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Teachers on Teaching

A Survey of the Teaching Profession

Research Study Conducted forThe General Teaching Council (with PR21 and the Guardian)

October-November 2002

Contents

Introduction 1M ethodology 1

Interpretation of the data 1

Technical note 2

Publication of the data 2

Acknowledgements 2

Summary of Findings 3W hy become a teacher? 3

W hy remain a teacher? 4

W hat demotivates teachers? 5

Teacher M orale and Retention 6

Teachers’ Skills 10

Involvement in ITT and induction 11

W hat opportunities are open to teachers? 13

How is the teaching profession perceived? 15

The Future of the Teaching Profession 19

Implications 22W here are teachers now? 22

W here are teachers going or, at least, where do they want to go? 22

Appendices

Statistical Reliability

Questionnaire

Topline

Teachers on Teaching for The General Teaching Council

1

IntroductionThis report presents the findings of quantitative research conducted by MORI onbehalf of the General Teaching Council (GTC), with PR21 and The Guardian.The research was undertaken to explore teachers’ views on the state of theteaching profession, with respondents asked to reflect upon their motivations forworking as teachers, the teacher’s role, how they think that role is perceived byothers and how they see the profession developing in the 21st century.

MethodologyA postal, self-completion questionnaire – designed by MORI in closeconsultation with the GTC and PR21 – was dispatched to all 530,000 registeredmembers of the GTC in October 2002. Respondents were given until 29November 2002 to return their questionnaires. In total, 70,011 questionnaireswere returned by the closing date, giving a response rate of 13.2%.

Interpretation of the dataWhen interpreting the quantitative findings, it is important to remember that theresults are based on a sub-sample of GTC members, rather than the entirepopulation of GTC members. Consequently, results are subject to samplingtolerances and so not all differences between sub-groups are statisticallysignificant. At the same time, it should be noted that statistically significant dataneed to be interpreted to see whether they make reasonable sense1. A guide tostatistical reliability is included in the appendices.

Where percentages do not sum to 100%, this may be due to computer rounding,the exclusion of “don’t know” categories, or multiple responses. An asterisk (*)denotes a value of less than 0.5% but greater than zero.

In the tables, reference is made to “net” figures. These represent the balance ofopinion on attitudinal questions, and provide a useful means for comparing theresults for a number of variables. In the case of a “net agree” figure, forexample, this represents the percentage of respondents agreeing with something,less the percentage not agreeing. For example, if 40% of respondents agree witha statement and 25% disagree, the “net agree” figure is +15 points.

1 For example, recent research conducted by MORI on behalf of Edexcel ‘shows’ that femaleparents are significantly more likely to have a child in a mixed sex school than male parents (91%versus 84%). Needless to say, we can reasonably assume that, in reality, male parents are as likelyas female parents to have a child in a mixed sex school. Though statistically significant, therefore,it is unlikely that this finding “will generalize (sic) (i.e. recur under other conditions, for otherpopulations or samples from them) … [statistical significance] only tells us that the observedsample result most probably reflected the particular population sampled”. From EHRENBERG,A.S.C. (1986). A Primer in Data Reduction. An Introductory Statistics Textbook. Chichester: JohnWiley & Sons.


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Technical noteData were not weighted at the analysis stage. Significant differences in responsebetween respondent sub-groups within this sample have been highlighted.However, it is not certain that the sub-groups achieved for this survey areproportionally representative of sub-groups within the teaching profession as awhole: because respondents are self-selecting, there is a risk that certain groupswithin the teaching population as a whole will have been more or less inclined tofill in and return their questionnaire. This should be borne in mind wheninterpreting the results.

Publication of the dataAs with all our studies, these findings are subject to MORI’s standard Terms andConditions of Contract. Any press release or publication of the findings of thisresearch requires the advance approval of MORI. Such approval will only berefused on the grounds of inaccuracy or misinterpretation of the findings.

AcknowledgementsNeedless to say, we are indebted to all the teachers who gave of their time torespond to the survey.

