Encounters of newly qualified teachers with micro-politics in primary schools in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article demonstrates, through the example of Zimbabwe, the complexities of micro-political learning during induction. It reports on the experiences of ten newly qualified teachers with micro-politics or power relations in their schools during induction and locates these experiences within the broader context of their professional development. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion, and analysed using an abridged version of Hycner’s (1985) framework for phenomenological explication of interview data proposed by Groenewald (2004). The findings revealed that the beginners’ micro-political experiences mainly revolved around themes such as exploitation and marginalisation, lack of respect and recognition, lack of access to information about the scheme-cum-plan and dealing with the micro-political realities. Furthermore, the findings suggest that although the newly qualified teachers (NQTs) displayed some micro-political literacy, the strategies they adopted to counter adverse micro-political actions were limited. Findings reflect an inability by schools to contain micro-political activity, which in some instances might have been so rabid that it distracted the attention of the beginners from the process of learning to teach. We conclude the article by suggesting areas for further research on micro-politics and new teachers.

Keywords: beginners; micro-political learning; micro-political literacy; micro-politics; newly qualified teachers; professional development; teacher induction