Contextual experiences of overseas trained teachers before and after obtaining a teaching position in a public secondary school of Western Australia and South Australia in reference to their cultural perspectives

The focus of this research was an exploration of the experiences of overseas trained teachers in the public secondary schools of Western Australia and South Australia, in reference to their cultural perspectives. Due to ongoing teacher shortage in the Australian public secondary schools (Weldon, 2015) many overseas trained teachers opt to migrate to Australia in the hope of establishing a new teaching career in the country. In the process, overseas trained teachers often undergo a range of contextual experiences, some that are challenging and some rewarding. It becomes meaningful, therefore, to explore the contextual experiences of overseas trained teachers and also examine how their adaptation process to Australian public secondary schools might be affected by their cultural perspectives. The review of literature highlighted four themes which formed the conceptual framework in this research. These four themes were: contextual experiences of overseas trained teachers prior to obtaining a teaching position in a public secondary school; contextual experiences of overseas trained teachers after obtaining a teaching position in a public secondary school; effects of culture on the adaptation process of overseas trained teachers to the public secondary schools of Australia; and the contribution of overseas trained teachers to the public school sector. The epistemological approach of this research was that of constructivism. Specifically, an interpretive paradigm with a filter of symbolic interactionism was used to explore the experiences of overseas trained teachers in reference to their cultural perspectives. The chosen methodology for the study was an instrumental case study design. Methods of data collection included in-depth, semi-structured interviews of twelve overseas trained teachers from different backgrounds and researcher generated field notes. Miles and Huberman\u27s (1994) interactive model of data management was used for data display, management and analysis. Results from this inquiry indicated that overseas trained teachers face multiple contextual challenges, both before and after obtaining a teaching position in a public secondary school. Some of the major challenges faced by overseas trained teachers before obtaining a teaching position in a public secondary school are: lack of in-depth information on post immigration life in Australia; registration delays; and apparent lack of consistency in the teacher orientation process. Some of the challenges faced by overseas trained teachers after obtaining a teaching position in a public secondary school are: apparent lack of effective in-school induction and mentoring; student behaviour management issues: pedagogical and cultural dissonance; and perceived workplace harassment and discrimination. In spite of those challenges, a majority of the overseas trained teachers in the study were grateful for their multiple positive and rewarding experiences in Australia. The data highlighted that the cultural attributes of overseas trained teachers play a significant role on their adaptation process to the Australian public secondary schools. In addition, the data indicated that the challenges experienced by overseas trained teachers are influenced by the level of their familiarity with the Australian culture. Furthermore, the data also indicated that the adaptation process for overseas trained teachers from native English speaking background (NEST) was far less complicated than their counterparts from culturally and linguistically diverse and non-English speaking background (CALD/NESB). Most importantly, the research illustrated that irrespective of circumstances, personal attitude and outlook can play an important role in shaping the professional experiences of overseas trained teachers in the public secondary schools of Western Australia and South Australia