Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Teachers have a powerful impact on student achievement, yet high attrition rates hinder schools in their ability to provide quality instruction. Attrition rates are highest for schools serving low-income, minority students and among small private schools, including Catholic schools. Attrition is especially prevalent among new teachers. Very few studies have focused on the problem of early leaving or the problem of retention in Catholic schools. This study seeks to understand better why public and Catholic school teachers leave teaching early. A mixed methods approach was used. This included 50 in-depth interviews with 15 public and 10 Catholic school teachers who left within the first 5 years. In addition, statistical analyses of public and Catholic school early leavers' responses in the Schools and Staffing and Teacher Follow-Up surveys were used to contextualize and compare the experiences of the 25 teachers interviewed to the larger population of early leavers. This dissertation argues that, to understand why teachers leave early, an approach that examines teachers' entire experiences throughout their short time in the profession is required. A framework informed by sociocultural and commitment theories and prior research on retention and the culture of schools was developed through systematic analysis of the interview and survey data. This analytical framework provides a complex approach for examining the phenomenon of early leaving, which included three aspects: entering commitment, teaching experience, and the decision to leave. Findings suggested that teachers' decisions to leave were influenced by multiple factors within their various contexts. These contexts and factors were constantly changing, making the decision to leave extremely complex. For Catholic school teachers, the decision was even more complicated, influenced not only by the same factors and aspects of early leaving as public school teachers, but also their changing identities as Catholics. Findings also called into question common assumptions about why teachers leave: teachers do not always leave because they are less committed to teaching, or are dissatisfied with teaching or with their salaries. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Study of Teachers¡¦ and Students¡¦ Thinking Styles and their Interactions in Instruction Abstract The purposes of this study were (1) to compare the relationship among teachers and students¡¦ thinking styles and their background. (2) to explore the relationship among teachers¡¦ background, teachers¡¦ thinking styles, and teaching behaviors. (3) to investigate the relationship among teaching behavior, students¡¦ thinking styles, learning perception satisfaction, and achievement. (4) to explore the influences of different matching of teachers¡¦ thinking styles and students¡¦ thinking styles on learning perception satisfaction and achievement. (5) to investigate the changing condition of students¡¦ thinking styles. (6) to explore the impact of teachers¡¦ thinking styles on students¡¦ thinking styles. Two groups of subjects were arranged: with one including 254 high school teachers in Taiwan area, and the other including 14 teachers and their 507 students in Koashuing. Teachers were asked to fill out Thinking Styles Questionnaire for Teacher (TSQT¡¨ and Teaching Behavior Scale (TBS), while students Thinking Styles Questionnaire (TSQ) and Learning Perception Satisfaction Check List (LPSCL). Qualitative research (Classroom observation) is applied to explore the interaction of teachers and students. The data were analyzed by Pearson¡¦s product-moment correlation, t-test, canonical correlation, Hotelling¡¦s T , one-way MANOVA, Repeat Measure Analysis, and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance. The conclusion were drawn as follows: 1. On teachers¡¦ background: (1) There were significant differences between male and female in judicial, and liberal styles. (2) There were no significant differences between high, mid and low years groups in thinking styles. (3) There were significant differences between high, mid and low age groups in executive thinking styles. (4) There were significant differences between high, mid and low father¡¥s education in conservative thinking styles. (5) There were significant differences between high, mid and low mother¡¦s education in conservative thinking styles. 2. On students¡¦ background: (1) There were significant differences between male and female in executive, judicial, and local thinking styles. (2) Birth orders, father¡¦s education, and mother¡¦s education have no significant differences with thinking styles. 3. Students¡¦ is more inclined to legislative, global, liberal, and conservative styles in pre-test than in post-test. 4. Teachers¡¦ background had no canonical correlation with teachers¡¦ thinking styles. Teachers¡¦ thinking styles had canonical correlation with teaching behavior. Three canonical factors of Teachers¡¦ thinking styles efficacy explained 43.4% of all teacher behavior. 