Open Access“Teachers of Promise”: Is Teaching Their First Career Choice?
Author(s) -
Susan Lovett
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
new zealand annual review of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1178-3311
pISSN - 1171-3283
DOI - 10.26686/nzaroe.v0i16.1510
Subject(s) - perception , psychology , mathematics education , pedagogy , medical education , medicine , neuroscience
This study, as part of a larger longitudinal study, “Teachers of Promise”, seeks to explore the perceptions and experiences of a group of teachers judged to have the potential to become strong teachers. It is these promising teachers who are needed for a strong and vibrant teaching profession, and it is these teachers who are most likely to leave teaching. Entrants to teaching have been differentiated according to the pathways of first career and career/job-changers. This study shows no appreciable differences between the two groups of teachers in their reasons for entering teaching, a finding that accords with international experience. Given international concerns about recruitment and retention in the teaching profession, there is an increasing need for messages about teaching as a career choice to be positive rather than negative.