Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Geneva, 13-15 September 2006
Teacher Education Graduates' Actual and Intended Entrance into the Teaching Profession[1]
Isabel Rots
Promotor: Antonia Aelterman
Co-promotor: Peter Vlerick
Isabel Rots
GhentUniversity
Department of Education
H. Dunantlaan 2
9000 Gent
tel. +32.09.2646258
fax. +32.09.2646480
email:
Abstract
This study aims to advance insight into the relationship between teacher education and graduates’ intended and actual entrance into the teaching profession. Moreover, it indicates how this relationship varies according to type of teacher training (i.e. teacher training for primary and lower secondary education). A hypothetical model of graduates’ entrance into teaching was developed. Results of the logistic regression analysis (N = 301) reveal that intention to enter teaching and teacher efficacy explain 22% of the variance in entrance into teaching. Additionally, for each type of teacher training, path analysis was applied to test the internal structure of the model. For graduates from teacher training for primary education, the final obtained path model accounts for 37% of the variance in intention to enter teaching. For teacher training for lower secondary education the explained amount of variance is 45%. Multiple fit indices confirm the viability of the path model for graduates from teacher training for primary education while the model based on data from teacher training for lower secondary education reflects a slightly unsatisfactory fit. For both types of teacher training, results show a small, although statistically significant, contribution of teacher education above other antecedents of graduates’ intention to enter teaching.
1. Introduction
National reports of several Western countries indicated not only high attrition rates of beginning teachers but also a considerable proportion of teacher education graduates who do not enter the teaching profession. For example, studies in the USA showed that only about 60 percent of newly prepared teachers actually enter into teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2000). In some countries there are large differences according to education level. For instance, the latest labour market report of the Flemish Community in Belgium (2005) stated that in 2004 77% of the newly qualified to teach in pre-school entered the profession; for teachers in primary education this rate was 88%; for teachers in the first stage of secondary education 72%, and a mere 51% entered the teaching profession in the upper stages of secondary education. An explanation for this phenomenon of teacher education graduates not entering the profession can be viewed in terms of supply and demand or a consequence of macroeconomic and market factors (OECD, 2005). However, these views neglect any possible relationship between entrance into teaching and experiences during teacher education. In fact, teacher oriented research has indicated that for most pre-service teachers, the confrontation with the complexities and responsibilities of a classroom during field experiences delivers a praxis/reality shock that for some is sufficiently severe to terminate their teaching career before they really had a chance to begin (Cole & Knowles, 1993).
Although empirical research on the specific contribution of teacher education to graduates’ entrance into the teaching profession is scarce, some studies on beginning teacher retention/attrition shed light on this subject. Based on the Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making (Krumboltz, 1979), Chapman (1983) developed and empirically tested (Chapman, 1984; Chapman & Green, 1986) a conceptual model of retention/attrition in the teaching profession. Furthermore, other researchers (Grady, 1990; Ruhland, 2001; 2002) provided empirical evidence for Chapman’s model. The results indicated that teacher attrition (i.e. teacher education graduates who do not enter teaching or leave the profession after a few years) was not only related to the school context or job market. The roots of teacher attrition are to be found in variables such as initial teaching commitment and the quality of early teaching experiences. As such, the experience of early success and satisfaction during student teaching may be crucial. Therefore, these findings suggest that initial teacher education can have a meaningful impact on graduates’ entrance into the teaching profession through the reinforcement and encouragement of teaching commitment. In this regard, it seems especially important to enable students to have success experiences during student teaching.
Linked with the above-mentioned studies, Rots et al. (forthcoming) provided more insight into the different characteristics of teacher education that are related to graduates’ teaching commitment and their entrance into the teaching profession. This study aimed at determining the importance of a limited set of teacher education variables. The findings indicated that the nature of the supervision by the faculty at the teacher training institute, as well as the support provided by mentors during practical experiences in schools, contribute to graduates’ teaching commitment and consequently their entrance into the teaching profession. However, additional research is needed to examine whether this significant impact of teacher education is robust when including other antecedents of graduates’ entrance into the teaching profession. In accordance with studies based on the model of Chapman (1984), it is likely that initial motivation for teaching (when starting teacher education) and labour market factors may be equally or more important for graduates’ decision to enter teaching. Furthermore, although type of teacher training appeared to be an important covariate in the study of Rots et al. (forthcoming), it remains unclear how the relationship between different components of teacher education and entrance into the teaching profession varies for different types of teacher training. More research is required to reveal if certain antecedents of entrance into teaching are particular to certain types of teacher training.
2. Aim of the study
Grounded in the Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making (Krumboltz, 1979; Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1996) and inspired by the model of Chapman (1984), the purpose of the present study is to examine in greater detail how teacher education influences the first job choice of graduates (entrance into the teaching profession or not). Moreover, building on the results of Rots et al. (forthcoming), this study aims to explore how the relationship between teacher education and entrance into teaching (i.e. entrance into the teaching profession) varies according to type of teacher training. This paper confines itself to two types of teacher training: teacher training for primary education[2] and teacher training for lower secondary education.
