No abstract

This study explored the views of 84 first year students at a University College in Norway about a career in teaching. The students completed a questionnaire in which they were asked to rate the influence of 20 factors on their choice of career, and then the extent to which they thought teaching as a career accommodated these factors. A comparison was made between the views expressed by three groups of students: those who were not considering teaching (n = 38), those who were vaguely considering teaching (n = 34) and those who were seriously considering teaching (n = 12). As we move from the 'definitely not considering teaching' group towards the 'seriously considering teaching' group, there was an increasingly greater match between factors rated as important when choosing a career and factors which were rated as being offered by teaching as a career (e.g. 'a job where I can use my university subject', 'a career that provides intellectual challenge', 'a job where I will contribute to society', 'a job that can easily be combined with parenthood', 'a job where I can care for others' and 'working with children'). These findings support a model of career choice based on a match between students' perceptions of the important job factors and whether these factors are offered. The students who reported that they could be encouraged to consider teaching as a career were also asked to rate measures that might do this. The most highly rated measure was 'more resources, better teaching materials and better teaching conditions'.

A group of postgraduate (secondary school) student teachers attending a teacher training course in York (England) and Stavanger (Norway) completed a questionnaire at the start (N=174) and at the end (N=128) of their course which explored their views regarding the factors accounting for pupil misbehaviour, the frequency of pupil misbehaviour, the strategies for dealing with pupil misbehaviour, and their confidence that as a full-time teacher they will have the skills needed to keep pupils engaged in their work and to deal with pupil misbehaviour that occurs. Overall, the major factor accounting for pupil misbehaviour was reported to be 'parents who do not instil proschool values in their children'; the most frequent pupil misbehaviour reported was 'talking out of turn (e.g. calling out, interrupting, inappropriate remarks or distracting chatter during the lesson)'; and the strategy rated most positively was 'establish clear and consistent school and classroom rules about the behaviours that are acceptable and that are unacceptable'. Both the York and Stavanger students grew in confidence over the year. The study also highlights areas where there appear to be shifts in students' views over the course of their training year and differences between the students across the two settings (York and Stavanger).

No abstract