Factors Associated with the Dimensions of Professional Adaptation among Novice Elementary and Secondary Teachers

This study examined novice elementary and secondary teachers’ professional adaptation across functional, relational, and psychological dimensions and their associations with individual and school-level factors. Using data from the 2020 Seoul Teacher Longitudinal Study, multiple regression analyses were conducted with 264 elementary teachers and 357 secondary teachers who each have less than five years of experience. The findings indicated that elementary teachers’ functional adaptations showed positive associations with intrinsic motivations, teacher role recognition, burnout, and principals’ visions, whereas altruistic motivation demonstrated a negative association. For secondary teachers, functional adaptation was positively associated with social motivation, teachers’ role recognition, teacher preparation, and prior temporary teaching experience, while burnout showed a negative association. Relational adaptation in both groups was positively associated with sense of belonging, principals’ vision, and mastery goal structure, and negatively associated with relationship conflict. Among secondary teachers, extrinsic motivation and prior temporary teaching experience were additionally associated with relational adaptation in differing directions. Psychological adaptation was positively associated with motivation and sense of belonging, but negatively associated with burnout across school levels. These findings highlight that novice teachers’ adaptation is shaped by multidimensional personal and organizational factors.