Firstly, a hypothetical model of graduates’ entrance into the teaching profession comprising empirically grounded variables was developed. Besides teacher education related variables, other factors (e.g., motivation and labour market) were included.
Then all research variables were brought step by step in a logistic regression model with ‘entrance into teaching’ as the dependent variable.
Finally, for each type of teacher training path modelling was applied to examine the (inter) relationships between the antecedents of entrance into teaching. Building on the assumption that intention to enter the teaching profession is a valid predictor of actual entrance, this intention was used as the dependent variable in these analyses.
3. Building a the hypothetical model
Figure 1 represents the hypothetical model for the present study. Research into the specific contribution of teacher training for graduates’ decision whether or not to enter into the teaching profession is scarce. Accordingly, in order to develop a hypothetical model of graduating teachers’ entrance into the teaching profession, we included variables that were empirically proven to be directly or indirectly related to the broader construct of teacher retention (i.e. teacher education graduates who enter and remain in teaching). Building on the model of Chapman (1984), five categories of variables were distinguished: (1) initial motivation for teaching, (2) teacher education, (3) integration into teaching, (4) teaching commitment, and (5) employment opportunities.
Initial motivation for teaching
Research (e.g., Jarvis & Woodrow, 2005; Kyriacou et al., 1999; Young, 1995) on students’ reasons to opt for teacher education has pointed out that students differ in their motivation to finally enter the teaching profession. Some use teacher training as a stepping stone to enter another career. It is likely that students’ initial motivation to study teacher education is related to their entrance into the teaching profession after graduation. In order to gain insight into the importance of teacher education for the dependent variable “entrance into the teaching profession after graduation”, student teachers’ initial motivation for teaching needs to be gauged.
Teacher Education
Recent studies (e.g., Darling-Hammond et al., 2002; LaTurner, 2002) have indicated a positive relationship between the extent to which teachers felt prepared when they entered teaching and their plans to remain in teaching. Therefore, the variable “preparedness for teaching” was included in the hypothetical model.
Another potential characteristic of teacher education is graduates’ perception of the adequacy of the support received from the faculty during their teacher education programme (“faculty support”). Research has shown that faculty support is positively related to graduates’ feelings of preparedness for teaching and teaching commitment (Rots et al., forthcoming) as well as their entrance into the teaching profession (Stokking et al., 2003).
Next, several studies confirmed that newly certified teachers usually perceive practical experiences in schools as the most powerful component of teacher preparation (Wilson et al., 2002). To facilitate learning during these field experiences, student teachers are supervised by mentor teachers (or cooperating teachers). Smith and Ingersoll (2004) and Wang and Odell (2002) noted that mentoring practices can reduce the early attrition of novice teachers. Although these studies focused on teaching experiences during the first years in the profession, experiences during student teaching might have a comparable effect (see Rots et al., forthcoming). Hence, the variable “mentor support” was included in the hypothetical model.
Integration into teaching
An important element in the model of Chapman (1984) is the professional and social integration into the teaching profession. This refers to people’s beliefs about their own values, competencies, and accomplishments as a teacher. In this study, integration into teaching comprises graduates’ self-rated skills and abilities as a teacher (“teacher efficacy”) as well as their professional orientation.
In recent educational literature (e.g., Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998) growing attention is paid to the concept of teacher efficacy. Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001) defined teacher efficacy as “a judgment of his/her capabilities to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning, even among those students who may be difficult or unmotivated” (p. 783). Teacher efficacy has been related to teachers’ perception of the relevance of their teacher preparation (Darling-Hammond et al., 2002). Additionally, Hoy and Spero (2005) referred to several studies which indicated that teacher efficacy is related to enthusiasm for teaching, teaching commitment and retention in teaching. Based on these findings, we expected a positive relationship between graduates’ teacher efficacy, their teaching commitment and consequently their entrance into the teaching profession.
Another facet of integration into teaching in the hypothetical model includes teachers’ professional orientation. Hoyle (1980) distinguished between restricted professionals and extended professionals. Restricted professional orientation has its focus in the classroom. These teachers are mainly concerned with their own didactic behaviours and the subject matter. The extended professionals however are concerned with professional collaboration and locate their classroom teaching in a broader educational context. They also aim at functioning as members of a school team. In Flandersthe educational government has chosen to devise professional profiles and basic competencies that refer to an extended view of professionalism. Moreover, Van Veen, Sleegers, Bergen, and Klaassen (2001) noted that collaboration (an essential feature of extended professional orientation) affects the level of motivation and job satisfaction among teachers. Hence, we assumed that teacher education graduates with a more extended professional orientation show higher teaching commitment and consequently are more likely to enter into the teaching profession than graduates with a more restricted professional orientation.