In addition, MORI would like to thank Alan Newland, Annabelle Chalker, CarolAdams, Jo Eng and Peter Aylmer at the GTC, Jonathan Hopkins and PamelaNeira at PR21, and Maureen Burns for their help in developing this study.


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Summary of Findings

Why become a teacher?By far the strongest motivation for becoming a teacher is the opportunity towork with children and young people, especially for female teachers. The nextmost frequently identified motivation is that teaching is a creative and challengingrole, with teachers with under five years’ experience most likely to say this.Furthermore this motivation is linked to both current morale and teachers’perceptions of their own ability. Both those teachers with higher morale andthose who rate their skills, qualities and experience as average or better thanaverage are more likely to say they are motivated by teaching being a creative andchallenging role.

Q1 Thinking back to your decision to become a teacher, which THREE ofthe following factors, if any, most motivated you to do so?

Base: All teachers (70,011)%

Working with children/young people 54Role is creative/mentally stimulating/challenging 33Love of my subject 26Role is dynamic and varied/is not routine 23Inspired by a good teacher 21Positive personal experience of school 20Giving something back to community/society 19Is a “safe” career (job security) 17

Source: MORI

Male teachers are more likely to be motivated by the thought of giving somethingback to the community (24% vs 17% for women) and wanting to teach pupilsbetter than they themselves were taught (13% vs 9% for women teachers). Beinginspired by a good teacher also motivates men at a significantly higher level. Formixed race, Asian and Black teachers giving something back to the community ismore of a motivation compared to White teachers.

In addition, teachers who were originally inspired by a good teacher, or by seeingteaching as creative and dynamic, have a higher expectation that they will still bea member of the teaching profession in five years’ time compared other teachers.


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Q5 Do you still expect to be a teacher is five years’ time?

Total Inspired Lovesubject

Positivepersonalexperi-ence

Creativerole

Dynamicrole


(14,389)%

(18,137)%

(14,337)%

(23,179)%

(16,059)%

Yes 64 68 65 67 68 69No 34 31 34 32 31 29Net yes +30 +37 +31 +34 +38 +40

Source: MORI

Why remain a teacher?Factors that continue to motivate teachers are similar to their original reasonsfor choosing the career, as working with young people and teaching as a creativerole again feature highly. Job satisfaction/sense of personal achievement isanother key factor. This increases with teachers’ level of responsibility with 29%of classroom teachers stating this compared to 41% of headteachers. Again,newly qualified teachers are most likely to identify job satisfaction as a motivationcompared to 30% of teachers with over 25 years’ experience.

Furthermore, there is a strong relationship between teachers’ morale andmotivations to continue teaching. Those with higher morale are more likely toendorse creativity, personal achievement and that the teacher’s role is dynamic asmotivating factors in continuing to be a teacher compared to those with lowermorale who stress that it is now too late to re-train, long holidays and that thehours fit in with other commitments at significantly higher levels. Those withlower morale are also more likely to identify “it’s better the devil you know” as a‘motivating factor’, suggesting that a substantial number of teachers are simplytrying to get through the day.


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Q2 Which three of the following factors, if any, continue to motivate youmost as a teacher?

Total Highermorale

Same Lowermorale


(7,486)%

(18,959)%

(39,274)%

Job satisfaction/sense of personalachievement

32 54 46 22

Role is creative/mentallystimulating/challenging

25 39 34 19

Role is dynamic and varied 19 24 25 15Too late to re-train 16 3 5 25Long holidays 14 11 14 19Hours fit in with family/othercommitments

14 10 13 16

Source: MORI

What demotivates teachers?The biggest demotivation for teachers is workload, identified by nearly three infive of all respondents. Around one in three teachers also mention initiativeoverload, a target-driven culture and pupil behaviour as other key factors.

Source: MORI

56%39%

35%31%

19%18%

11%11%11%

Workload (incl. unnecessary paperwork)

Perceived low professional status/image

Initiative overload

Target-driven culture

Inspection

Conduct/lack of support from parents

Levels of resourcing

Base: All teachers (70,011)

Pupil behaviour & discipline

Demotivating Factors

Q Which three of the following factors, if any, demotivate you most as ateacher?

