Browsing by Subject "muutostoiveet"

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that engage teachers to the profession and to describe the possible desires of class teachers to change their job description. The second objective is to find out what factors commit them to the profession of class teacher and what are their views on the aspirations for change in the profession of class teacher. The typical career of a teacher is based on the Hubermann career model, which presents the stages of a teacher's career through five different phases, which appear globally in the careers of teachers. Previous research has identified personal factors, working conditions, managerial support, teacher autonomy and mentoring as factors that engage teachers. The importance of the work community, strong support from principals and a well-functioning school culture retain many teachers. The study was conducted using a phenomenographic approach. The data was collected through eight thematic interviews. The class teachers interviewed had teaching experience ranging from ten years to almost thirty years. The data were analysed using a phenomenographic analysis. The categories of perception and description formed from the data were divided into research questions. Five different categories of descriptive factors were formed: those related to school management and its operating environment, to teaching, to the teacher's job description, and to the wider field of education. Teachers were attracted to the sector by a variety of factors related to school management and practices, such as a principal who emphasises personal management, a good working community or a good school culture. Class teachers were most committed to teaching because of their internal drive for teaching. In the teacher's job description, factors such as colleagues, perceived meaningful relationships with children and teacher autonomy were the most important factors for teacher commitment. Teaching-related engagement factors included the image of teaching, the importance of salary and tenure, and a supported career start. Three categories were created to describe class teachers' desires for change: those related to the school, the teacher's job description and the teaching field. In the case of school-related change, class teachers wanted to see a framework for development while at the same time reducing the pace of school life and its efficiency. In terms of the teacher's job description, the wish for change was to limit the job description of the classroom teacher and to focus on basic work. More broadly, the desire for change in the teaching sector was dominated by the ideas of changing the curriculum, increasing resources, limiting class sizes and reforming three-tiered support.