Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-6d856f89d9-sp8b6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T06:12:14.072Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - Career Motivations of Student Teachers in the Republic of Ireland

Continuity and Change during Educational Reform and ‘Boom to Bust’ Economic Times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2017

By
Manuela Heinz ,
Elaine Keane  and
Conor Foley
Edited by
Helen M. G. Watt ,
Paul W. Richardson  and
Kari Smith
Helen M. G. Watt
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Paul W. Richardson
Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria
Kari Smith
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
Get access

Summary

Abstract

This chapter provides an insight into the backgrounds and career motivations of entrants to initial teacher education (ITE) programmes for second-level teachers in the Republic of Ireland. Within the context of very significant economic, social and education policy changes affecting the general and teaching populations in Ireland over the past decade, and drawing on Heinz’ 2006 data (N = 343; 2011) and 2013 data from our Diversity in Initial Teacher Education (DITE) national study, we examine changes in the socio-demographic and motivational profiles of ITE entrants over time. We also consider if (and if so, how) ITE entrants’ socio-economic backgrounds are associated with their motivations. Our empirical study (N = 427 ITE entrants to six postgraduate, second-level ITE programmes in 2013) used the FIT-Choice framework and a number of additional context-specific items to explore student teachers’ career motivations. In our comparison with the 2006 data (Heinz 2011), we found changes in the two cohorts’ socio-demographic backgrounds as well as in their overall ratings for a number of motivational factors, including their desire to engage in teaching as a socially-valuable profession, their assessment of the expertise required in teaching, and the social status enjoyed by teachers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Global Perspectives on Teacher Motivation , pp. 1 - 21
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beng Huat, S. (2004). Determinants of teaching as a career in the UK. Evaluation & Research in Education, 18, 213–42.Google Scholar
Brookhart, S. M. & Freeman, D. J. (1992). Characteristics of entering teacher candidates. Review of Educational Research, 62, 37–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cahill, A. (2014). Almost 10% of Irish young people emigrated during recession. Irish Examiner, 29 March 2014; available at www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/almost-10-of-irish-young-people-emigrated-during-recession-263566.html.Google Scholar
Clarke, M. (2009). Choosing post-primary teaching as a career: perspectives from the Republic of Ireland. In Drudy, S. (ed.), Education in Ireland: Challenge and Change (pp. 168–92). Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.Google Scholar
Canavan, J. (2012). Family and family change in Ireland: an overview. Journal of Family Issues, 33(1), 10–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Central Statistics Office (CSO). (2012). This Is Ireland: Highlights from Census 2011, Part 2. Dublin: Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Conway, P. F. & Murphy, R. (2013). A rising tide meets a perfect storm: new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education in Ireland. Irish Educational Studies, 32, 11–36. doi: 10.1080/03323315.2013.773227/CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coolahan, J., Hussey, C. & Kilfeather, F. (2012). The forum on patronage and pluralism in the primary sector: report of the forum’s advisory group. Available at www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Conferences/Patronage-and-Pluralism-in-the-Primary-Sector/The-Forum-on-Patronage-and-Pluralism-in-the-Primary-Sector-Report-of-the-Forums-Advisory-Group.pdf.Google Scholar
Culleton, J. & Dilworth, M. (2011). Conception of crisis and the effects of recession on the ‘detraditionalisation’ of gender roles in Ireland and Belgium. In Calvo, A. G., Raus, R. & Zucco, F. (eds.), World Wide Women Globalizzazione, Generi, Linguaggi vol. 1 (pp. 57–65); available at http://aperto.unito.it/bitstream/2318/790/1/primo_volume_WWW.pdf.Google Scholar
Darmody, M. & Smyth, E. (2013). Governance and Funding of Voluntary Secondary Schools in Ireland (Research Series Number 34). Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute.Google Scholar
Department of Education and Skills (DES). (2011). Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011–2020. Available at www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/lit_num_strategy_full.pdf.Google Scholar
Department of Education and Skills (DES). (2012a). Minister Quinn Gives Go-Ahead for Major Restructuring of Initial Teacher Education Provision. Available at www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2012-Press-Releases/05-September-2012-Minister-Quinn-gives-go-ahead-for-major-restructuring-of-initial-teacher-education-Provision-.html#sthash.X3QYO5PB.dpuf.Google Scholar
Department of Education and Skills (DES). (2012b). A Framework for Junior Cycle, October. Available at www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/A-Framework-for-Junior-Cycle-Full-Report.pdf.Google Scholar
Department of Education and Skills (DES). (2014). Key Statistics 2013–14. Available at www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Key-Statistics/Key-Statistics-2013–2014.pdf.Google Scholar
Devine, D. (2005). Welcome to the Celtic Tiger? Teacher responses to immigration and increasing ethnic diversity in Irish schools. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 15(1), 49–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drudy, S., Martin, M., Woods, M. & O’Fynn, J. (2005). Men and the Classroom: Gender Imbalances in Teaching. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drudy, S. (2009). Education and the knowledge economy: a challenger for Ireland in changing times. In Drudy, S. (ed.), Education in Ireland: Challenge and Change. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.Google Scholar