Pay

Most of the same factors are highlighted at significantly higher levels by teacherswith lower morale, and those who do not expect to be a teacher in five years’time.


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Q3 Which three of the following factors, if any, demotivate you most as ateacher?

Total Highermorale

Same Lowermorale


(7,486)%

(18,959)%

(39,274)%

Workload 56 51 57 59Initiative overload 39 34 37 42Target-driven culture 35 33 35 36Pupil behaviour/ discipline 31 25 30 34Inspection 19 17 17 21

Source: MORI

Newly qualified, male, and Black and Asian teachers are significantly moredemotivated by pupil behaviour than more experienced, female and Whiteteachers. Meanwhile, more experienced teachers are more demotivated by recentinnovations in the profession.

Q3 And which three of the following factors, if any, demotivate you most as ateacher?

Teaching experience

Total NQT 1-5yrs 6-10yrs

11-15yrs

16-25yrs

25+


(2,645)%

(9,581)%

(10,173)%

(8,433)%

(17,378)%

(20,854)%

Initiative overload 39 14 25 34 39 44 47Target-drivenculture

35 25 29 33 35 37 37

Pupil behaviour/discipline

31 42 32 29 30 30 32

Inspection 19 9 13 16 19 22 23

Source: MORI

Teacher Morale and RetentionThe majority of teachers say their morale is lower today than when they firstbecame a teacher.


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Source: MORI

11%

27%

56%

6%

Current Levels of Morale

Lower

Higher


About the same

Don’t know/not stated

Q How would you rate your current level of morale/motivation in comparisonto when you first became a teacher?

This picture is fairly consistent across sub-groups of teachers. However, teacherswith more teaching experience have lower morale and, more worryingly, thedecline in morale for newly qualified teachers to those with one to five years’experience is sharp. Just over one in ten newly qualified teachers perceive theircurrent level of morale to be lower compared to when they first started teachingbut this percentage increases to four in ten of those with one to five years’experience. Furthermore, six in ten teachers with 16 or more years’ experiencesay they have lower morale.

Source: MORI

5 6 %

1 5 %

4 0 %

5 3 %5 7 %

6 2 %6 5 %

Lower Morale and Teaching Experience

Total NQT 1-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 11-15 yrs 16-25 yrs

Q How would you rate your current level of moral/motivation to when you firstbecame a teacher? LOWER

Base: All teachers who say their morale is lower now than when they first became a teacher (39,274)

Over 25 yrs

Unsurprisingly, lower morale influences teachers’ intentions to remain in theprofession. One in three teachers do not expect to still be teaching in five years’


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time, rising to over four in ten teachers who say their morale is lower than whenthey first qualified.

Source: MORI

21%

43%

15%1%

19%

Teacher Retention

Yes, probably

Yes, definitely

Not stated

No, probably not


No, definitely not

Q Do you expect to still be a teacher in five years’ time?

Again, there is a marked drop in teachers’ expectations of remaining in theprofession from newly qualified teachers to those with one to five years’experience. Men, too, are significantly less likely to think they will still be ateacher in five years’ time.

Source: MORI

3 4 %

1 5 %

2 2 % 2 1 % 2 2 %

3 1 %

5 7 %

Expectation of Remaining in Teaching and Experience

Total NQT 1-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 11-15 yrs 16-25 yrs

Q Do you expect to still be a teacher in five years’ time? NO

Base: All teachers who do not expect to be a teacher in five years’ time (24,064)

Over 25 yrs

Over half of teachers who do not expect to still be teaching in five years’ timewill be retired.


9

Source: MORI

Most likely routes after teaching

52%

17%

10%

4%

2%

2%

2%

1%

10%

Base: All teachers who do not expect to be a teacher in five years’ time (24,064)

Retired

Pursuing a new career unrelatedto teaching or educationPursuing an education-related careerRaising a family/caring fordependants

Studying or retraining

Travelling

Voluntary work

Other


Q What are you most likely to be doing in five years’ time?

