Session Information
Contribution
A recent international study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD) Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers, stated that the reasons "people give for deciding to become a teacher are important considerations in designing recruitment strategies, and in identifying the sources of job satisfaction that influence whether people are likely to stay in the career" (OECD, 2005: 68). Indeed, Wilhelm et al, who conducted a longitudinal study of teachers in Australia tracking them from the pre-service stage to 15 years later, contend that positive expectations of pre-service teachers constitute a powerful predictor of teacher retention over the longer term (Wilhelm et al, 2000). At a time when the challenge of teach teacher recruitment and retention is an increasingly significant challenge in many countries in the face of teacher shortages and the changing demographic of the teaching profession, evidence-based research on the motivations and characteristics of entering preservice teachers has the potential to yield useful knowledge that can not only inform the development of strategies for teacher recruitment and retention, but also inform the nature and substance of initial teacher education and later professional development programs (cf. Manuel and Hughes, 2006; Manuel and Brindley, 2005; Kyriacou, Haltgreen and Stephens, 2003; Priyadharshini and Robinson-pant, 2000; Hammond, 2002; Wadsworth, 2001; Kyriacou and Coulthard, 2000; Spear, Gould and Lee, 2000; and Reid and Caudwell, 1997). Prior research has additionally demonstrated that teachers' original motivations for entering the profession will affect their subsequent relationships with students: Porter and Freeman (1986, in Brookhart & Freeman, 1992: 49), for instance, contend that teachers' beliefs about teaching will determine the types of professional knowledge that individuals put into practice in their work. Further, the relationship between motivations and pedagogical beliefs is significant, with past research (cf. Snyder et al, 1995; Brookhart and Freeman, 1992) arguing that teachers' prior motivations can influence their professional resilience and achievements. This paper reports on the findings of an investigation into the motivations of a cohort of 243 pre-service teacher education students, undertaking a five-year, full-time combined undergraduate and Initial Teacher Education degree program at the University of Sydney, Australia. Participants completed an extensive questionnaire which sought to gather both qualitative and quantitative data on the characteristics of the cohort; the factors that influenced their decision to undertake a teaching degree; their educational and work backgrounds; their perceptions of teaching and the teacher; their expectations of teaching as a career; and their professional goals. This paper will report on the findings by utilising an Empathic Model of Intelligence (Arnold, 2005), arguing that intitial teacher education programs, teacher recruitment policies and teacher retention strategies need to be informed by a deeper awareness and explicit validation of the relational, intra-personal, and affective dimensions of new teacher motivation and expectations.The research project combined the qualitative research methodology of Grounded Theory to collect data from participants about the how and why of the decision to enter a teacher education program, and quantitative methodology to collect demographic data such as age, language background, gender and postcode. Participants were recruited through the initial teacher education program at the University of Sydney in semester 1, 2006. Teacher education students (N=243) were in year 1 of undergraduate degrees. The students were undertaking initial teacher education courses to become primary (years 1 to 6) or secondary teachers (years 7 to 12). 35% were primary education students and 65% were secondary education students. Amongst the secondary education students, 51% were in the Humanities' stream, 20% were from the health and human movement disciplines, 16% in the sciences' stream and 14% in the maths' stream. Participants were invited to complete a questionnaire with a series of open-ended and multiple choice questions designed to gather a range of qualitative data about motivations and expectations. The data was then analysed and the results theorised in terms of an Empathic Model of Intelligence (Arnold, 2005). The present study found that a majority of participants made the decision to teach based on reasons that reflect personal aspirations to work with young people to make a difference in their lives; to maintain a meaningful engagement with the subject area they were drawn to; and to attain personal fulfilment and meaning. The paper argues that the motivation to teach for the majority of this cohort is characterised by relational, affective and intrinsic factors and can be understood in terms of a Model of Empathic Intelligence (Arnold, 2005). The innovative perspective on evidence-based research into teacher motivations provides a valuable lens through which to explore the implications of the findings for initial teacher education, teacher recruitment policies, teacher retention, and teacher professional development.Arnold, R. (2005) Empathic Intelligence: Teaching, learning, relating. Sydney: UNSW Press. Brookhart, S. M. & Freeeman, D. J. (1992) Characteristics of entering teacher candidates. Review of Educational Research, 62, 37-60. Hammond, M. (2002) Why Teach? A case study investigating the decision to train to teach ICT. Journal of Education for Teaching, 28 (2), 135-148. Kyriacou, C., Kunc, R., Stephens, P. and Hultgren, A. (2003) Student teachers' expectations of teaching as a career in English and Norway. Educational Review, 55 (3), 255-263. Kyriacou, C. and Coulthard, M. (2000) Undergraduates' views of teaching as a career choice. Journal of Education for Teaching, 26 (2), 117-126. Manuel, J. and Hughes, J. (2006) "It's Always Been My Dream": Investigating Preservice Teachers' Motivations for Choosing to Teach. Teacher Development: An International Journal of Teachers' Professional Development, 10, (1), 5-24. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2005) Teachers Matter: Attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers, Paris: OECD. Priyadharshini, E. and Robinson-Pant, A. (2003) The attractions of teaching: an investigation into why people change careers to teach. Journal of Education for Teaching, 29 (2), 96-112. Reid, I. and Caudwell, J. (1997) Why did secondary PGCE students choose teaching as a career? Research in Education, 58, 46-54. Snyder, J. F., Doerr, A.S., and Pastor, M.A. (1995) Perceptions of Preservice Teachers: The job market, why teaching, and alternatives to teaching. Slippery Rock University: ASCUS.Spear, M., Gould, K. and Lee, B. (2000) Who Would be a Teacher? A Review of Factors Motivating and Demotivating Prospective and Practicing Teachers. Slough: NFER. Wadsworth, D. (2001) Why new teachers choose to teach. Educational Leadership, 58 (8), 24-28. Wilhelm, K, Dewhurst-Savellis, J., and Parker, G. (2000) Teacher stress? An analysis of why teachers leave and why they stay. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 6 (3), 291-304.Intertnational Educational Research Journal
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