Choosing to Teach in Urban Schools Among Graduates of Elite Colleges

Abstract

According to the research literature, there are three reasons that draw teachers into teaching: (1) gender-related reasons, (2) altruistic reasons, and (3) monetary rewards and job flexibility. Based on data from three teacher preparation programs, this article argues that teachers who were trained at elite colleges and who chose teaching in urban schools rarely referred to any of the three reasons. Instead, these teachers tend to (a) conceptualize teaching around issues of social justice and social change, arguing they joined teaching to improve society, and (b) seek leadership positions in urban education. Using Bourdieu's concepts of field and capital, these arguments are theorized and hypotheses for further research are developed.

Teacher Retention and Career Commitments Among DeLeT Graduates: The Intersection of Teachers' Background, Preparation for Teaching, and School Context

“…For example, we used Lortie's (1975) and Cohn and Kottkamp's (1993) model of teacher rewards to group variables associated with intrinsic, ancillary, and extrinsic rewards for teaching. This model helps us distinguish between intrinsic rewards associated with variables like "I enjoy working with children," ancillary rewards reflected in the opportunity to serve the Jewish community through one's teaching ("teaching allows me to contribute to the Jewish community"), and extrinsic rewards demonstrated in variables like "teaching provides job security" (for a more detailed discussion about why teachers choose to teach based on Lortie's model, see, Tamir, 2009).…”

“…Educational researchers have used sociological theories and sociocultural models to explain teacher socialization (Zeichner & Gore, 1990), careers (Grossman & Loeb, 2008;Huberman, 1989;Tamir, 2009Tamir, , 2010b) and professional development (Feiman-Nemser, 2001). The underlying assumption behind these theories is that research on teachers and teaching should consider the context in which teachers operate and of which they are part (cultural, social, economic, political, historical).…”

“…Recent research on elite college graduates who chose to teach in urban, catholic, and Jewish schools supports this contention, showing that teachers' commitment to the profession could be rooted in strong personal beliefs or ideas-like a commitment to social justice in the case of some urban public school teachers (e.g., Quartz & TEP Research Group, 2003;Tamir, 2009), or religious/communal commitments as in the case of Catholic school teachers (DelFra & Scully, 2007) and JDS teachers (Tamir, 2010b). In fact, many of these mission-based teacher education programs intentionally recruit teachers who already have developed strong convictions and ideological/religious beliefs, so that teacher preparation is used to further strengthen these commitments and align them with pedagogy and subject matter knowledge.…”

“…For example, Jewish day school teachers are offered relatively low salaries and often do not enjoy retirement and health benefits that may help retain some of their counterparts in the public school system. Other factors that may contribute to teacher attrition are similar to those that affect public school teachers and are related to the lack of professional development and support from school leaders and peers Gamoran et al, 1998;Stodolsky et al, 2006), failure to realize one's hopes to become an effective teacher, the draw of leadership positions in school administration, and a desire to explore multiple job environments throughout one's career (e.g., Johnson et al, 2004;Tamir, 2009Tamir, , 2010b. …”

Jewish Day School Teachers: Career Commitments in the 21st Century

“…Simmilar finding have been found in other studies conducted among urban public, urban Catholic, and Jewish day school teachers. When these teachers were asked about their commitment to stay in teaching and about their commitment to stay in education at large, the number of those willing to stay in education was larger (Tamir, 2009(Tamir, , 2010.…”