Overview

The department commissioned this research from Tricky Jigsaw to help understand the teacher experience better and to communicate their core goals and needs across their career cycle. Find out the story behind the project and get an overview of the findings in this Teacher Career Journey presentation (PDF 7884.45KB).

Use these Teacher career journey posters (PDF 4732.39KB) for another quick view of the findings. This document shows these posters:

• Teacher career journey overview
• Teacher career journey launch
• Teacher career journey progress
• Teacher career journey optimise

Phases of the teacher journey

The research found there were three key phases of the teacher career journey:

• Launch
• Progress
• Optimise

Progression is linear in the first phase but not the following phases. That's because many teachers pass between 'progress' and 'optimise' depending on their circumstances and ambition.

Launch

"How am I supposed to teach all of these kids with so many other new duties? You don't get enough support...Kids liking you shouldn't be your sole benchmark."

'Help me find my feet in the classroom'

The launch phase of the teacher career journey begins when teachers complete their training and are accredited to teach. We call them 'beginning teachers' and speed of progress through this phase varies. It lasts until a teacher feels comfortable managing students and obtains a secure position.

Key jobs to be done in this phase are:

• Help me figure out how to facilitate learning in the classroom
• Help me obtain a secure, permanent position
• Help me survive a poor work-left balance
• Help me validate teaching is for me.

Jobs to be done toolkit

Use our jobs to be done toolkit to help you reframe your business problem into your customer's needs.

Progress

''What has kept it interesting is having different challenges and opportunities but I still want a classroom aspect in my next role."

'Help me reach my full potential'

After the launch phase teachers look towards making progress in several ways:

• grow their career
• impact more students and colleagues
• reduce the impact of disadvantage
• make their mark.

Once teachers have progressed through a new role, position or project, they are likely to optimise before looking for the next opportunity to progress. The key jobs to be done in this phase are:

• Help me reach my next stage
• Help me deliver on a new work challenge
• Help me do more to impact student growth
• Help me strike a work-life balance.

Jobs to be done toolkit

Use our jobs to be done toolkit to help you reframe your business problem into your customer's needs.

Optimise

"I love the feeling of contributing and being a good teacher to a student, but it can become a bit repetitive... you don't ever want to be stuck."

'Help me stay up to date and energised'

The optimise phase is characterised by teachers focusing on where they are and how best to improve that experience. It can follow a leap of progress or it may be triggered by personal, family or life priorities outside of school.

Teachers can transition back into the progress phase quickly or after an extended period of time depending on family commitments, ambitions or opportunities. The key jobs to be done in this phase are:

• Help to adapt to fit teaching around my life
• Help me stay up to date
• Help me do more to impact student growth.

Jobs to be done toolkit

Use our jobs to be done toolkit to help you reframe your business problem into your customer's needs.

Want to know more about the research?

Find out more about the methodology and background behind the research performed by Tricky Jigsaw.