How teachers view their own professional status: A snapshot

Abstract

The question of whether teaching is a profession, with all the status and responsibilities that entails, is not as settled as some believe. Emma García and Elaine Weiss look at the requirements and characteristics of a profession and examine data from teachers and find that teaching, as currently experienced by teachers, does not measure up to the traits of a profession, though it would merit the status,. Although teaching has credentialing requirements, many teachers lack the credentials associated with effectiveness. In addition, teachers do not receive the professional support needed to grow professionally, and they lack the societal respect and influence other professions enjoy. Teachers also receive lower pay than their peers, and many experience emotionally and physically damaging work environments.

Determinants of teacher attrition: Evidence from district-teacher matched data

“…Across different disciplines, teacher voice captures important professional features such as engagement, agency, career-advancement, prestige, and intrinsic-motivation (Abbott, 2014;Hirschman, 1972;Ingersoll & Collins, 2018;Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2019). Teacher voice must thus be included in analyses of determinants of teacher attrition, because the discussion around teaching has evolved recently to emphasize the status of teaching as a profession and the need to attract and keep more qualified teachers (García & Weiss, 2019a, 2020aIngersoll & Collins, 2018;Sutcher et al, 2016).…”

Enablers and constraints to teacher educator wellbeing amidst institutional accountability cultures: a PERMA perspective

“…Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program requirements have, according to Dwyer et al (2020), placed Teacher Educators (TEs) in the 'iron grip of regulation ' (p. 230). Just as classroom teachers have been held up as the 'problem' (Biesta, 2015;Garcia & Weiss, 2020;Rowe & Skourdoumbis, 2019) where student outcomes have been perceived as inadequate, TEs are blamed for not effectively preparing teachers to have the knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs (Bahr & Mellor, 2016) and have been noted to be responsible for poor school students' academic outcomes (Cochran-Smith et al, 2020).…”

Does the Expert-based Collective Advising Mechanism Promote Educational Equity? Experience from China

“…Many countries world over, such as the US, UK, China, and some countries in Africa, have had serious problems such as teacher shortage and high teacher turnover rates, which have challenged school education and student development, and have resulted in educational inequity (de Villiers & Weda, 2017; E. Garcia & Weiss, 2020;Lin et al, 2012;Moses et al, 2017;Worth et al, 2015). Highly qualified teachers are often assigned to better urban schools and more privileged students.…”