However, nearly one in five (17%) expect to still be working, but pursuing acareer unrelated to teaching or education. This expectation is particularly markedamongst men, teachers with 1-15 years experience (but 6-10 years’ experience inparticular) and Black teachers. Similarly, those who rate their skills as belowaverage in comparison to their colleagues are more likely to say they will be doinga different job in five years’ time.

Q6 What are you most likely to be doing in five years’ time?

Teaching experience

Total NQT 1-5yrs 6-10 yrs 11-15yrs

16-25yrs

25+

Base: All teachers whodo not expect to be ateacher in five years’ time

(24,064)%

(384)%

(2,105)%

(2,189)%

(1,877)%

(5,309)%

(11,928)%

Pursuing a newcareer unrelated toteaching oreducation

17 22 30 34 32 21 8

Source: MORI

Half of all teachers, if they had the choice again, would still consider a career inteaching, while a third say they would not. Those who came into the professionvia the PGCE route are significantly more positive (55% would choose again)than those using the Certificate of Education route (43%). However, teachingexperience, school sector and phase have the greatest influence on teachers’


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response to this question. The chart below illustrates the relationship betweenexperience and choice of profession.

Source: MORI

Teaching Experience against Considering Teaching Again

7 8

- 74

2 4

3 9

5 5

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0


Net ‘Yes wouldconsiderteaching again’

Teaching Experience

11-15 yrs 16-25 yrs Over 25 yrs

Q If you had to make the choice again, would you still consider a career in teaching?

6-10 yrs1-5 yrsNQT

Teachers from the independent sector, and those working in primary schools, arealso more likely to say they would choose teaching again as a profession.

Q7 If you had the choice again, would you still consider a career in teaching?

Total Main-tained

Primary

Indep.Primary

Main-tained

Secondary

Indep.Secondary


(29,739)%

(858)%

(24,674)%

(1,215)%

Yes 50 51 59 50 59No 32 31 25 34 24Net Again +18 +20 +34 +16 +35

Source: MORI

Teachers’ SkillsThe vast majority of teachers are confident in their own skills, qualities andeffectiveness in comparison to their colleagues. Ninety-five percent perceivetheir effectiveness as a teacher as average or better, with three-quarters seeingthemselves as above average in comparison to their colleagues. However, newlyqualified teachers and teachers with lower morale are less confident


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Source: MORI

32%24%

39%

3%1%

Teachers’ Skills

Slightly above average


About average


Well above average

Slightly below average

Q Thinking about your skills, qualities and experience in comparison in thoseof your colleagues, how would you rate your effectiveness as a teacher?

Involvement in ITT and inductionA quarter of teachers are involved in ITT or induction in their school.Encouragingly, this involvement appears to have a positive influence on teachers’morale as demonstrated by the chart below.

Source: MORI

21%

22%

25%

25%

32%

30%

Those with higher morale are more likely to be involved in ITT& Induction


Q Are you involved in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in your school?

Yes, ITT

Yes, Induction

Higher morale Same morale Lower morale

Q Are you involved in Induction?

The majority of those involved in either ITT or induction participate as a mentor.


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Q10/13 In what capacity are you involved in…

ITT

Base: All teachers involved in ITT (16,806)%

As a trainee mentor 62As an ITT co-ordinator 9Other 15

Induction

Base: All teachers involved in Induction (16,323)%

As an induction mentor 46As an ITT co-ordinator 18Other 19

Source: MORI

Involvement in both ITT and induction increases with teaching experience andresponsibility. Furthermore, those teachers who rate their skills as average orbetter are more likely to be involved compared to teachers who perceive theirabilities to be below average (25% vs 8% for ITT and 25% vs 12% forinduction).

Teachers believe that their involvement in ITT or induction has a positive impacton their own professional practice, and this may be the reason why thoseinvolved also have higher morale. However, a lack of recognition, andparticularly time, are issues. The latter is of particular concern and is consistentwith workload being the greatest demotivation for teachers.


