Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1997 Concerns of First-Year Teachers in Selected Public Schools Delores A. Price Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.edu/luc_diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Price, Delores A., "Concerns of First-Year Teachers in Selected Public Schools" (1997).edu/luc_diss/3660 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact ecommons@luc.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3. Price LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO CONCERNS OF FIRST-YEAR TEACHERS IN SELECTED PUBLIC SCHOOLS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES BY DELORES A. PRICE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JANUARY, 1997 Copyright by Delores A. Price, 1997 All Rights Reserved.
ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The help and assistance received from so many colleagues, professors and friends is gratefully acknowledged. Of particular consideration are the contributions of Dr. Max Bailey, dissertation director and advisor. His expertise, encouragement and scholarly advice are immensely appreciated.
Sincere appreciation is extended to committee members, Dr. Arthur Safer and Dr. Janis Fine for their service, time and contribution towards the completion of this research. Gratitude and appreciation is extended to Valerie Collier for her help in preparing this dissertation for final print.
The help, contributions and encouragement of family, friends, and associates is also warmly acknowledged. In particular, I thank those fifteen first-year teachers, eighteen veteran teachers and fourteen administrators, who enthusiastically supported my endeavor in conducting this research. A special thank you is extended to my children: Nicole and Stacy whose encouragement and belief in me has given me the motivation to succeed. Nicole, you were with me through the ups and downs and I gratefully share any and all rewards with you.
Stacy, you always told me that I iii could do anything I put my mind to. I love you both. Finally, I am eternally grateful for the many contributions from my mom and dad, Mary and Joe Johnson and my sister, Annette Barnes. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
iii LIST OF TABLES. 1 Purpose of the Study. 15 Procedures of the Study. 16 Definition of Terms.
18 Limitations of the Study. REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 21 Expert and Beginning Teacher Differences. 24 Pre-Service Education.
30 Anxieties and Concerns of Pre-Service Teachers. 33 Problems of Beginning Teachers. 39 Stages of Beginning Teachers. DATA AND ANALYSIS.
48 Veteran Teacher Data. 72 Comparison of Current Study with Related Research. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 84 Recommendations for Further Study.
96 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. First-Year Teacher Reasons for Choosing to Become Teachers. First-Year Teacher Areas of Concern. Strategies First-Year Teachers Use to Address Stressful Concerns.
How First-Year Teachers Differ in Their Concerns Based on Gender and School Division. Are First-Year Teachers More Concerned With Self Than With Their Pupils?. How First-Year Teachers are Influenced by Mentors. First-Year Teacher Concerns as Perceived by Veteran Teachers.
First-Year Teacher Concerns as Perceived by Administrators. 72 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I believe the impulse to teach is fundamentally altruistic and represents a desire to share what you value and to empower others. Of course, all teachers are not altruistic. Some people teach in order to dominate others or to support work they'd rather do or simply to earn a living.
But I am not talking about the job of teaching so much as the calling to teach. Most teachers I know, even the most demoralized ones who drag themselves to oppressive and mean schools where their work is not respected and their presence not welcome, have felt that calling at some time in their lives. 1 Herbert Kohl Teachers have been studied extensively throughout the last three decades. But, in actuality, teachers have probably been studied in America since 1642.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony of 1642 provides the earliest known description of educational supervision record. This supervision developed through Massachusetts School Law, 1642, which reads (in part): This court, taking into consideration the great neglect of many parents and masters in the training up of their children in learning and labor, and other implements which may be profitable to the common wealth, do hereupon order and decree that in every town ye chosen men appointed for managing the prudential affairs of the same shall henceforth stand charged with the care 1 Herbert Kohl, Thirty Six Children (New York: American Press, 1968). 2 of the redress of this. 112 Had beginning teachers been queried about their concerns in 1642, no doubt their greatest concerns would have been in regard to their supervisors.
Salary was non- negotiable, pupil progress was steady and discipline problems were practically naught. But, the attitudes and assumptions of their supervisors was that: "(1) Teachers were not to be trusted; (2) Supervisors had the right to intervene directly in the classroom; and (3) Supervisors were meant to be inspectors." 3 Over the years, much has been learned about teaching and about teachers. But, only, in the last four decades has the beginning teacher been encouraged to tell the story of what it means to be a first-year teacher. This research sought to explore the world of fifteen first-year elementary, middle and high school teachers; specifically, seeking to understand their concerns.
At the advent, it was questioned why these men and women, as well as other men and women, entered the field of teaching. Consequently, in beginning this research, the first question sought was: Why do people become teachers? Is it the challenge,the excitement, the spotlight, or a potpourri of rewards and incentives? What does it mean to 2 John C. Daresh, Supervision as a Proactive Process (Prospect Heights: Waveland Press Inc. 3 be a first year teacher? Is there anxiety along with anticipation? Is the long awaited arrival to the classroom everything hoped for? Do beginning teachers, in a pattern of similarity, make their entrances into their classrooms in a spirit of optimism and promise for their students and the world of education? Why do men and women choose to become teachers? As in any career, there are many attractions to teaching.
