Description
Book SynopsisTeachers Matter offers the most definitive portrait of teachersâ lives and work to date. At a time when teaching standards are high on the political and social agenda, the quality and commitment of teaching staff is seen as paramount and they are viewed as pivotal to the economic and social well being of society. But:
- What are the influences that help or hinder teachersâ commitment?
- Is there an association between commitment and pupil attainment?
- Why are teachersâ identities important?
- What are teachersâ needs and concerns in different professional life phases?
- Does school context count?
Based on a DfES funded study of 300 teachers in 100 primary and secondary schools in England, the authors identify different patterns of influence and effect between groups of teachers, which provide powerful evidence of the complexities of teachersâ work, lives, identity and commitment, in relation to their sense of agency, well-being, resilience and pupil attitudes and
Table of ContentsList of Contributors
Foreword
Preface
AcknowledgementsWhy teachers matter: policy agendas and social trends
The VITAE research: a synergistic approach
The schools, their teachers and their pupils: expectations, experiences, perceptions
Studying teachers’ work and lives: research contexts
Teachers’ professional life phases: a research informed view of career long effectiveness
Emotional contexts of teaching: agency, vulnerability and professional identities
What helps and hinders teachers’ capacities to be effective
Teacher effectiveness, pupil attainment
Teachers who break the mould
Real and resilient: how teachers sustain their effectiveness
Commitment and effectiveness: contexts which make a difference to standards
Future proofing classroom and school effectiveness: why teachers matter most
References
List of Figures/Tables
List of Abbreviations
Index
