ABSTRACT

Background

Currently there are international concerns over teacher recruitment and attrition rates, especially in mathematics and the physical sciences. Much has been written about the recruitment of student teachers and the reasons people give for going into teaching, but little on the broader context of these people’s lives and the complex influences on their career decisions.

Purpose

The narrative approach used in this study is a complement to larger scale quantitative studies into teacher recruitment as it seeks to consider the wider picture of a person’s life and, through a defended participant perspective, expose influences that may not have been obvious to the participants themselves. Sample: Eight current UK chemistry teachers.

Sample

Eight current UK chemistry teachers.

Design and methods

Stories of becoming teachers are told through interviews and these narratives examined to consider the key influences upon their becoming chemistry teachers. Two analytic lenses were used: inductive thematic analysis and deductive analysis considering psychoanalytical defences. These lenses were used to both exemplify and challenge each other, providing triangulation of interpretation to determine participants’ trajectories into chemistry teaching.

Results

Family background and interest in, and utility of, studying chemistry were found to influence career life decisions. Some participants experienced moments where their career trajectory changed towards teaching whereas others followed a smooth path towards this end. For two, changes in their relationship with chemistry resulted in a teaching career. Particularly influential appears to be prior teaching experience which led to changes of trajectory for half of the participants in this study.

Conclusion

The chemistry teachers’ relationship with the subject discipline and prior teaching experience were important in them entering the profession, whilst the influence of their own teachers is more nuanced than wider larger scale quantitative studies suggest. Findings suggest that increasing the opportunity for classroom experience for undergraduates may improve teacher recruitment.

中文翻译：

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我为什么成为一名化学老师：确定化学老师讲述他们的教学轨迹的转折点

摘要

背景

目前，国际上对教师招聘和流失率存在担忧，尤其是在数学和物理科学领域。关于学生教师的招聘以及人们从事教学工作的原因已经写了很多，但很少涉及这些人生活的更广泛背景以及对他们职业决策的复杂影响。

目的

本研究中使用的叙述方法是对教师招聘更大规模定量研究的补充，因为它试图考虑一个人生活的更广泛画面，并通过捍卫参与者的观点，揭示参与者自己可能并不明显的影响. 样本：八位现任英国化学教师。

样本

八名现任英国化学教师。

设计和方法

通过访谈讲述成为教师的故事，并审查这些叙述以考虑对他们成为化学教师的关键影响。使用了两个分析镜头：归纳主题分析和考虑精神分析防御的演绎分析。这些镜头被用来举例说明和相互挑战，提供解释的三角测量以确定参与者进入化学教学的轨迹。

结果

家庭背景和对学习化学的兴趣和效用被发现会影响职业生涯的决定。一些参与者经历了他们的职业轨迹转变为教学的时刻，而另一些参与者则朝着这一目标走上了平稳的道路。对于两个人来说，他们与化学关系的变化导致了教学生涯。特别有影响力的似乎是先前的教学经验，它导致本研究中一半参与者的轨迹发生变化。

结论

化学教师与学科的关系和之前的教学经验对他们进入这个行业很重要，而他们自己的教师的影响比更广泛的更大规模的定量研究表明的更微妙。研究结果表明，增加本科生课堂体验的机会可能会改善教师招聘。