Teaching commitment
In line with Coladarci (1992), teaching commitment was defined as a teacher education graduate ‘s degree of psychological attachment to the teaching profession. Several authors have related teaching commitment to beginning teachers’ retention (Billingsley, 2004; Chapman & Green, 1986; Ruhland, 2001; 2002; Weiss, 1999). Accordingly, we expected teaching commitment to be strongly positively related to graduating teachers’ entrance into the teaching profession.
Employment opportunities
Research has shown that teacher supply is influenced by general economic conditions. There is evidence that when the general economy is strong and graduate unemployment is low; fewer graduates choose to become teachers (OECD, 2005). Correspondingly, when general economic conditions worsen, teaching seems to become a more attractive job choice for graduates. Therefore, the variable “employment opportunities” was included in the hypothetical model.
Intention to enter teaching
Intent to leave or stay in the teaching profession is a frequently utilised variable in research on teacher retention. It has been viewed as a reasonably valid predictor of subsequent behaviour (e.g., Billingsley et al., 2004; Singh & Billingsley, 1996; Weisberg & Sagie, 1999). This relates to the behavioural intention models (e.g., Theory of Reasoned Action; Theory of Planned Behaviour) which assume that a person’s specific behaviour is predicted by his/her intentions (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Since several authors have noted a positive relationship between teachers’ career intentions and their later career decisions (Boe et al., 1999; Gersten et al., 2001), intention to enter teaching (i.e. the teaching profession) was included in the hypothetical model.
4. Method
4.1 Sample and procedure
In November 2004, a study was conducted among teacher education graduates who had
graduated in September 2004. All graduates from 2004 of the teacher training institutes affiliated to the Ghent University Association in Flanders were invited to participate in this study. For this paper the survey has been restricted to the graduates of two types of initial teacher training (N = 832): teacher training for primary education (pupils age 3-12) and teacher training for lower secondary education. Generally graduates from teacher training for lower secondary educationare qualified for teaching in the first (pupils age 12-14) and the second (pupils age 14-16) stage in all education forms of the secondary education as well as for the third (pupils age 16-18) and fourth (pupils age 18-21) stage in the vocational secondary education.
A questionnaire, comprising a set of research instruments was mailed to the individual graduates.A total of 301 respondents returned a usable questionnaire (36,2% response rate). 14,6% (n = 44) of the subjects in our sample are male and 85,4% (n = 257) are female. The sample consisted of 171 (56,8%) graduates of teacher training forprimary education and 130 (43,2%)graduates of teacher training for lower secondary education. The majority of the participants (83,7%) entered the teaching profession whereas 16,3% chose another first job.
4.2 Measures
A questionnaire, mostly based on (translation of) existing scales, was constructed. A number of new scales were developed using the Likert scaling technique.To ensure content validity, items were operational elaborations of variables considered important in existing literature and research.
Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted to investigate the factor structure of each instrument[3]. Different criteria were used to evaluate and readjust the models.Special attention was paid to cross-loading of items on multiple component factors, the regression coefficient of each item, and the consistency of data with the theoretical framework.For several instruments, items were deleted as a result of this process. Both absolute and relative fit indices were considered in order to find an optimal model fit: the χ² test, the Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI), the Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), and the Root-Mean-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA).
Initial motivation for teaching.Graduates were asked to indicate the extent to which they were committed to the goal of becoming a teacher when they started teacher education. Therefore, a 3-item scale based on the Dutch instrument of Derriks and De Kat (1993) was developed ( = .91).
Preparedness for teaching.In Flanders, the guiding principle is that curricula of teacher training institutes have to pursue the development of the basic competencies (initial competencies of graduates) as set out by the government. These competencies are grounded in extensive scholarly research (Aelterman, 1995) and are described from a number of responsibility clusters which are specified more detailed in what is referred to as functional units. In order to measure respondents’ perception of preparedness for teaching, a scale was constructed based on the basic competencies common for all types of teachers. Respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which they felt teacher education had prepared them to perform a set of tasks central to teaching. The 20 items were scored on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all prepared) to 5 (very well prepared). Based on the results of the CFA, five items were omitted. The internal consistency of the final scale is high ( = .91). In accordance with the theoretical classification of basic competencies (Aelterman, 1995), this instrument assessed preparedness for responsibility towards the learners (i.e., ability to act as a coach of learning and developmental processes, as educator, as content expert, as organiser, and as innovator-researcher) as well as preparedness for responsibility towards the educational community (i.e., ability to act as partner of parents, as member of a school team, as partner of externals, as member of the educational community), and towards society (i.e., ability to act as a participant in culture).
Faculty support. Graduates’ perception of the adequacy of the support received from the faculty in their teacher education programme was measured by a Dutch translation of the Perceived Faculty Support Scale (Shelton, 2003). Shelton(2003) distinguished between support directed at promoting a sense of competency and self-worth (i.e. psychological faculty support) and support directed at the achievement of tasks in order to reach the goals of academic success (i.e. functional faculty support). The final scale – after deletion of some items based on the results of the CFA – contains 16 items and has a high internal consistency ( = .92).