NFSUN - 2011Linköping Universitet

Science Teacher’s narratives on motivation and commitment

– a story about recruitment and retention

Peer S. Daugbjerg, Lecturer VIA UC, DK, (pd@viauc.dk)

Ph. D. student, AAU, DK, dep. for learning

Background(at start in 2008)

• Declining recruitment– Teacher education (slowly increasing in DK since 2009)– Science teaching subject studies (slightly higher percentage)

• Low retention – Newly trained teachers (still a problem)– Science teacher (still a problem)

Such data is well known (3 danish studies: Lars Lindhardt, Martin Bayer, DLF)

• Nobody (to my knowledge) has asked active and experienced science teachers about their:– Motivation to start as science teachers– Commitment to teach science

Research interest• Tell a positive story of spite and stamina in an era of

teacher deprofessionalisation.– Inspired by Susan Robertson

• The interaction between life and work of science teachers.– Inspired by Goodson and Bourdieu

• White water Kayaking the everyday in the classroom– According to Wolf-Michael Roth

• Supertankering the fundamental values and ideas of school and everyday life– According to Løgstrup as read by Daugbjerg

Swedish research on teacher students motivation (Persson, 2009)

Ideas of teacher education and teaching

Perspec-tive on future

Clear Diffuse

Long

Walk the footsteps of a masterMotive: a professional model with specific personal qualitiesAim: altruism, make a difference

Invest in teacher education

Motive: Positive experiences with own schooling

Aim: Confession to a strong social and professional position

Short

Work with own hobbyMotive: strong subject matter interestAim: engaged in hobby during study and in future work

Avoids beers and mopedsMotive: escape from unattractive social environmentAim: Not be like the others

Commitment and motivation lex. VITAE, UK (Variations in Teacher’s Work, Lives and Effectiveness, Day et al 2007)

• Two types of retention uncovered:– Physical continuation– Sustained commitment and motivation

• Teacher sense of identity effects their commitment.• Commitment has effect on teacher effectiveness

measured by pupil achievements.• Commitment and motivation is affected by both

professional and private conditions.• Primary school teachers (1. – 6. grade) maintain their

commitment better.

Teacher contributions in my research

Stories and narrations on• Early years, birthplace and parents• Youth and schooling• Education and occupation prior to teaching• Teacher education • Spouse, children and spare time• Teacher work and developmentSupplemented by observations, study plans, study

materials, inservices training assignments, year group data.

Science teacher narrators.Teacher alias

Gender Birth year

High school or similar finished

Other training or employment prior to teacher training

Start of teacher education

Graduation as teacher

Jane ♀ 1954 1974   1974 1978Erik ♂ 1957 1977   1977 1981Lars ♂ 1956 1976 Clerk 1982 1986Diana ♀ 1970 1990 Unskilled worker 1992 1996Linda ♀ 1956 1994 China Painter,

shop owner1994 1998

Sten ♂ 1971 1990 Laboratory worker 1997 2001Tove ♀ 1975 1995 Unskilled worker 1997 2001Frede ♂ 1973 1997 Farmer 1999 2004Karen ♀ 1966 1985 Industrial worker 2001 2005Ruth ♀ 1972 1992 Unskilled worker,

Ergo-therapist2002 2009

Motivation and commitment of Jane (born 1954, teacher 1978)

• “After high school I wanted to be either ballet dancer or game biologist, in teacher education I could get a bit of both.” “The teacher college wasn’t that far away, I had a sick mother at that time.

• “I loved helping at my uncle’s farm.” “Our holidays were fishing trips” “It was obvious for me to choose biology as a subject for teaching, biology has been THE line for me”

• “This lake is a little diamond, it but needs restoration not to become choked. “ “You should be able to fish [water insects] in it.”

Motivation and commitment of Linda (born 1956, teacher 1998)

• ”… then I was elected union representative at the china factory, … then you should teach labour market rights, where and how the agreement and labour market court and all such stuff.”

• ”then he [a teacher] wakens the interest for science in me, because he was this, he was appriciative og he could make jokes with us.”

• ”I watch science programmes not soaps.”• ”science follows as a matter of course, you shall know

something and all can learn it, have I said to them [the pupils] and I try to make it ordinary”

Motivation and commitment of Tove (born 1975, teacher 2001)

• “From 1st to 6th grade I had a male class teacher he was so nice, a very good male newly educated teacher.” “What he gave us I also wanted to give someone someday”

• “I had the nerdest nerd in biology in high school, but he was very funny, he had a good approach to biology ... very good at making images in our heads”

• “I want to have a positive influence on the young people” “My attitude is that it is half subject matter half social worker, because we shall have whole humans out of it.” “I’m developing a curriculum for the sex education at my school.”

Motivation for science teacher education

• Causes for becoming a teacher:– Being with children, do good for others, socially acceptable

choice of profession• Two types of recruitment patterns

– First choice education (direct og delayed)– Career changers

• Causes for choosing science subjects:– Good science teachers in high school, unfortunate

experiences with mothertongue teachers (danish), participation in nature investigation as young, upbringing influenced by nature, outdoor life and farming

Commitment to science teaching

• Causes for being a science teacher, elements in retention and resilience:– Opportunity to follow youth closely, good colleagues,

disseminate science– Develop study plans in health and sex education or a science

track– Restore or care for green space/nature– Make science ordinary

• PRE-teacher-education experience of science and nature is carried unchanged through teacher education into teaching practice

Questions to the audience

• Are the motives recognizable?• Is the commitment recognized?• Whats the significance of the stories for the

recruitment of science teachers?• Whats the significance of these stories for the

rentention of science teachers?• Whats the significance of these stories for in-

service training?

SOME of the problems of life history and narrative research

• The academic text string logic can be a trap when you want to start a dialogue with teachers , teacher students, teacher educators and politicians

• Justification comes through the saturation of the individual stories not the numbers of stories

• Narrative research qualifies the statement of new research questions

Nordic mythology

• The 3 nornes spin/veawes the life threads

• Nodes marks life events

• Text string logic

Chronotopos• Bahktin argues that time and

landscape forms a chronotopos (timescape) in stories

• Dali paints this:

Stories as globes

• Svend Aage Madsen, a danish author, makes interludes in ”Syv aldres galskab” (seven ages of madness) where he claims, that a life/generation story is an attempt to write a globus.

• The atlas making problem of communicating the essentiel of the landscape to the mapreader (November et al 2009).

Whats the use of the map

• In my synopsis:– What helps you to understand the life

”landscape/globus” of a teacher?– What is difficult in understanding the life

”landscape/globus” of a teacher?– Where can I improve my

communication/explanation of the teachers life ”landscape/globus”?

Becoming a science teacher

• Motivation and recruitment • Motives and causes for choice of

- teacher education- science subjects

• Data:– Teachers narrating their own past– Year group data

Being a science teacher

• Commitment , rentention and resilience– To/In science teaching

• Data:– Teachers narrating their present everyday– Class room observations– Materials, study plans, study material, in-service

training assigments