Post-modern reality shock: Beginning teachers as sojourners in communities of practice

This study's aims are twofold: identify the tensions and dilemmas that beginning teachers in Early Childhood Education face and their impact on the construction of their professional identity, and compare these difficulties with the ones discussed under the umbrella term “reality shock” (Veenman, 1984) in order to see whether these problems arise from the contemporary teaching context. Through narrative inquiry and with the help of Communities of Practice and Positioning Theory, we argue that the construct of reality shock is based on a simplified dichotomy between the novice and the expert, neutralizing opportunities for innovation that novices bring to schools.