Regardless of the level of education, it is widely known that early career (EC) teachers are faced with challenges during their transition from their university education and training to their everyday teaching practice.  When prospective and early career teachers are placed in real classrooms, they get “shocked”, which in turn forces them to try to “survive” in the new reality. They discover new things on a daily basis and act as if the information and knowledge they have gained during their university education and/or preservice training has “disappeared.” This is known as the “washing-out” phenomenon (Korthagen, 1988; Zeichner & Core, 1990).

Aiming at strengthening the transition from education to practice, in this study we investigated the current transition practices of teachers within the educational system in Cyprus, specifically seeking to investigate the need for supporting teachers to face the diverse and inclusive learning environment they face. Towards this, we investigated the challenges, strengths, and weaknesses of EC teachers in Cyprus during the transition from the academic environment to the real–classroom environment. Following a case study approach, we have adopted a multi-perspective approach, including prospective teachers with internship experiences, EC teachers, and teacher educators.

The teacher profession is a profession in that “the full pedagogical and legal responsibility is given as soon as the teacher enters the school with a formal qualification” (Tynjala & Heikkinen, 2011, p.12). Because of that, the main challenge teachers face is that they need to be proficient in a variety of teacher knowledge fields and skills from the first day of their career (Kealy, 2010). Having in mind these particularities of the profession, one would expect that the teacher education systems worldwide would have developed strategies to support EC teachers deal with these challenges. While some countries use e.g., mentoring systems, study groups, or extensive induction programs for EC teachers (Bickmore & Bickmore, 2010; Devos, 2010), there exist countries that do not acknowledge EC teacher's challenges, adding more burden to EC teachers by asking them to teach more hours and have more responsibilities on their first years of practice (Howe, 2006).

As a result, there is a strong debate between the scientific and educational communities about redesigning teacher education programs in order to support this transition. The main concern is the weight that theory and practice have on the university curriculum and the connection between the two (Roussakis & Botsoglou, 2003). On the one hand, one approach places more emphasis on pre-service teachers spending time in real classrooms with in-school trainings, whereas on the other hand, another approach expands professional in-service training to better prepare teachers for the “reality” of teaching (Wideen et al., 1998). Darling-Hammond (2000) suggests that the extent and quality of teacher education play an important role in teachers’ effectiveness.

Following an interpretive case study approach (Yin, 2017), in the study we investigated the experiences, challenges, and experiences of a group of five (5) prospective early childhood teachers, four (4) early-career teachers, and three (3) teacher educators, aiming at examining the ways in supporting the transition of teachers from the academic environment to the real–classroom environment. Adopting a multi-perspective approach, we collected data through semi-structured individual interviews from the three target groups. Interviews were transcribed and using thematic analysis and open coding techniques (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) we analyzed all data, specifically looking for the challenges, strengths, and weaknesses of EC teachers in Cyprus during the transition from the academic environment to the real–classroom environment. The coding scheme was developed in two levels. At the first level, the three groups were examined separately in an attempt to find common themes among the participants. Then, a comparative analysis was used in order to identify similarities and differences between all the groups. All data were analyzed by all three authors independently and discussed to resolve any differences. From the analysis, we identified a number of emerging themes that we describe below. After the analysis, as a participant check, we presented and discussed our findings with the participants.

Through the comparative analysis of the data from all the target groups, four common themes emerged: (i)the importance of the teaching experience; (ii)the identification of main challenges; (iii)the focus of teaching on children's skill development; and (iv)the notion of inclusiveness. Furthermore, the EC teachers’ interviews revealed two additional themes related to (v)the support that they need during the first years of teaching, and (vi)advice that they gave to future teachers based on their experiences. Teacher educators’ data stood out for the richness of the information they provided possibly highlighting a better understanding of the topic as a result of their theoretical background enriched through experiences and personal development. Three additional themes were identified from the latter group concerning (vii)the importance of the connection between theory and practice, (viii)the cooperation with the schools, and (ix)professional development. Teaching experience emerged from all the groups as a crucial part of teacher education and professional development. Emphasis on practical training and experience from real classroom environments were vital in acquiring practical knowledge. On the other hand, the prospective teachers had difficulty connecting theory and practice. Instead, they suggested having more workshops within their university courses in order to be able to make better connections between theory and practice. In contrast, teacher educators recognized the importance of the connection between theory and practice and suggested strengthening this connection by having more hands-on activities and more real-classrooms visits. Prospective teachers focused on the challenges that they face while implementing activities in real classrooms, while EC teachers and teacher educators found both the school, as a work environment, and the cooperation with the colleagues challenging. Conclusively the findings highlighted important elements for the training of prospective and EC teachers as well as the support they need through the transition from education to practice.

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