Redressing Teacher Quality: Graduating Student Teachers Perceptions Of Their Wellbeing In An Initial Teacher Education Program

Author(s):

Faye McCallum(presenting / submitting)Debbie Price(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 03 C, Learning to Teach: Competence, wellbeing and reflection

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

17:15-18:45

Room:

B226 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Gerry Czerniawski

Contribution

Teacher quality continues to be the focus of political, social and economic government policy, driven by national and international measures of student achievement. Internationally, continued research on teacher quality confirms that it is one of the most influential factors on student achievement (e.g. Darling-Hammond, 2000, 2003; Santiago, 2002). Studies in the United States (Darling-Hammond, LaFors,& Snyder (2001) concluded that teachers qualifications (based on measures of knowledge and expertise, education, and experience) account for a larger share of the variance in students achievement than any other single factor, including poverty, race, and parent education (p.10). In Australia, a number of studies have similarly concluded that the quality of teaching and learning is an important factor accounting for variations in school students achievements (e.g. Cuttance, 2001; QSRLS, 2001; Rowe, 2003; Rowe, Turner, & Lane, 2002). Thus, worldwide as it is in Australia, Teaching Standards are set and benchmarked whereby practicing teachers and teacher educators must adhere to high levels of accountability. In Australia, the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) provides national leadership in promoting excellence in the profession of teaching and school leadership. Seven Standards separated into three domains with varying levels of attainment dependant on whether you are a graduate, a proficient or highly accomplished teacher or a leader outline specific criteria to achieve. These same standards dictate the design of initial teacher education programs across the country and require teacher education providers to show evidence that the Standards can be met by the graduates. Articulating professional standards for teaching helps make the knowledge and capabilities of teachers explicit for those within and outside the profession, and provides means by which good teaching can be identified, rewarded and celebrated (National Reference Group for Teacher Standards Quality and Professionalism, 2003; Ramsey, 2000).

In contrast to such high levels of accountability is the dichotomy of teachers work. Teachers often feel that their work is more complex and demanding than the community

comprehends, that their status with regard to community standing has declined, and that the demands arising from their work and its complexity are increasing (e.g. Committee for the Review of Teaching and Teacher Education, 2003; Ministerial Council for Education Employment Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), 2003; Senate Employment Education and Training References Committee,1998). Resultantly, early career teachers are leaving the profession, some up to 50% within the first five years post-graduation. Recent debates in Australia point to the ‘generalist’ nature of teacher preparation programs as part of the problem. Such degrees prepare graduates to have demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and adapt and solve complex problems – all skills valued by and transferable to different kinds of industries. There is a call for entrance scores to be higher than ever and for all students studying a degree in education to be in the top 30% of the population in literacy and numeracy attainment. One state in Australia is mooted to claim that all their teachers will have a Masters qualification as the minimum standard and there is a shift for teacher education to move to a graduate entry only model.

This paper challenges these debates and questions if Teaching Standards and recent shifts for quality teaching actually support teachers in the classroom and whether it will improve teacher retention or not. Given teacher quality is often linked to student outcomes, this paper raises the significance of teacher wellbeing with contemporary research identifying interrelationships between student achievement, student wellbeing and teacher wellbeing. A survey of Australian university teacher education programs has found that few degrees address issues in curriculum that have a focus on early career teacher wellbeing.

Method

Thus, this paper reports on research conducted with final year student teachers to ascertain whether the concept of wellbeing was important to them as they transitioned from university to work. Their perceptions of and understanding about wellbeing concepts and issues, as well as early management strategies were critical factors in assisting the teacher educators to design relevant programs for their retention in the profession. An interpretive qualitative study (Berg, 2007) was conducted which aimed to identify graduating teachers initial understandings of wellbeing. Employing thematic and interpretive coding, key themes were identified from the data. Independent analysis of data minimised variations in error and bias. Data ascertained definitions of wellbeing as well as strategies enacted by graduating teachers to promote personal wellbeing. These findings were subsequently analysed in relationship to teacher quality. The final course of a Bachelor of Education degree at the University of South Australia recruited 97 student teachers using a purposive sampling method. The final year was considered to be the most poignant time to gain perceptions about emerging teacher wellbeing as this was a critical transition moment in their career trajectories. During this final stage of the qualifying degree, student teachers completed a non-assessed survey which was integrated into the course structure. They were also taught explicitly about learner and teacher wellbeing curriculum and frameworks. They completed an open ended survey about their perceptions of the factors influencing their wellbeing as beginning teachers and the strategies they would employ to promote their teacher wellbeing. The qualitative nature of this research determined the use of student teacher voice as the main data source as participants’ understanding of wellbeing was the focus. Ethics approval was sought from the University of South Australia’s Human Resource Ethics Committee. Participant responses were confidential and voluntary, with the option to withdraw at any stage without repercussion. Consent was gained from participants and confidentiality maintained. Responses were re-coded to ensure anonymity.