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Q11/14 How far do you agree or disagree with each of the followingstatements?

Agree Disagree Net agree

Base: All teachers involved in ITT (16,806) % % %My involvement in ITT has enhancedmy own professional practice

66 8 +58

My involvement in ITT is wellrecognised and supported

36 28 +8

I have sufficient time to undertake myrole in relation to ITT

16 63 -47

Agree Disagree Net agree

Base: All teachers involved in induction(16,323)My involvement in Induction hasenhanced my own professional practice

60 8 +52

My involvement in Induction is wellrecognised and supported

41 23 +19

I have sufficient time to undertake myrole in relation to Induction

21 58 -37

Source: MORI

Teachers with less responsibility are more likely to feel that they do not getenough recognition and support for participating in ITT and induction. Forexample, co-ordinators/subject managers have a Net agree score of -3%compared to headteachers’ score +36% with regard to recognition and supportfor their involvement in induction.

What opportunities are open to teachers?Teachers most frequently have the opportunity to observe colleagues from theirschool teach (62%), contribute to the professional development of colleagues(54%), or participate in collaborative curriculum development or teaching (47%).Newly qualified teachers have the most exposure to observing their colleaguesteach, while opportunities around contributing to the professional developmentof colleagues and participating in collaborative curriculum development increasewith teaching experience, as might be expected.

The survey shows some evidence of a relationship between the opportunitiesteachers have and their expectations of still being a teacher in five years’ time.Across the board, those teachers who are exposed to any opportunities are atleast 15% more likely to be a teacher in five years’ time compared to those whohave not had any of the opportunities listed. In particular, teachers who havehad ring-fenced time for professional development are the most positive, withalmost three-quarters expecting to be a teacher in five years’ time versus half ofteachers who have had no similar opportunities (a not stated response at Q15).The likelihood that teachers have an opportunity for ring-fenced time forprofessional development increases with responsibility. For example, over


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double the number of headteachers have had ring-fenced time for professionaldevelopment compared to classroom teachers.

Although less than one in five teachers say they have ring-fenced time forprofessional development, this is an opportunity nearly six in ten would welcome,particularly teachers with 1-15 years’ experience. Similarly, over four in tenteachers would welcome an opportunity to observe colleagues from otherschools teach, particularly teachers with 1-10 years’ experience, and Black andAsian respondents. Teachers who see themselves as having below average skillswould welcome an opportunity to observe colleagues from their own schoolteach at significantly higher levels than more confident teachers.

The chart below illustrates the differences between the opportunities teachersalready have and the ones they would welcome the most.

Source: MORI

Opportunities Had Against Opportunities Wanted

62%

54%

47%

29%

22%

21%

16%

8%

22%

16%

23%

15%

44%

25%

56%

37%

Would welcomeHave

Q In your school, which of the following opportunities, if any, do youhave?

Q Which of the following opportunities, if any, would you welcomehaving?

Observing colleagues from yourschool teachContributing to the professionaldevelopment of colleagues

Participation in collaborativecurriculum development or teachingBeing mentored or coached by acolleague

Observing colleagues from otherschools teach

Being part of a school-basedresearch or project teamRing-fenced time for professionaldevelopment

Diversifying from teaching to pursuean education-related career


Actual and sought participation in professional learning networks is illustratedbelow.


15

Source: MORI

Professional Learning Networks

35%

28%

24%

18%

10%

10%

8%

17%

22%

19%

20%

19%

23%

13%

13%

38%

Would welcome being part ofParticipated

Q Beyond your school, which of the following types of professionallearning network, if any, have you participated in?

Q Which of the following types of professional learning network, if any,would you welcome being a part of?

