Passion to practice: Early career teachers’ motivation, content confidence, and coping strategies in teaching

This study examines how early career teachers (ECTs) in South African schools perceive their readiness to teach, focusing on intrinsic motivation, perceived gaps in content knowledge, coping strategies, and the development of emerging confidence. Employing a qualitative approach within an interpretivist paradigm and a multiple-case study design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 purposively selected ECTs, and the transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA). Five themes emerged: (1) motivation and a service-oriented purpose sustain engagement; (2) feelings of inadequacy linked to content uncertainties undermine self-efficacy; (3) coping relies on preparation, collegial support, and digital resources; (4) variable quality in initial teacher education (ITE) shapes early confidence; and (5) growth occurs through repetition, feedback, and reflection. Findings indicate a need for induction that explicitly targets subject-specific fluency, predictable and content-focused mentoring, and timetabled collaborative planning. It is argued that, in addition to the passion that ECTs bring, they require systematic support to convert effort into confidence and content security.