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Educational Excellence

A Portrait of an Early-Career Educator

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society has for some time sought the membership of the early-career educator.
But who and what is she? Oh, we know she is an educator who has worked 1–5 years. But what else do
we know about her?

Interviews of Early-Career Educators
In our endeavors to entice early-career educators to our organization, the International Educational
Excellence Committee members determined we needed to understand more about these women. Each
committee member set out to interview early-career educators from the five regions of DKG. We interviewed
educators with 1–5 years of teaching and several who were early-career educators in a new position. They
were teachers from a wide range of positions—Grades 1, 3, 4, 5, 6; Grades 4–8 self-contained; high
school; and university. Those who were specialized teachers taught English, social studies, math, reading,
science, adult education, and special education. Their school settings included rural and large cities. What
they had in common might be surprising!
Inspiration to Become an Educator

All but two of the early-career educators we interviewed became educators because they were inspired
by another teacher or by a family member who was a teacher. The two who said their influence was not
from an educator were both influenced by their academic work at the university level—one saying she just
felt “it” while she worked on her master’s degree. This information is important because, as educators, we
don’t always realize the influence we can have on our students. It is also important to DKG as we look for
ways to attract early-career educators.
Professional Satisfaction

When we asked the early-career educators what was—so far—giving them professional satisfaction,
three themes emerged. One was that they loved the relationships they had developed with their students.
This kind of relationship is often reflected when a student
is willing to stop by and visit or give a warm welcome
in the hallway even after not being in the teacher’s
classroom. The second was that they felt so good after
they realized that something had “clicked” and a student
understood something he or she had not grasped before.
This realization brought them great joy. The third was
when a student came back and thanked them for being
tough, for teaching them something about life, and
teaching them subject matter. One teacher noted she was
thrilled when she was invited to a student’s graduation.
The early-career educators who were interviewed
also expressed other sources of satisfaction. One educator
liked making tests. She said she knew that was probably
strange, but she felt a great deal of satisfaction thinking
about what she believed her students had learned and then
checking to see if that was true. Another was proud of
herself for continuing her education past her bachelor’s
degree at age 24. Positive relationships with the students’
families were also mentioned.

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