A network sharing practice across acluster, partnership or consortium

A network facilitated by my LEA

Through participation in a course ofstudyActive membership of a subject/specialist association

A network facilitated by a highereducation institutionAs part of a research project

As part of an online professionalcommunityA network facilitated by my union /professional association


The level of participation in these networks generally rises with levels of teachingresponsibility. Respondents who have been part of an online professionalcommunity are almost twice as likely to expect to still be a teacher in five years’time compared to teachers in no network (a not stated response). However,apathy/lack of interest towards these types of learning networks is of someconcern, with 43% of teachers failing to welcome an opportunity to participate inany of them. Greater exposure to online networks, therefore, may help togenerate increased engagement with the profession. However, interest in onlineprofessional communities declines as teachers’ experience increases, suggestingthat more experienced teachers lack confidence in their ICT skills in this respect.

How is the teaching profession perceived?As individual professionals, teachers generally feel they are respected, particularlyby colleagues. However, newly qualified teachers are less likely to feel they arerespected by pupils or students (Net respect +60%) compared to teachers withmore than five years’ experience (Net respect +72%). As noted above, the sameteachers are also more likely to cite pupil behaviour as a demotivating factor.


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Source: MORI

93%

77%

84%

-21%

-14%

-5%

Respect for you personally as a teacher


Your pupils/ students

% Great deal/fair amount

Q What level of respect do you feel each of the following groups gives to yourpersonally as a teacher?

Your pupils’ /students’parents

Your colleagues

% Not much/ none at all Net+/-

+70

+57

+88

Collectively, however, teachers feel perceptions of the profession amongst otherstakeholders are more negative, with the media and the government seen toregard teachers with the least respect.

Source: MORI

81

61

54

50

34

30

26

20

18

1286

72

78

55

68

58

49

45

33

16

Respect for the Teaching Profession

% Not much/ none at all

% Great deal/ fair amount

Net+/-

The media

Other public sector professionals

Teachers’ employers

Private sector professionals

Pupils/students generally

The general public

Parents generally

Governors

Other employers

-74

-54

-29

-38

-23

+1

+9

+28

+65


The Government -58

Those teachers with more experience, and those with middle rankingresponsibility (subject manager and senior manager level) tend to be morenegative about the level of respect paid to the profession, particularly that fromthe government and the media. This perception also links with current levels of


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morale amongst teachers, with lower morale going hand-in-hand with a perceivedlack of respect from the government and the media.

Q20 What level of respect do you feel the Government gives to theteaching profession?

Total Highermorale

Same Lowermorale


(7,486)%

(18,959)%

(39,274)%

Great deal/fair amount 20 33 29 14

Not much/ None at all 78 66 70 85Net respect -58 -33 -41 -71

Source: MORIQ20 What level of respect do you feel the media gives to the teaching

profession?

Total Highermorale

Same Lowermorale


(7,486)%

(18,959)%

(39,274)%

Great deal/fair amount 12 17 16 9

Not much/ None at all 86 82 82 89Net respect -74 -65 -66 -80

Source: MORI

Teachers feel strongly that their profession is misunderstood and they don’t get afair press. To address this, they want better government advocacy and asustained campaign to raise the profile of the profession.


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Source: MORI

Image of the Teaching Profession

74%

56%

45%

37%

23%

16%

10%

1%


Most members of the public don’tunderstand the nature andcomplexity of the teacher’s job

The Government must become abetter advocate of teachers and acareer in teaching

A sustained campaign is needed topromote and raise the public profileof teaching

The portrayal of teachers on TV isunrealistic

Our profession suffers from the lack ofa widely-known single representativeas our “public face”

Teachers would benefit from aprimetime TV factual equivalent of“Vets in Practice” or “Children’sHospital” in raising their public profile

Teachers could do more to promotetheir achievements

Compared to other professions (e.g.doctors, social workers), teachersget a fair press

Q How far do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

% Strongly agree

Headteachers are most likely to feel there is a need for a “public face” for theprofession compared to staff with less responsibility (57% Net agree forheadteachers vs 43% Net agree for classroom teachers). Newly qualified teachers,and Asian and Black teachers, are more keen on a primetime TV factualprogramme to raise the profile of teachers.


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Q21 How far do you agree that teachers would benefit from a primetime TVfactual equivalent of “Vets in Practice” or “Children’s Hospital” inraising their public profile?