5. Teachers¡¦ legislative, executive, and liberal thinking styles had significant effects on students¡¦ thinking styles. 6. Some teaching behavior had significant correlation with students¡¦ thinking styles. 7. Teaching behavior had significant correlation with learning perception satisfaction, but not achievement. 8. Teachers¡¦ thinking styles had significant correlation with students¡¦ thinking styles. 9. Matching of teacher-student¡¦s thinking styles had significant correlation with learning perception satisfaction and achievement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2005. / Prepared for: School of Education. Bibliography: leaves 126-158. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed Oct. 10, 2007). PDF text: vi, 109 p. : ill. (some col.) UMI publication number: AAT 3258772. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

The purpose of this study was to explore what affective events influence job satisfaction amongst secondary school teachers of two private schools in Gauteng. The theoretical framework for this study was the Affective Events Theory as proposed by Weiss and Cropanzano. A total of 37 participants completed an open-ended questionnaire presenting an emotion and asking participants to describe an event that could be linked to the emotion experienced in as much detail as possible. Thereafter 6 participants were selected for follow-up interviews, based on age, gender and years' teaching experience to enquire about their perception on the role of leadership behaviour played in creating these events as well as investigating possible turnover intent. The results from this study highlighted that events which resulted in positive affectivity were mostly connected to learners as negative affective events involved leadership behaviour. It also highlighted how leadership behaviour contributed to these events and expressed possible turnover intent as a result of their experiences of these events at school. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

Tatueringar har historiskt sett väckt fördomar hos människor i form av att tatuerade individer uppfattas besitta negativa egenskaper. Denna studie undersökte hur tatueringar på en förskollärare var relaterade till utomståendes uppfattning om dennes lämplighet att ta hand om barn. Vidare undersöktes även om likhetseffekten var en faktor i tatuerade och icke-tatuerade deltagares bedömning av yrkesutövaren. Genom en kvantitativ vinjettstudie fick 151 universitetsstudenter bedöma en förskollärares lämplighet utifrån 14 yrkesrelaterade egenskaper. Cirka hälften av deltagarna bedömde en icke-tatuerad förskollärare och den andra hälften bedömde en tatuerad förskollärare. Av deltagarna var 65 själva tatuerade och 86 icke-tatuerade. Resultatet presenterade inga signifikanta skillnader i bedömningen mellan den tatuerade förskollärarens och den icke-tatuerade förskollärarens lämplighet. Det fanns heller ingen skillnad i bedömningen utifrån om deltagaren själv hade tatueringar eller inte. Studiens resultat skiljer sig delvis från tidigare forskning och kan därav ligga till grund för vidare fördjupning i fördomar kring tatueringar inom olika yrken.

Syftet med vår uppsats är att, utifrån begreppen roll, status och auktoritet, lyfta fram gymnasieläraryrkets förändring under perioden 1960-2000. Vi använder oss av en kvalitativ undersökning, baserad på intervjuer med fyra pensionerade gymnasielärare. I vår analys av utvecklingen använder vi oss av teorier från Annales-skolan samt Karl Marx teorier kring generation och arv. Våra resultat visar att det skett flera stora förändringar i gymnasieläraryrket, men att det även finns vissa beståndsdelar som under utvecklingen varit bestående. I vår analys av begreppen roll, status och auktoritet är vår slutsats att gymnasielärarens roll är den del som förändrats mest, men att det även här finns många bestående delar. Statusen är ett element i yrket som också genomgått stora förändringar och minskat betydligt. Auktoriteten har på ett formellt plan avtagit betydligt, medan vi fortfarande kan skönja en bestående reell auktoritet. / The purpose of this essay is to analyse the development of the teacher profession in the upper secondary school during the time period 1960-2000, with regard to the concepts role, status and authority. The investigation has been carried out using a qualitative method with material that has been gathered during interviews with four retired teachers. The analysis has been inspired by the theories of the Annales school as well as the generation and inheritance theories developed by Karl Marx. Our results show that the teacher profession has gone through a number of considerable changes, but also that there are components of the profession that have remained unchanged. In our analysis of the concepts role, status and authority, we have come to the conclusion that the role of the teacher has been the subject of most changes, although many respects of the profession are left unchanged. The status of the profession has also undertaken major changes and decreased severely. Formally, the authority has decreased as well, although in reality a certain authority level can still be perceived.

