capacity to find efficient ways to manage these. These positive veteran teachers’ perceptions of how they maintain comfort in the role are the lens through which we examine their capacity to maintain their commitment to their professional throughout the later years of their career.

The interviews highlighted that all the participants were confident in their teaching abilities and had a strong sense of their professional identity. All reported a sense of agency in the core business of classroom teaching. Not only were participants aware of their abilities in the classroom, but they were also simultaneously appreciative of their capacity to build relationships with their students as a result of years of teaching experience.

Day and Gu [12] reported that all veteran teachers at this stage of their careers should, in theory, be at the height of their expertise and wisdom. Similarly, refs. [29,48] reported that an innate aspect of veteran teachers was a high degree of confidence in their professional mastery. The results of this study corroborate the work of others that positive veteran teachers appreciate their abilities and do have high self-efficacy in their teaching [9,10,11,13,25].

4.1. Respectful Approach

All participants described the importance of being respectful towards their students, and this included the following: (i) clear boundaries between students and the teacher, (ii) dealing with students as young adults, and (iii) effective conflict resolution. Participants allowed students to have fun in their classroom but maintained clear boundaries based upon mutual respectful relationships that they valued. For example, Matthew described how it could get a bit noisy in his classroom, but it was more important to him that the students enjoyed each other’s company. Josie referred to the laughter that echoed continually in her classroom throughout the day, and how this was important for the learning environment for both herself and her students. She attributed this confidence to being in the teaching profession for a long time.

This study appears to indicate that “knowing the ropes” [10] means that these positive veteran teachers are able to facilitate relaxed classroom environments. Deanne was able to communicate with her early childhood class as young adults and Lisa echoed a similar view of respectful communications. Matthew reported an occasion where he had become upset with a student, and he had apologised to the student immediately afterwards. He had explained that a recent bereavement had caused him to react poorly. His respect for his students meant he wanted to explain his actions and resolve the conflict. This behaviour corresponds to Palmer [28], who argued the mutual benefit of respectful relationships for both students and teachers. In reaffirming his relationship with this student, Matthew resumed the positive rapport that he and the student had previously enjoyed. Overall, this study found that participants valued respectful relationships with students. It contrasts somewhat with Steffy and Wolfe [13], who described comfort in the role as a result of veteran teachers meeting certain expectations benchmarked against national certifications. Huberman [16], on the other hand, reported veteran teachers requiring less support or affirmation from students. Rather, this study reflects the findings of Day [11] and Fessler and Christensen [10], who reported that positive veteran teachers appreciated the importance of enjoyable and comfortable classroom settings. Results highlight the mutual benefit enjoyed by the teacher and student as a result of the teacher’s experience and adaptive skills in providing positive learning environments. It also highlighted how their strong sense of professional identity enabled them to maintain positive working environments.

4.2. Comfort with Discomfort

The theme of comfort primarily comprised discomfort with administrative demands. Four participants described the administrative aspects of their role that they did not enjoy, and the adaptive coping strategies they employed to overcome this. Josie described how administrative tasks such as marking did not come naturally to her, but she was honest with her colleagues about it. At times, her colleagues would complete the administrative tasks for her, allowing her to focus on engagement between staff and students. Lisa echoed a similar dislike for marking and noted that over 30 years, the pressure to report on student achievement and administrative accountability had increased substantially. However, she also stated that she was open to new ways to streamline this process. Matthew also noted how administrative tasks had increased substantially over the years and spoke nostalgically of the rolled cassette copier from his early days of teaching. He reported that, while the nature of the administrative demands had changed, he always asked his colleagues or his own children for help with managing those demands effectively. Deanne also lamented the increase in administrative demands but described how she used an iPad to ease and streamline the load.

While the literature has described the negative impact of increased administrative loads on veteran teachers [20,21,22,23,49], this study found that, while participants acknowledged the challenge of administration, they employed constructive strategies to cope. This included actively seeking support from colleagues. Studies conducted prior to the digital revolution also acknowledged the demands on teachers in terms of administrative duties and reporting [9,10,11]. Steffy and Wolfe [13] noted the need for veteran teachers to engage in transformative reflection to maintain their efficiency, and Day and Gu [11] similarly reported on the importance of professional competency. However, the findings here provide contemporary exemplars of the highly adaptive qualities of these positive veteran teachers in dealing with discomfort. It is encouraging to compare the ways these positive veteran teachers adapt and cope with discomfort with Day and Gu’s 93] description of them as, “beacons of hope and optimism” (p. 455).

4.3. Sense of Perspective

All participants shared an overarching sense of purpose that enabled them to maintain a positive outlook throughout their careers. Comparison of these findings with other studies has confirmed the sense of agency of positive veteran teachers [9,10,11,13]. Matthew described his ability to bounce back after a difficult lesson. It was important for him and his students that he reflect and recover from lessons that did not go well. Josie echoed a similar view saying, “It depends, and sometimes they work really beautifully, and other times you just have to work a bit harder to make them work.” Lisa discussed how she took all she had learned in her previous school role and used it in her new school position to create something innovative and exciting. In every instance, participants stressed the importance of remaining positive, which they described as crucial to their wellbeing and that of their students. These positive veteran teachers understood that not every lesson they taught would be successful, but they had the ability to bounce back and keep focused on the bigger goal of making a difference for the students. These findings may add to the growing body of evidence that suggests that a sense of perspective is important in sustaining teacher wellbeing over a teaching career.

5. Conclusions

The findings related to the characteristic of comfort in the role were consistent with the literature [10,11,17,29]. This research found that positive veteran teachers were confident in their teaching roles as a result of their years of experience and their ability to contribute to the learning and achievement of their students. In preparing pre-service teachers for the current and future challenges, this study’s findings reinforce how positive veteran teachers are enthusiastic and committed to providing a high-quality education to students, embracing rapidly changing technology, and broadly resisting the negative effects of elements of their role. This provides an important example of aspiration for younger and less experienced teachers. During the interviews, four central themes emerged, underpinned by social support in the form of interactions with students and colleagues. Positive veteran teachers in this study appreciated their abilities, had a sense of self-efficacy in their teaching, and enjoyed respectful relationships with their students. They recognised and valued the positive rapport they developed with students; they also had the ability to bounce back or recover from lessons or incidents with students that were not always positive. These coping strategies affirm the wider literature that notes that these effective adaptive strategies are linked to better relationships and work satisfaction [39,50]. Participants acknowledged their discomfort with increased administrative demands but had employed positive strategies in order to cope. This approach aligns with the wider literature [9,10,13]. Positive coping strategies included working closely with other colleagues or implementing technology-based processes to improve their efficiency in meeting these requirements. This study has examined the positive veteran teachers in Western Australia, and how comfort in the role has enabled them to remain committed to teaching.

These findings have implications for school leaders and policymakers in extending their knowledge and understanding of how positive veteran teachers strategically use comfort in the role to support their professional identities. It is also a valuable example for younger, less experienced teachers of ways to manage the challenge of their role. As the issue of attrition becomes more pressing, these findings may prove a valuable mechanism in mitigating the issue moving forward.