Educate Together. (2010). Educate Together Schools. Available at www.educatetogether.ie/schools (accessed 30 January 2015).Google Scholar
Elias, P. & Purcell, K. (2004). SOC (HE): a classification of occupations for studying the graduate labour market: researching graduate careers seven years on (Research Paper No. 6), Warwick Institute for Employment Research, Coventry, RI. Available at www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/research/completed/7yrs2/rp6.pdf.Google Scholar
Eurydice. (2013). Key Data on Teacher and School Leaders in Europe. Brussels.Google Scholar
Field, A. (2005). Discovering Statistics with SPSS (2nd edn.). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Gaelscoileanna. (2010). Gaelscoileanna. Available at www.gaelscoileanna.ie/?lang=en (accessed 20 February 2010).Google Scholar
Government of Ireland. (1999). Primary School Curriculum: Introduction. Dublin: Stationary Office. Available at www.curriculumonline.ie/getmedia/c4a88a62-7818-4bb2-bb18-4c4ad37bc255/PSEC_Introduction-to-Primary-Curriculum_Eng.pdf.Google Scholar
Greaney, V., Burke, A. & McCann, J. (1987). Entrants to primary teacher education in Ireland. European Journal of Teacher Education, 10, 127–40.Google Scholar
Hartsuyker, L. (2007). Top of the Class: Report on the Inquiry into Teacher Education. Canberra: Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Heinz, M. (2008). The composition of applicants and entrants to teacher education programmes in Ireland: trends and patterns. Irish Educational Studies, 27, 223–40.Google Scholar
Heinz, M. (2011). The next generation of teachers: selection, backgrounds and motivations of second-level student teachers in the Republic of Ireland. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland, Galway.Google Scholar
Heinz, M. (2013a). The next generation of teachers: an investigation of second-level student teachers’ backgrounds in the Republic of Ireland. Irish Educational Studies, 32, 139–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinz, M. (2013b). Why choose teaching in the Republic of Ireland? Student teachers’ motivations and perceptions of teaching as a career and their evaluations of Irish second-level education. European Journal of Educational Studies, 5(1), ISSN 1946–6331.Google Scholar
Heinz, M. (2015). Why choose teaching? An international review of empirical studies exploring student teachers’ career motivations and levels of commitment to teaching. Educational Research and Evaluation, 21(3), 258–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinz, M., Keane, E. & Davison, K. (2017). Sexualities of initial teacher education applicants in the Republic of Ireland: addressing the hidden dimension of diversity in teaching. Journal of Education for Teaching, 43(1), 99–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hislop, H. (2011). Teacher education and Ireland’s national strategy to improve literacy and numeracy. Speech given at SCOTENS Annual Conference, Radisson Blu Farnham Estate, Cavan, 29 September. Available at http://scotens.org/docs/2011-Hislop-speech.pdf.Google Scholar
Hyland, A. (2012). A review of the structure of initial teacher education provision in Ireland (background paper for the International Review Team), commissioned by the Higher Education Authority, May.Google Scholar
Johnson, S. M. & Birkeland, S. E. (2003). Pursuing a ‘sense of success’: new teachers explain their career decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 40, 581–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keane, E. & Heinz, M. (2015). Diversity in initial teacher education in Ireland: the socio-demographic backgrounds of postgraduate post-primary entrants in 2013 and 2014. Irish Educational Studies, 34(3), 281–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keane, E. & Heinz, M. (2016). Excavating an injustice? Nationality/ies, ethnicity/ies and experiences with diversity of initial teacher education applicants and entrants in Ireland in 2014. European Journal of Teacher Education, 39(4), 507–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kieschke, U. & Schaarschmidt, U. (2008). Professional commitment and health among teachers in Germany: a typological approach. Learning and Instruction, 18, 429–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Killeavy, M. (1993). A profile of entrants to primary teaching in Ireland. Irish Educational Studies, 12, 269–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Killeavy, M. (1998). The professional development of primary teachers. PhD dissertation, Trinity College, Dublin.Google Scholar
King, S. H. (1993). Why did we choose teaching careers and what will enable us to stay? insights from one cohort of the African American teaching pool. Journal of Negro Education, 62, 475–92.Google Scholar
König, J. & Rothland, M. (2012). Motivations for choosing a teaching career: effects on general pedagogical knowledge during initial teacher education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 40(3), 289–315. doi: 10.1080/1359866X.2012.700045Google Scholar
Leavy, A. (2005). ‘When I meet them I talk to them’: the challenges of diversity for preservice teacher education. Irish Educational Studies, 24, 159–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Looney, A. (2012). The impact of the crisis on the discourse of school reform. Paper presented as part of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland Symposium at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Vancouver, April.Google Scholar
Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A Sociological Analysis. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
MacGabhann, J. (2012). Our teachers deserve proper jobs and proper pay. Irish Times, 2 October.Google Scholar