This study sought to determine if there were statistically significant differences between years of teaching experience and education relative to learning-inhibiting problems in the classroom. These differences were measured by responses on surveys, classroom observations, review of summative teacher appraisal instruments and focus group interviews. A population of 271 middle school teachers of language art, social studies, mathematics and science were selected from one urban school district. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was the statistical analysis procedure utilized to analyze the data. Thirteen null hypotheses were tested at the .05 alpha level. The research failed to reject 12 null hypotheses of no statistically significant difference between years of teaching experience (0-5, 6-12, 13-20, 21+) and education (middle school trained, middle school untrained) and learning-inhibiting problems (chronic talking, refusing request, tardiness, inattentiveness, talking back to teachers) experienced by middle school teachers in the classroom. The only null hypothesis rejected was that no statistically significant difference existed between 0-5 years of teaching experience and the non-instructional strategy (consultation with an administrator) used to prevent learning-inhibiting problems in the classroom. The results of the data analysis revealed that teachers in the 0-5 range of teaching experience preferred consultation with administrators as the strategy for preventing disruptive behavior in the classroom. Upon classroom observation, there was no statistically significant difference between years of teaching experience and the ability to manage a classroom. It was observed that teachers who circulated throughout the classroom while directing instruction and using questioning techniques were better able to manage the classroom and have fewer disruptions than teachers who stood in front of the class or who were seated and directed instruction. Focus group members indicated that many disruptive behaviors can be addressed through appropriate instructional planning and delivery. Therefore, staff development should address a variety of instructional strategies that would prevent and eliminate specific learning-inhibiting problems as chronic talking, tardiness, inattentiveness, refusing request of teachers, and talking back to teachers in the classroom. / Ed. D.

From Mother of Society to a Teacher Qualified for Post-graduate Studies – Continuity and Change in a Local Pre-school Education. The aim of this thesis is to throw light upon the basic values and representations of knowledge within a local female teacher education tradition and identify what kind of expectations are held of a pre-school teacher over time. The main question concerns central values and notions in a local pre-school teacher education regarding what is expected of a recognised pre-school teacher between the beginning of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. A key interest is how these underlying values and notions are maintained and how they are transformed over time. Another interest is how these values and notions are maintained and transformed when they meet other teacher education traditions and when they are confronted with traditional academic values. The preschool teacher education is deeply rooted in a female tradition and the study presented here also focuses on the role that gender plays in the formation, changes and continuity of the central values in pre-school teacher education. The empirical sources include in-depth-interviews with 22 lecturers and supervisors from a local pre-school education in addition to document studies of selected materials from the archives of the Department of Education at Örebro University and at the Örebro University Library. The historical context and the dimension of time have been analysed using James Wertsch’s (2002) conception of voices of collective remembering in addition to the concepts of knowledge cultures (Englund & Linné 2005, Nerland 2008) and communities of practice (Lave and Wenger 2003). The results presented in this dissertation indicate that major shifts have occurred in the collective memory of the local pre-school teacher education during the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century. I have distinguished seven historical periodic themes in the analysis. These are: Mother of society – formation of a new female activity system (ca 1902–1942), All-round kindergarten leader (ca 1942–1963), Personality development and child observation (ca 1963–1972), Developmental psychology and dialogue pedagogy (ca 1972–1977), Education in a university setting and a citizen of society (ca 1977–1983), Reflective child pedagogue (ca 1982 1993) and Teacher of younger children – qualified for a research tradition (ca 2001– 2007).