Expected Outcomes

Findings from this research, challenge initial teacher education programmes to provide a specific focus on teacher wellbeing to advance teacher quality and retention. Final year student teachers provided individualised definitions of wellbeing, whilst key themes of: happiness; feeling physically healthy; emotionally well; self identity; optimistic outlook; and holistic wellbeing across social, emotional, physical, spiritual and cognitive wellbeing dimensions were identified. Most significantly, student wellbeing definitions were able to be applied to their prospective work understanding the relationship teacher wellbeing has to student achievement. However, what was noticeable were diverging, limited and somewhat ambiguous wellbeing definitions which reflects the contention in wellbeing literature regarding lack of consensus on the definition of wellbeing. Thus, it is argued that initial teacher education programs need to provide increased analysis of wellbeing constructions and how these can be applied, to prepare teachers for the increasingly demanding role ahead. Given that wellbeing curriculum is a key tenet of teacher education programs, teaching standards and government policies, the authors argue for a sustained focus on wellbeing to ensure that early career teachers remain in the profession and are able to, along with ongoing support and programs from employer and professional bodies, contribute to the quality of teaching to a high level enabling them to meet Standards and accountability measures. Finally, longitudinal studies of these emerging teachers whom have undergone a preparatory core course in teacher wellbeing, may offer further evidence of their sustained wellbeing within the profession.

References

Berg, B. 2007. Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (6th edition), Pearson Education Inc., Boston. Committee for the Review of Teaching and Teacher Education. (2003). Australia's Teachers: Australia's Future. Advancing Innovation, Science, Technology and Mathematics. Canberra:Commonwealth of Australia. Cuttance, P. (2001). The impact of teaching on student learning. In K. Kennedy (Ed.), Beyond the Rhetoric: Building a teaching profession to support quality teaching. (pp. 35-55). Canberra: Australian College of Education. Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Seattle, WA: Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington. Darling-Hammond, L., LaFors, J., & Snyder, J. (2001). Educating teachers for California’s future. Teacher Education Quarterly (Winter). Darling-Hammond, L. (2003). The effects of initial teacher education on teacher quality. Paper presented at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Research Conference. 2003 (Building Teacher Quality: What does the research tell us?), Melbourne. Ministerial Council for Education Employment Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). (2003). Demand and Supply of Primary and Secondary School Teachers in Australia. Melbourne:MCEETYA. National Reference Group for Teacher Standards Quality and Professionalism. (2003). National Statement from the Teaching Profession on Teacher Standards Quality and Professionalism. Canberra: Australian College of Educators. QSRLS. (2001). The Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study. Brisbane: The State of Queensland (Department of Education). Ramsey, G. (2000). Quality Matters: Revitalising teaching, critical times, critical choices. Report of the Review of Teacher Education, New South Wales. Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Training. Rowe, K. (2003). The importance of Teacher Quality as a key determinant of students' experiences and outcomes of schooling. Paper presented at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Research Conference 2003 (Building Teacher Quality: What does the research tell us?), Melbourne. Rowe, K. J., Turner, R., & Lane, K. (2002). Performance feedback to schools of students’ Year 12 assessments: The VCE Data Project. In R. Coe & A. Visscher (Eds.), School Improvement through Performance Feedback. Netherlands: Swetz & Zeitlinger. Santiago, P. (2002). Teacher Demand and Supply: Improving Teaching Quality and Addressing Teacher Shortages. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).Senate Employment Education and Training References Committee,1998.

Author Information

Faye McCallum (presenting / submitting)

University of South Australia

Education

Adeliade

Debbie Price (presenting)

University of South Australia

School of Education

Adelaide

Search the ECER Programme

Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
Search for authors and in the respective field.
For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.