Total Newlyqualifiedteachers

Asianteachers

Blackteachers

Base: All respondents (70,011)%

(2,645)%

(516)%

(300)%

Agree 41 58 57 49Disagree 31 20 14 22Net agree +10 +38 +43 +27

Source: MORI

The Future of the Teaching Profession Above all else, teachers want to be able to concentrate on teaching and learning.To enable them to do this more effectively there is a demand for more flexibilityin their work, as well as increased reward and recognition for teaching.


20

Source: MORI

The Role of the Teacher in the 21st Century

59%

45%

44%

38%

36%

25%

17%

16%


Entitled to appropriate support to beable to concentrate on teaching andlearning

Increased status and recognition

Free to adapt the curriculum to meetthe needs of individual pupils

Flexible career structureincorporating opportunities for careerbreaks or “down-sizing” withoutimpact on salary/pension

Free to use autonomous and creativeteaching and learning approaches

Incorporating regular opportunitiesfor career-long professional learning(e.g. sabbaticals)

Adept users of educational ICT

Greater clarity of roles andresponsibilities, re-emphasising theactivity of teaching and learning

Q In which three of the following ways, if any, would you most like to seethe role of the teacher develop in the 21st century?

Male teachers are more likely than female colleagues to stress the need for aflexible career structure and incorporating regular opportunities for career longprofessional learning, developments which might help address the lower moraleexpressed by these respondents. A flexible career structure is also more popularwith experienced teachers and teachers with lower morale. Experienced teachersin particular emphasise incorporating regular opportunities for career-longprofessional learning, as do teachers with both higher morale and responsibility.

Teachers’ visions for their profession are strongly focussed on the rounded andcomplete development of the individual child. The needs of the economy arevery much a second order priority.


21

Source: MORI

The Teaching Profession in the 21st Century

61%

60%

51%

49%

28%

20%

11%

2%


To develop the whole child

To create active and responsiblecitizens

To inspire a love of lifelong learning

To maximise the strengths ofindividuals

To ensure basic levels of literacy andnumeracy

To serve the needs of a socially-cohesive society

To produce a skilled and effectiveworkforce

To meet the needs of a competitiveeconomy

Q Which three of the following statements, if any, come closest to yourvision of the role of the teaching profession in the 21st century?

However, some key sub-group differences in patterns of response do emerge.For example, classroom teachers stress the need to ensure a basic level of literacyand numeracy at higher levels compared to headteachers (32% vs 19%), as doAsian teachers in comparison to White and Black teachers (33% vs 28% and 26%respectively). Black teachers, meanwhile, place greater emphasis on serving theneeds of a socially-cohesive society compared to White and Asian teachers (26%vs 20% and 21% respectively), while teachers from state secondary schoolsendorse the need “to produce a skilled and effective workforce” at greater levelsrelative to other respondents (17% vs 11%). A further difference is that thoseteachers with higher morale and average or better skills identify “inspiring a loveof lifelong learning” at higher levels.


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Implications

Where are teachers now?Morale in the teaching profession is lower now for most teachers than when theybegan teaching. The key demotivating factor identified by teachers is workloadcompounded by initiative overload and a target-driven culture. Thesefrustrations are more strongly felt among teachers with greater experience whohave witnessed dramatic changes to the profession in the course of their careers.An additional concern is the significant decline in morale that newly qualifiedteachers experience once they gain more experience. For these teachers, pupilbehaviour is also a crucial, demotivating concern. Problems with morale clearlylink with issues around retention, and a growing expectation amongst teachersthat they will leave the profession as they gain experience must be a worry.

Furthermore, although teachers generally feel they have the respect of colleagues,pupils and parents, they feel undervalued by external stakeholders. Manyteachers feel the media, the government and the general public have both verylittle respect and understanding for what they do. These perceptions only add tothe low morale within the profession.

More encouragingly, newly qualified teachers are keen and enthusiastic andperceive teaching to be a satisfying and worthwhile profession. This energyneeds to be harnessed and nurtured.

