Valuing the teaching profession

Supervisor: Dr Lisa Kim (primary supervisor) & Dr Kathryn Asbury (secondary supervisor)

A) Rationale for the project

Teachers have long believed that their profession is not valued by society (Cohen, 1967). This belief has persisted into the present day and can be seen in the findings of OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Surveys (TALIS; OECD, 2014, 2020). The latest survey consisting of 48 countries/economies found that, on average, only 25.8% of teachers believe their profession is valued by society, with longer-serving teachers more pessimistic than colleagues who are newer to the profession. For England, the percentage of teachers who agree or strongly agree with the statement that their profession is valued in society has fallen from 2013 (35.4%) to 2018 (28.8%; OECD, 2020). These figures are concerning given that such belief is negatively associated with teaching effectiveness and retention. Thus, the project aims to understand the factors that contribute to teachers’ sense of being valued as a profession and explore ways that the status of the profession can be raised.

B) References that should be read

Cohen, E. G. (1967). Status of teachers. Review of Educational Research, 37, 280–295.

Hargreaves, L., Cunningham, M., Hansen, A., McIntyre, D., Oliver, C., & Pell, T. (2007). The status of teachers and the teaching profession in England: Views from inside and outside the profession. Final report of the Teacher Status Project (No. RR831A). Department for Education & Skills.

OECD. (2020). TALIS 2018 results (Volume II): Teachers and school leaders as valued professionals. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/d1ba43b3-en

C) Research aims and questions

The project aims to (a) examine the factors contributing to teachers’ sense of being valued as a profession; (b) compare these factors across a variety of countries, and (c) propose policy and practical implementation plans that can raise the social status of the teaching profession, particularly in England.

D) Methods

This project welcomes a variety of methods and approaches, including secondary data analysis (e.g., from TALIS datasets) and qualitative interviews.