Changing trends and advancements require well-established educational processes that teachers will enact as change agents having a transformational impact on dealing with the demanding nature of the era. Perceiving teachers as the potent agents of education spearhead the emergence of expectations from teachers that add up to the complexity of the profession (Öztürk, 2008). Hence, nations need highly committed teachers who strive for the quality of the profession since they are identified as critical assets of any educational institution and whose profession is regarded as a social service (Hussein et al., 2016).

The conceptual framework regarding teacher commitment traces back to the organizational commitment phenomenon since the interest of earlier studies has been high in organizational commitment. Meyer and Allen (1991) conceptualized organizational commitment by constructing a three-component model, including dimensions of affective continuance and normative commitment, along with several antecedents of commitment, i.e., personal characteristics, work experiences, organizational structure, and its consequences, such as turnover and on-the-job behavior. Similarly, Firestone and Pennell (1993) stated that the common theme in different definitions is a “psychological bond or identification of the individual with an object that takes on a special meaning and importance” (p. 491), so the interest of an object can vary according to context or situations which leads to the emergence of various commitment dimensions, which might be school, student, or an activity that is done.

Teaching profession has a particular nature in several ways because it embraces not only relationships or identification with organization but also relationships with students, their parents, colleagues, other stakeholders, and even personal issues, such as self-efficacy, passion, and identity (Crosswell, 2006; Tsui & Cheng, 1999). Therefore, the current study investigates commitment from a general perspective by taking teaching profession as the central focus. The plethora of studies in the literature defines teacher commitment as psychological attachment to the profession, enthusiasm, and willingness to do the job with an intrinsic urge to engage in necessary tasks and specific duties (Coladarci, 1992; Razak et al., 2009; Shukla, 2014).

This multidimensional feature of teacher commitment lends itself to not being innate because it is built over time in appropriate contexts, through teacher education programs, working with colleagues and mentors, and engaging in actual teaching experiences. Thus, the roots of teacher commitment can be found in the quality of teaching experiences, especially during the initial years. Experiences in the first years of profession have considerable influences on the development of the sense of teacher commitment and the rest of the career because novice teachers either seek ways to continue their work satisfactorily or be prone to leave profession depending on the quality of initial experiences (Hudson, 2017; Andrews et al., 2012). Hence, a successful start is critical to teacher's continuance of the career with a sense of teacher commitment (Brock & Grady, 2007; Dias-Lacy & Guirguis, 2017). Therefore, teacher commitment can be understood better through the factors affecting it from the perspectives and experiences of novice teachers. Based on the literature, the conceptual framework regarding the factors sustaining or diminishing teacher commitment can be summarized as positive or negative experiences in school context, during teaching process, and related to personal factors (Day et al., 2005; Fransson & Frelin, 2016; Crosswell, 2006).

Regarding these issues, this study aims to explore teacher commitment of novice teachers through their perceptions of teacher commitment and experiences regarding the factors affecting it throughout the initial years of profession. Accordingly, following research questions were formulated:

1. How do novice teachers perceive teacher commitment?

2. What are the factors affecting the sense of teacher commitment?

This study utilized qualitative research method to gain insight into teacher commitment, which was identified as the central phenomenon (Creswell, 2013). Regarding this, phenomenology, which focuses on reaching the essence of a particular phenomenon based on the perceptions of individuals who experience it, was adopted (Patton, 2002). To identify participants, purposeful sampling strategy was used to select information-rich participants (Patton, 2002). Among purposeful sampling strategies, criterion sampling and maximum variation sampling were employed. Using the criterion sampling, participants were selected from novice teachers appointed to public lower secondary schools in Turkey in 2018 and 2019 academic years. Utilizing the maximum variation sampling, the selected teachers differed in their subject areas and the provinces they work. The sampling procedure was completed when the saturation of the data was ensured (Frankel, 1999). At the end of this procedure, a total of 30 teachers were included. All participants were novice teachers with at least one and at most three years of experience. As for gender, there were 27 female and three male teachers. The ages ranged between 25 and 31, with an average of 26. Teachers were selected from 10 different provinces. While seven of the participants work in provincial centers and four in districts, all the remaining 19 teachers work in village schools. Regarding the subject matters, there were nine English, seven Math, six Turkish Language, three Science, three Religious Culture and Ethics, and two Physical Education and Sports teachers. For data collection, a semi-structured interview form was utilized. The researchers developed the form considering the research questions and related literature. Afterward, expert opinions were obtained from five experts holding Ph.D. degrees with different titles and working in state universities in the field of educational sciences. The final version of the form consisted of three sections: personal information, teaching-related information, and commitment to the teaching profession. These three sections included a total of 19 main questions and probes as sub-questions. To ensure the questions' appropriateness, the interview flow, and its duration, it was piloted with three novice teachers. Interviews were conducted through Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews lasted for 70 minutes on average and were recorded with the participant's consent. For data analysis, recordings were transcribed verbatim, and content analysis was utilized to analyze and interpret the data by developing certain codes, sub-themes, and themes via using MAXQDA 2020 software program.

The results of the study were examined based on each research question. Regarding the first research question, which explored novice teachers’ perception of teacher commitment, two themes emerged as emotional and practical aspects of the teaching profession regarding commitment. While the emotional aspect centered around the love of students and teaching profession, practical aspects were related to fulfilling job requirements, devoting extra time and effort to students, and endeavoring for professional development. Teachers mentioned practical aspects as an enactment of emotional aspects in the professional context. Thus, the emotional aspects were perceived as integral components and driving forces of effort made regarding practical aspects of the profession. Concerning the second research question aiming to explore factors affecting teacher commitment of novice teachers, two themes emerged: weakening factors and strengthening factors. Regarding the weakening factors, the most striking one was the reality shock that all teachers experienced during initial years of the profession due to the gap between theory and practice, environmental and cultural issues, student profile, non-teaching paperwork, and working conditions in schools. Another weakening factor was teaching-related issues, such as lack of student engagement, online education period, and problems in classroom management. Also, lack of support, guidance and encouragement from colleagues, administrators, and parents negatively influenced teacher commitment. Lastly, personal factors of low self-efficacy and job satisfaction were decreasing teacher commitment. As for strengthening factors, the most prominent ones were student engagement and getting positive feedback from students and parents. Also, collaboration with colleagues, getting support and guidance from administrators and mentors, parental involvement in the process, and having an affectionate bond with students were strengthening factors for teacher commitment. Lastly, certain personal factors increasing the commitment were mentioned as a desire to make a difference in students’ lives, satisfaction with the job, and willingness for professional development.

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