Teacher Status and Symbol

In this conceptual article, the authors examine the context of early childhood education and care in England and the underpinning predominant ideologies to explore how these impact on the framing of leadership. The English context entails several contradictions (antinomies) at ontological, epistemological and axiological levels, and is heavily influenced by an ideological struggle concerning the value of play within the sector as opposed to a climate of child performativity. Moreover, the predominately female workforce (a factor itself) has faced relentless changes in terms of qualifications and curriculum reforms in recent years. With the introduction of the graduate leader qualification (Early Years Teacher Status), a vast body of research has been seeking to conceptualise what leadership means for early childhood education and care. In this article, the authors argue that these attempts are helpful and contribute to this discourse of leadership, but it needs to be thought of not only abstractly, but also practically. Thus, the authors conclude, the (re)conceptualisation of leadership should locate it as pedagogical praxis after evaluating the inherent deep dispositions of leaders in conjunction with their history, surrounding culture and subjective perspectives/realities.

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Beyond Qualified Teacher Status-Becoming a Professional Teacher

Learning to Teach Science in the Secondary School ◽

10.4324/9780203463987-18 ◽

2004 ◽

pp. 290-304

Keyword(s):

Professional Teacher ◽

Qualified Teacher ◽

Teacher Status

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Standards for the Award of Qualiﬁed Teacher Status Questionnaire

INSET For NQTs ◽

10.4324/9780203187784-6 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 10-21

Keyword(s):

Qualified Teacher ◽

Teacher Status

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Do Teacher Status, Gender, and Years of Teaching Experience Impact Job Satisfaction and Work Engagement?

Education and Urban Society ◽

10.1177/0013124520926161 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 001312452092616

Author(s):

Ruzanna Topchyan ◽

Carol Woehler

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Work Engagement ◽

Work Experience ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Teaching Experience ◽

Teacher Job Satisfaction ◽

Substitute Teachers ◽

Full Time ◽

Teacher Gender ◽

Teacher Status

This study explored whether teacher status (full-time vs. substitute) and its interaction with teacher gender and length of work experience had an effect on the linear combination of teacher job satisfaction and work engagement. The study was conducted with 238 full-time and substitute teachers. The findings suggested that full-time teachers’ social engagement, social engagement with students, and job satisfaction were significantly higher than those of substitute teachers, and that female teachers were more engaged with students than their male counterparts and substitute teachers. Length of teaching experience did not have any significant effect on job satisfaction or work engagement. Implications for educational leadership are discussed.

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The Status of Teachers

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.288 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Linda Hargreaves ◽

Julia Flutter

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Academic Success ◽

Karl Marx ◽

Slovak Republic ◽

The United States ◽

Professional Autonomy ◽

Large Element ◽

High Status ◽

The Status ◽

Teacher Status

Internationally, the status of teachers is fraught with ambiguity, contradiction, and complexity. Status, simply defined as one’s “standing in society,” has undergone many redefinitions as lives and societies have become more nuanced and complex. Status, historically ascribed through inheritance and wealth, has been largely replaced by status achieved through individual effort, study, and achievement. The medical, legal, and clerical professions have traditionally enjoyed high status for their specialist qualifications and social responsibility, although the correlation between academic success and the comfortable family socioeconomic circumstances in which many aspiring to these professions also lends them a large element of ascribed status. Teachers experience a status paradox. For many, teaching has been a route out of the working class toward a more professional status. Teachers, in many countries but not universally, are highly trained, well qualified, dedicated, and trusted in their communities. Relative to the medical profession, however, teachers are poorly paid, and experience poor working conditions, limited professional autonomy, and high accountability. Their participation in trade union activities prompts debate as to whether teaching should be classed as a “profession.” Yet, despite the 1966 UNESCO and the International Labour Organization’s strong recommendation that teaching should be recognized as a profession and accorded high status, it remains at best a semiprofessional occupation. There is great variation across the globe in public respect and government treatment of teachers. International comparative surveys lack overall consensus but suggest that teachers in Taiwan, major Chinese cities, and Finland enjoy high status as compared with those in Brazil, Israel, and Italy, for example. Classic theories of status include those of Karl Marx and Max Weber. For Marx it is determined by socioeconomic status, but for Weber cultural and social affiliations can outweigh economic factors. Teaching straddles the two. Twentieth-century theorists, such as Talcott Parsons in the United States, have linked status to educational achievement. Pierre Bourdieu relates status to social reproduction of social class-related “habitus” in taste and consumption and Anthony Giddens to individual lifestyle choices not necessarily related to status. Recent research in England supports Weber’s cultural determinants, but international surveys reveal complex and debatable relationships between pay, student performance, and status. High percentages of the public think teachers deserve higher salaries that are linked to performance. Teaching as a lifestyle choice still appears to be motivated at least as much by intrinsic, “psychic” rewards as by well as extrinsic ones. Teachers rate their own status lower than do those who work with them. A recent international survey of teachers found over two-thirds in general, and over 95% in Sweden, France, and the Slovak Republic, thought teaching was not valued in society. The portrayal of teachers in the media may be relevant here. While this has become more positive in tone and prominence in England since the 1990s, there are wide cultural differences internationally. Improving teacher status is a complex challenge. Potential contributory factors include higher entry standards and competition to join; the creation of professional associations, as opposed to unions; improved and safe conditions of work; higher pay linked to performance; professional autonomy and involvement in decision-making; and teachers themselves rating their status more highly. The UNESCO Global Sustainable Development Goals for Education 2030 provide a set of overarching aims for the future of teacher status, envisaging teachers not as adults in a child’s world, but as orchestrators of national sustainable development.

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