People are drawn into the field for a number of reasons. A "1989 Metropolitan Life Survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 teachers (kindergarten through grade 12), revealed that 81 percent of teachers 'strongly agree' that they love to teach, while 16 percent 'agree somewhat' ." 4 Within the choice of "love of teaching lies a definite influence and admiration of a former teacher. Former Chicago Teachers Union President, Jacqueline B. Vaughn said that she had originally intended to become a nurse.
It was Alice Bibbs, first-grade teacher at Douglas Elementary School for 32 years, who convinced Vaughn to become a teacher. 5 For some, the process of deciding to become a teacher comes early in life. The decision may be 4 The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1986; Restructuring the Teaching Profession (New York: Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. 5 Margaret Billups, "Jackie Vaughn: What Price Education?," N'Digo Profiles (Chicago: Hartman Publishing Group, February 1995): 60-62.
4 formed in conjunction with deciding that he or she is the best choice for the role of teacher, when a group of peers play school. The teacher, being the adult that a child spends a considerable amount of time with, occupies a powerful position of influence. Educational researchers, Wright and Tuska, in their study of nearly 4,500 teacher trainees, found a much higher incidence of teachers being remembered as "admired" and "influential" than in a group of almost 1,000 nonteachers. 6 Joseph and Burnaford attempted to gain insight into teachers' self-images by asking teachers to use metaphors to describe their teaching methods and student-teacher relationships.
7 Two immediate patterns were found: those of the artistic and of the mechanical teacher. Joseph and Burnaford questioned these teachers as to where their metaphors came from. They concluded that the surveyed teachers' images, formed of teachers and teaching, were still operating as one of the powerful influences on the their assumptions about teaching. Many of the twenty-six teachers in the study gave descriptive reports of the warmth 6 Benjamin Wright and Shirley Tuska, "How Does Childhood Make a Teacher?," The Elementary School Journal (February 1965) : 235-246.
7 Pamela Bolotin Joseph and Gail E. Burnaford, Images of School Teachers in Twentieth-Century America: Paragons, Polarities, Complexities (New York: St. 5 and respect of their former teachers. For some of these teachers, this respect epitomized an image of their former teachers as an all-powerful, all-knowing figure.
8 An important study of why people became teachers was conducted by Dan Lortie during the 1960s and reported in his book, Schoolteacher, published in 1975. In Lortie's book, he identified the following five major attractions to teaching: (1) The Interpersonal Theme: Selecting the field of teaching based on the desire for continuing contact with young people. (2) The Service Theme: Selecting the field of teaching, in order to make a contribution to society. (3) The Continuation Theme: Selecting the field of teaching because educational institutions are enjoyable and comfortable.
(4) Material Benefits: Selecting the field of teaching for reasons of money, prestige, and employment security. (5) Time Compatibility Theme: Selecting the field of teaching because it offers a short workday and ample vacation time. 9 In 1981, Armstrong, Henson and Savage, in their publication, Education: An Introduction, identified four 8 Joseph and Burnaford, 62. 9 Dan Lortie, Schoolteacher (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1975).
6 major reasons why people chose teaching as a career. They named the following: (1) Working Conditions: Selecting teaching because of perceptions of attractive physical environments and personal autonomy. (2) Lack of routine: Selecting teaching because of the unpredictability of students and each day in the classroom. (3) Importance of Teaching: Selecting teaching in order to make a contribution to improving society.
(4) Excitement of Learning: Selecting teaching out of a love of learning. 10 A significant amount of studies asserted that new teachers chose teaching as a career because a former teacher(s) influenced them as a role model. However, a question to consider, asks, does teaching offer perks or benefits that would provide attractions to potential candidates, in addition to love of teaching, love of students and desire to serve as role models? Could a factor as worldly as salary be a deciding factor in this choice? Comparing the public school teachers' salary scale to the corporate world employee or to the world of blue collar workers provides some insight. In 1994, the average starting salaries of public school teachers, compared with salaries in private industry by selected positions, were as 10 David G.
Henson, and Tom V. Savage, Education: An Introduction (New York: Macmillan, 1981). 7 follows: Teachers, $22,505; Engineering, $35,004; Accounting, $28,020; Sales Marketing, $28,021; Business Administration, $27,564; and computer science, $31,164. In 1994, the highest state average teacher salary reported was from the New York, reporting at $45,800.
In the same year, the state of Indiana reported its average as $35,700. 11 Although, each of the fore-mentioned professions measured with teaching salaries paid more money for beginning salaries, it could be argued that these professionals work longer hours than schoolteachers and work year round. In South Bend, Indiana, elementary teachers in the South Bend Community School Corporation work an 8:00 a. The teaching day ends at 2:20 p.
when the students are dismissed. time is set aside for teacher preparation. Additionally, each teacher is guaranteed an uninterrupted, duty-free thirty minute lunch period and an additional thirty minute planning period within the school day. 12 Chicago public school elementary teachers may very well have the shortest contract teaching day in the nation.
Their teaching day starts at 8:30 a.