Dans la lignée de la création des IUFM (Instituts de formation des maîtres) en 1989, les récentes évolutions du système éducatif français (loi pour la refondation de l’école de juillet 2013) témoignent d’une volonté institutionnelle de rapprocher école et collège et de dépasser le clivage historique qui fait du premier degré l’héritier de l’école du peuple et du second celui des lycées destinés à l’élite. Il s’agit de lever ce qui peut faire obstacle à la continuité école-collège pour une meilleure prise en charge des élèves. Mais cette volonté a-t-elle véritablement permis de dépasser ces antagonismes et d’aller vers une culture pédagogique partagée, voire de fonder une identité professionnelle commune ? L’enjeu de cette thèse est d’identifier les points de rencontre mais aussi et surtout les points de rupture entre professeurs des écoles et professeurs des collèges, afin de mieux comprendre quelle est l’origine de ces différences, comment elles se construisent et quels effets elles produisent, dans le but de mieux savoir comment agir pour lever ces obstacles et améliorer le passage de l’école au collège. Pour cela, trois méthodes de recueil de données ont été utilisées : observations ethnographiques de situations d’échanges entre professeurs des deux degrés sur trois réseaux (milieu favorisé, milieu rural mixte, réseau d’éducation prioritaire), questionnaires (près de 200 enseignants exerçant pour moitié en élémentaire et pour moitié en collège) et entretiens biographiques (10 professeurs des écoles et 11 professeurs des collèges). L’analyse des données a été effectuée de façon qualitative et quantitative (notamment en utilisant les logiciels Statbox et IRaMuTeq). L’identité professionnelle des enseignants a été abordée par le biais des différentes variables la composant : variables personnelles (biographiques), contextuelles (socio-historiques et professionnelles) et pédagogiques (la culture pédagogique). Elles ont été mises en regard, notamment afin de percevoir le rôle des cultures pédagogiques dans les constructions identitaires. Ce travail a montré que malgré des cultures pédagogiques en grande partie commune, les identités professionnelles des professeurs des écoles et des collèges restent marquées par l’histoire des professions dans les représentations qu’ils entretiennent les uns sur les autres, et qu’elles se révèlent de « consistance » différente. Enfin, l’apparition d’une recomposition de l’identité professionnelle chez les professeurs de collège débutants a été mise au jour. / Directly linked to the creation of the IUFMs (Instituts de Formation des Maîtres) in 1989, the recent evolutions in the French educational system (Law of July 2013 for the refoundation of school) show evidence, at the level of the institutions, of the willingness to get a close similarity between primary school and secondary school (named college in France) and to cancel the historical approach which considered primary school as dedicated to the people and secondary school reserved for an elite. The challenge is to remove everything which may be an obstacle to the continuity from primary to secondary in order to take charge of the pupils in better conditions. But has this willingness permitted to really overcome the antagonisms and led to a shared pedagogical culture and even generated a common professional identity ?The aim of this thesis is to identify all the points of convergence but particularly also the disrupting points between teachers in primary and teachers in secondary schools and to understand more precisely what is the origin of the differences, the way they occur and the consequences they produce, in the purpose of knowing much better how to proceed to remove the obstacles and to improve the transition from primary to secondary. Three methods of collection of datas have been used : ethnographical survey of actual relationship between teachers (in both educational levels) in three local education grids (favourable background – mixed rural environment – areas declared as a priority), answers to questionnaires (sent to almost 200 teachers, half of them in primary, half in secondary schools) and biographical interviews (10 teachers in primary and 11 in secondary schools). The datas have been analysed considering both the quality and the quantity (with the use of softwares such as Statbox and IRaMuTeq). The professional identities of the teachers have been examined through consideration of the several variables they are made of : private (biography), background (social, historical and professional), pedagogical (pedagogical culture). They have been compared in order to point out the part played by the pedagogical cultures in the way identity is formed.This survey has demonstrated that, although pedagogical cultures are highly the same, the professional identities of the teachers in primary and of the teachers in secondary schools are still deeply impregnated by the history of the image of the professions with which they both consider each other and that the image has a different « thickness » both sides. The survey has also revealed that young teachers in secondary schools nowadays start developing a professional identity common to both levels.