Lessons Learned – Changing Times. 87 Former Teacher Graduates on their Careers During 15 Years

Author(s):

Anneli Frelin(presenting / submitting)Ulla Karin Nordänger(presenting)Göran Fransson Per Lindqvist

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

01. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations

Format:

Paper

Session Information

01 SES 09, Learning from and with Colleagues & Network Meeting

Network Meeting

Time:

2012-09-20

11:00-12:30

Room:

FCT - Aula 21

Chair:

Contribution

This paper presents some of the initial results from a longitudinal project ”Crossroads - a longitudinal study of choices and values in teachers’ work trajectories”, financed by the Swedish Research Council in a three year project. It builds from a unique material: 87 graduates from one Teacher Education program were interviewed by mail at eight occasions regarding their work and lives, spanning from their graduation in 1993 through their careers until 2008. The informants have worked during a period of twenty years when major reforms have changed the frames and pre-conditions for teachers’ work (Carlgren & Klette, 2008; Houtsonen, et al., 2010), and thus for teachers’ roles, tasks and commitment. They also belong to a generation whose values and attitudes towards work seem to differ from the ones before them (jfr Day et al, 2009; Stone- Johnsson, 2009). The purpose of the project is to describe, understand and explain the specific circumstances, attitudes and strategies that make teachers stay, leave or return to the teaching profession. The aim of this paper is to map key characteristics of the informants’ teacher experiences during 15 years.

In Sweden as well as in Europe, work life is under restructuring (Dovermark, 2004, Müller et al, 2007) which means that many teachers encounter new groups of students with different needs, as well as loss of status and public blaming of teachers for the perceived failures of schools. In Sweden, the educational system has undergone several reforms marked by a process of deregulation and decentralization, in short a transition from central bureaucratic governing by rules to a decentralized, flexible governing by objectives where market based solutions such as freedom of choice and competition prevail. Countries in Europe seem to move in a similar direction in terms of standardization and measurement (Lawn, 2011). Previous studies indicate that the demands that some of the demands produce defensive strategies among teachers that narrow the professional space, while some teachers are able to find strategies for preserving their professional space and autonomy (Lindqvist & Nordänger, 2007; Lindqvist, Nordänger & Landahl, 2009).

Method

A unique collection of data was carried out between 1993 and 2008, following 87 graduates of Teacher Education, the class of 1993 from one university in Sweden, through their careers. They were interviewed by mail at eight occasions regarding their work and lives. The questions regarded their work life: their aspirations, work positions, and experiences from teaching, both good and bad, and the response rate is almost 100%. The informants have continued to answer the questions whether they stayed in the teaching professions or not. In this presentation we focus mainly on the written comments that the informants delivered when they responded to the last mail interview in September 2008. The informants were asked to: 1), map their career trajectory and provide comments, 2), describe critical incidents and turning points in their careers, 3), describe their present work, and 4), provide a spontaneous comment reflecting back on their 15 years after graduation. A qualitative content-analysis was performed in order to identify patterns and themes, using the software AtlasTI to facilitate the coding of data. The last question was given particular attention, as it provided an openness to the issues that the informants themselves chose to bring up.

Expected Outcomes

The paper presents selected statistics regarding the working life of the informants and some preliminary analyses from the material. The preliminary analyses of the last interview indicate several themes that provide clues to the complexity of the situation for teachers. On the one hand there is a strong emphasis among the informants on perceived work-intensification, where the ones who still work as teachers talk about less time for each student and added work tasks, often related to documentation and administration. There is a widespread doubt whether teaching is a job that the informants want to keep until retirement and dissatisfaction with the pay. In that sense, there is a notion of decreased professional space and frustration. On the other hand many express a sustaining commitment, where they experience meaningfulness, freedom in a stimulating work environment with valued colleagues and opportunities for professional development. Several informants express arguments from both sides, thus painting an ambivalent picture of work commitment. The findings are discussed in relation to the context, its restructuring and changed preconditions during the two decades during which the informants stayed in, or left, teaching.

References

Carlgren, I. & Klette, K. (2008). Reconstructions of Nordic Teachers: Reform policies and teachers’ work during the 1990s. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 52(2), 117–133. Day, C. et.al. (2009). Committed for Life? Variations in Teacher’s Work, Lives and Effectiveness. In M. Bayer, et.al. (Eds.). Teachers’ Career Trajectories and Work Lives. pp. 49-71. London: Springer Dovermark, M. (2004). Ansvar – flexibilitet – valfrihet. En etnografisk studie om en skola i förändring. Diss.Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet Houtsonen, J., Czaplicka, M., Lindblad, S., Sohlberg, P. & Sugrue, C. (2010). Welfare State Restructuring in Education and its National Refractions. Finnish, Irish and Swedish Teachers’ Perceptions of Current Changes. Current Sociology 58(4), 597–622. Lawn, Martin (2011). Standardizing the European Education Policy Space. European Educational Research Journal, 10(2). Lindqvist, P. & Nordänger, U.K. (2007). Better safe than sorry? Risk and Educational Resarch. Educational Studies, Vol. 33, No. 1, March 2007, pp. 15-27. Lindqvist, P., Nordänger, U.K. & Landahl, J. (2009). Insurance and assurance – teachers’ strategies in the regimes of risk and audit, European Educational Research Journal, Volume 8, number 4 Müller, Jörg, Hernández, Fernando, Sancho, Juana, Creus, Amalia, Muntadas, Max, Larraín, Verónica, et al. (2007). Comparative overview: European Primary Teachers’ Work and Life under Restructuring. In J. Müller, F. Hernández, J. Sancho, A. Creus, M. Muntadas, V. Larraín & X. Giró (Eds.), European Schoolteachers work and life under restructuring: Professional experiences, knowledge and expertise in changing context [http://www.profknow.net/files/results/D04TeacherLifeWorkRestructuring.pdf]. Stone-Johnson, C. (2009). Regenerating Teachers In M. Bayer, U, Brinkjaer, H. Plauborg & S. Rolls (Eds.). Teachers’ Career Trajectories and Work Lives. pp. 179-203. London: Springer

Author Information

Anneli Frelin (presenting / submitting)

University of Gävle

Education

South Abington Towns

Ulla Karin Nordänger (presenting)

Linneaus University

Kalmar

Göran Fransson

University of Gävle

Academy of Education and Business Studies

Gävle

Per Lindqvist

Linneaus university

Dep of education