Teach and Thrive Learning Circles - Priming Early Career Teachers to Flourish

Oct 15, 2026

The article presents innovative practices from the Teach and Thrive Learning Circles (TTLCs) workshop series for pre-service and early-career teachers in Colorado College’s MAT program. TTLCs are designed to proactively prepare teachers to manage pressures that contribute to burnout and attrition. Twenty-two novice teachers co-constructed and co-facilitated monthly workshops, shaping topics such as teacher development, purpose, self-care, navigating toxicity, and building efficient systems. A first-workshop synopsis is provided along with reflection-journal themes suggesting the teacher-lifecycle lens increased patience, strengthened mentorship and peer support, and supported thriving.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Co-construction process and TTLC workshop structure

Workshop topics from pre-workshop questionnaire

Early career teacher development workshop (detailed synopsis)

Session agenda, materials, and reflection journal themes

Context: teacher burnout, churn, and turnover

National turnover statistics and impacts

Effects on student achievement and equity

Teach and Thrive Learning Circles: Priming Early Career Teachers to Flourish Kristina M . Valtierra Colorado College Abstract This article shares innovative practices from a workshop series called Teach and Thrive Learning Circles (TTLCs) offered to pre-service and recent graduates from the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Colorado College (CC). TTLCs aim to proactively prime pre-service and early career teachers to navigate the pressures that can contribute to burnout and attrition. Inspired by the scholarship on teacher development and characteristics of thriving teachers, I invited twenty-two novice teachers ranging from pre-service through three years of experience to co-construct and co-facilitate the TTLC monthly workshops. In this article, I first share an overview of our co-construction process, the resulting workshop structure, and chosen topics. Based on trends from a pre-workshop questionnaire, the workshop topics included early career teacher development, maintaining purpose, self-care, navigating toxicity, and cultivating efficient systems. Next, I provide a detailed synopsis of the first workshop focused on early career development. I provide an overview of this workshop to offer readers an example of our TTLC structure and a glimpse into its value. I share the session workshop agenda, materials, and TTLC teacher reflection journal themes. Preliminary qualitative trends derived from the reflection journals suggest that understanding their development through the lens of the teacher lifecycle scholarship empowered them tobe more patient with their pedagogical growth and to seek out mentorship and peer support to thrive. The TTLC framework, example session, and preliminary themes presented offer liberal arts teacher educators a dependable framework to establish similar offerings in their context. Keywords: pre-service teachers, early career teachers, teacher educators, teachers thriving, teacher lifecycle AILACTE Journal 109 Valtierra Teach and Thrive Learning Circles: Priming Early Career Teachers to Flourish As a teacher educator, I frequently ask my students why they want to teach. Aspiring teachers commonly remark that they love being with and empowering youth. They are passionate about the profession, were inspired by teachers from their past, and value teaching to contribute to positive social change. Yet, once they enter the workforce, new teachers undergo a reality shock as they learn to juggle the multifaceted professional learning curve (Botha & Rens, 2018; Dicke et al., 2015) and to navigate educational reform efforts that often prioritize standardized test scores (Dunn, 2018) over the altruistic reasons that inspired them to choose to teach (Moss & Ehmke, 2020). Navigating the tensions between one's professional vision and the complex reality of what it takes to be a teacher in contemporary times contributes to early-career teacher burnout (Sulis et al., 2022) and the endemic problem of teacher "churn" (Au, 2009; DeMathews, et al., 2022). Numerous studies have calculated that between 40% and 50% of novice teachers exit the profession within the first five years of teaching (e.g., Papay et al., 2017; Räsänen et al., 2020). In the United States (U.S.), this revolving door is most prominent in urban schools, where studies reveal that as many as 70% of new teachers may leave their position by their fifth year (Papay et al., 2015). Rural schools are not far behind, with reports of up to 50% of beginning teachers turning over (Nguyen, 2020; Ulferts, 2016). Early career teacher turnover is a national crisis that perpetuates chronic instability. This revolving door adversely affects students, schools, districts, and our entire public education landscape (Wronowski, 2021). Not only is teacher burnout and early career exit a waste of extensive training and talent, but this crisis also has damaging effects on student achievement (Madigan & Kim, 2021; Nguyen & Springer, 2021). Teach

FAQs

What is the purpose of Teach and Thrive Learning Circles (TTLCs)?

TTLCs are workshops that proactively prepare pre-service and early-career teachers to navigate pressures that contribute to burnout and attrition.

How were the TTLC workshops developed and delivered?

Twenty-two novice teachers co-constructed and co-facilitated monthly TTLC workshops, guided by trends from a pre-workshop questionnaire.

What topics were included in the TTLC workshop series?

The series focused on early career teacher development, maintaining purpose, self-care, navigating toxicity, and cultivating efficient systems.

Oct 15, 2026

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