Emotions and Casual Teachers: Implications of the Precariat for Initial Teacher Education

Abstract

It is the norm for the casual teaching precariat to experience insecure labour conditions requiring an additional skill set to teachers with stable employment. As more beginning teachers than ever before commence work in casual employment-often a tenuous and unsupported transition into the profession-it is beholden on teacher educators to re-think aspects of their preparation. Four teacher educators undertook 'memory work' based on their previous experiences as casual teachers. Content analysis of follow up focus group discussions stressed the emotional and challenging nature of casual teaching, for both novice and experienced teachers. Findings from this small study, as well as previous research on casual beginning teachers and casual teachers, provide significant insights that have ramifications for initial teacher education, highlighting the importance of the emotional practices of teachers.