Colleagues, challenges, and help provision: How early career teachers construct their social networks to help them with the endemic challenges of teaching

This article examines the challenges that 18 elementary school early career teachers (ECTs) faced and the colleagues they used to help them meet these challenges. We report several interesting findings. First, these ECTs faced challenges that extended beyond how best to teach particular content. ECTs also struggled with managing student behavior, meeting the needs of diverse students, and maintaining status. Second, although ECTs relied primarily on grade-level colleagues and instructional coaches for help with instructional matters, they used a wide variety of colleagues (e.g., administrators, certified specialist, proximal and distal peers) to help them with other challenges. In sum, ECTs connected with a diverse set of colleagues to secure resources they needed.