Maguire, M. (2001). The cultural formation of teachers’ class consciousness: teachers in the inner city. Journal of Education Policy, 16(4), 315–31.Google Scholar
McCarthy, C. (2010). IMF is too polite to say, but this bailout pushes us further into the red zone. Irish Independent, 19 December. Available at www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/imf-is-too-polite-to-say-but-this-bailout-pushes-us-further-into-the-red-zone-26607751.html.Google Scholar
Nolan, B., Whelan, C., Calvert, E., et al. (2014). Ireland: inequality and its impacts in boom and bust. In Nolan, B., Salverda, W., Checchi, D., et al. (eds.), Changing Inequalities and Societal Impacts in Rich Countries: Thirty Countries’ Experiences. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2009). Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments: First Results from TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey), Brussels. Available at www.oecd.org/education/school/43023606.pdf.Google Scholar
Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2014). Education at a Glance 2014, Brussels. Available at www.oecd.org/edu/Education-at-a-Glance-2014.pdf.Google Scholar
Ó Ruairc, T. (2012). Introduction to Anne Looney’s World Teachers’ Day lecture. Available at www.teachingcouncil.ie/press-releases-and-speeches/teachers-enter-new-era-of-professionalism-teaching-council-to-hold-world-teachers-day-lecture.1533.html.Google Scholar
O’Sullivan, M., MacPhail, A. & Tannehill, D. (2009). A career in teaching: decisions of the heart rather than the head. Irish Educational Studies, 28, 177–91.Google Scholar
Price, J. & Valli, L. (2005). Preservice teacher becoming agents of change: pedagogical implications for action research. Journal of Teacher Education, 56(1), 57–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, H., McGinnity, F. & Kingston, G. (2014). Gender and the Quality of Work from Boom to Recession (Equality Research Series). Dublin: Equality Authority. Available at www.esri.ie/UserFiles/publications/BKMNEXT264.pdf.Google Scholar
Sahlberg, P., Munn, P. & Furlong, J. (2012). Report of the International Review Panel on the Structure of Initial Teacher Education Provision in Ireland. Dublin: Department of Education and Skills.Google Scholar
Santoro, D. A. (2013). The drive to diversify the teaching profession: narrow assumptions, hidden complexities. Race, Ethnicity and Education 20(2). doi: 10.1080/13613324.2012.759934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schleicher, A. (2014). Equity, excellence and inclusiveness in education: Policy lessons from around the world. Background report for the 2014 International Summit on the Teaching Profession, OECD, Paris.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smyth, E., Darmody, M., McGinity, F. & Byrne, D. (2009). Adapting to Diversity: Irish Schools and Newcomer Students. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute.Google Scholar
Stoddart, T. (1990). Los Angeles Unified School District intern program: recruiting and preparing teachers for an urban context. Peabody Journal of Education, 67(3), 84–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, Z. (1997). Teaching as a profession and as a career: minority candidates’ perspectives. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, 325–40.Google Scholar
Teaching Council. (2011a). Policy on the continuum of teacher education. Available at www.teachingcouncil.ie/_fileupload/Teacher%20Education/FINAL%20TC_Policy_Paper_SP.pdf.Google Scholar
Teaching Council (2011b). Initial teacher education: criteria and guidelines for programme providers. Available at www.teachingcouncil.ie/_fileupload/Teacher%20Education/ITE%20Criteria%20and%20Guidelines%20Final%20July%202011.pdf.Google Scholar
Teaching Council (2014). Procedures for Induction and Procedures and Criteria for Probation. Available at www.teachingcouncil.ie/_fileupload/Teacher%20Education/TC%20Procedures%20for%20Induction%202014–2015%20ENGLISH%20FINAL.pdf.Google Scholar
Tyler, L. (2011). Toward increasing teacher diversity: targeting support and intervention for teacher licensure candidates. National Education Association report. Available at http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/ETS_NEAteacherdiversity11.pdf.Google Scholar
Villegas, A. M. & Irvine, J. J. (2010). Diversifying the teaching force: an examination of major arguments. Urban Review, 42, 175–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watt, H. M. G. & Richardson, P. W. (2007). Motivational factors influencing teaching as a career choice: development and validation of the FIT-Choice scale. Journal of Experimental Education, 75, 167–202.Google Scholar
Watt, H. M. G. & Richardson, P. W. (2008). Motivations, perceptions, and aspirations concerning teaching as a career for different types of beginning teachers. Learning and Instruction, 18, 408–28.Google Scholar
Watt, H. M. G., Richardson, P. W., Klusmann, U., Kunter, M., Beyer, B., Trautwein, U. & Baumert, J. (2012). Motivations for choosing teaching as a career: An international comparison using the FIT-Choice scale. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(6), 791–805. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2012.03.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank. (2014). Ireland youth unemployment, ages 15–25. Available at www.theglobaleconomy.com/Ireland/Youth_unemployment/.Google Scholar
Zumwalt, K. & Craig, E. (2005). Teachers’ characteristics: research on the demographic profile. In Cochran-Smith, M. & Zeichner, K. (eds.), Studying Teacher Education: The Report of the AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Zumwalt, K. & Craig, E. (2008). Who is teaching? Does it matter? In Cochran-Smith, M, Feiman-Nemser, S., McIntyre, D. J. & Demers, K. E. (eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: Enduring Questions in Changing Contexts (3rd edn.). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×