Where are teachers going or, at least, where do theywant to go?This research does highlight what teachers’ priorities are and how they see theirprofession developing in the future. Core messages arising from the researchinclude:

� A need to address teachers’ concerns about workload and an overloadof new initiatives. A period of stability within the profession would bevery welcome.

� Newly qualified teachers need as much support as possible, especiallyregarding the management of pupil behaviour, which appears to causethem more problems than their experienced colleagues. The need toredress the current decline in morale for new teachers as they gainexperience is critical if teacher retention levels are not to deterioratefurther.

� Offer more opportunities for teachers of all levels to train and developprofessionally. The results from this survey show that there is arelationship between opportunities offered to teachers and theirintention to stay in the profession, particularly with regard to


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opportunities for professional development. At present, mostopportunities in this area seem to be available to more senior teachers,with classroom teachers missing out. Ring-fencing time for thistraining and fitting it in with already heavy teacher workload will be thechallenge, however.

� The findings on ITT, induction and learning networks are in line withthis need for greater access to opportunities within teaching. Teachersinvolved in ITT or induction say they benefit from this professionally,and so involvement should be encouraged, but also supported. Thereis also evidence to suggest online learning networks have a positiveimpact on those who take part, but – again – time and support areimportant themes.

� Teachers need to feel more valued and respected in society. Keystakeholders such as the government and media could do more todemonstrate an understanding of the pressures that teachers face day-to-day, and voice more publicly their appreciation and respect for theprofession.

� A public relations effort on behalf of teachers could also help toimprove the image of the profession in wider society, which may havebenefits for both recruitment and teachers’ self-esteem. There isstrong support from teachers for a pubic relations campaign to raisethe profile of the profession. Among more senior teachers, the idea ofone public spokesperson to represent teaching is a popular one.

� Teachers have a clear and consistent vision for the future of theirprofession. This vision emphasises freedom, flexibility and supportfor teachers to focus on meeting the needs of individual children andhelping them develop into responsible and educated adults.Furthermore, newer teachers who are more positive about theirprofession are motivated by the creative and challenging aspects oftheir job. This should be encouraged to keep them in the profession.Such a vision warns against future developments which attempt torestrict teachers’ capacity to adapt to the differing needs andcircumstances of pupils in the classroom.

©MORI/16189Juliet BrownSam Davis

Fiona Johnson

Appendices

Statistical ReliabilityRespondents represent only samples of total populations, so we cannot be certainthat the figures obtained are exactly those we would have if everybody had takenpart (“true values”). However, we can predict the variation between the sampleresults and the true values from a knowledge of the size of the samples on whichresults are based and the number of times a particular answer is given. Theconfidence with which we make this prediction is usually chosen to be 95% - thatis, the chances are 95 in 100 that the true value will fall within a specified range.The table below illustrates the predicted ranges for different sample sizes andpercentage results at the “95% confidence interval”.

Size of sample on which surveyresult is based

Approximate sampling tolerances applicableto percentages at or near these levels

10% or 90% 30% or 70% 50%+ + +

35,000 0.3 0.5 0.550,000 0.3 0.4 0.470,000 0.2 0.3 0.4

For example, with a sample size of 70,000 where 30% give a particular answer,the chances are 19 in 20 that the true value (which would have been obtained ifthe whole population had been interviewed) will fall within the range of +0.3percentage points from the sample result (i.e., between 29.7% and 30.3%).

When results are compared between separate groups within a sample, thedifference may be “real” or it may occur by chance (because not everyone in thepopulation has been interviewed). To test if the difference is a real one, that is, ifit is “statistically significant”, we again have to know the size of the samples, thepercentage of respondents giving a certain answer and the degree of confidencechosen. If we assume a “95% confidence interval”, the differences between theresults of two groups must be greater than the values given in the table below:

Size of sample on which surveyresult is based

Approximate sampling tolerances applicableto percentages at or near these levels

10% or 90% 30% or 70% 50%+ + +

7,500 and 39,500 0.7 1.1 1.219,000 and 39,500 0.5 0.8 0.917,000 and 52,000 0.5 0.8 0.9

Questionnaire

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