Teacher Selection: Evidence-Based Practices PDF
Preview Teacher Selection: Evidence-Based Practices
Robert M. Klassen Lisa E. Kim Teacher Selection: Evidence-Based Practices Teacher Selection: Evidence-Based Practices · Robert M. Klassen Lisa E. Kim Teacher Selection: Evidence-Based Practices RobertM.Klassen LisaE.Kim DepartmentofEducation DepartmentofEducation UniversityofYork UniversityofYork Heslington,York,UK Heslington,York,UK ISBN978-3-030-76186-8 ISBN978-3-030-76188-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76188-2 ©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2021 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof thematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. 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ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Preface Teachers have a profound influence on important educational outcomes: not just short-term academic outcomes, but outcomes related to student well-being, self- concept, and life-long attitudes towards learning. Most of us can recall teachers that had a deep and formative influence on our own love of learning, and on our feelingsofsafetyandbelonginginacertainclassroomorschool.Withoutdoubt,the quality ofour teachers has afundamental influence notonly on thepersonal well- beingofindividualstudents,buton‘educationalhealth’andfutureprosperityatthe countrylevel.Andyet,thereismorecare,rigour,andresearchattentiongiventohow wechooseemployeesintolargecorporations,financialservices,thecivilservice,or healthcarethantoidentifyingthebestpossibleprospectiveteachers.Evenintheface offluctuatingdemandsforteachertrainingplacesandteachingpositions—whether systemssufferashortageorasurfeitofapplicantsfortraining(andthedemandfor training spiked in many settings during the Covid-19 crisis)—improving the ways weidentify,select,anddevelopprospectiveteachersisworthpursuingforanation’s educationalhealth. This book is based on three fundamental positions. First, there are individual differencesintheeffectivenessofteachers.Mostresearchshowsthatteachersgrow in their impact on student learning and well-being with time: candidates selected fortrainingarenotthefinishedproduct.Nevertheless,thereisstrongevidencethat teachers vary in their effectiveness—however defined and measured—that can be tracedbacktothe‘startingpoint’ofselectionintotraining.Second,individualdiffer- encesatthepointofselectionplayanimportantroleinshapingthefutureteacher: thepersonalcharacteristics(cognitiveandnon-cognitiveattributes)thathavedevel- opedthroughawiderangeoflifecircumstancesshapethebehaviors,attitudes,and beliefsofprospectiveteachers.Someofthesecharacteristicsaremutable;someless so.Third,currentteacherselectionpracticestendtobeuninformedbyresearch,with little evidence supporting their efficacy. Research and practices in teacher selec- tion have not kept up with selection research and practices in other fields, at least partiallyduetoareluctanceofsomeintheeducationfieldtoembracethenotionof differentialteachereffectiveness,andduetoahistoricalmistrustofsystematic(and psychometric)approachestorecruitmentandselection. v vi Preface Kahneman, in Thinking, Fast and Slow famously described how most of us are pronetooverconfidenceintrustingourintuitionwhenmakingjudgments,evenwhen weareawareofourbiases.Manyofustrustourjudgmentwhenitcomestomaking hiringandselectiondecisions,butresearchsuggeststhatourjudgmentis‘riddledwith biases’,andwetendtoimplicitlyprefercandidateswhoaresimilartous,evenwhen objectivedatamightpointusinadifferentdirection.Furthermore,wetendtoretro- spectivelyaffirmtheresultsofourselectiondecisionsintheabsenceofsupporting evidence. We confidently make decisions based on hidden biases and incomplete dataallthetime:weareoverconfidentaboutourdecision-makingabilitiesandtrust ourintuitiontoguideustomakeaccuratedecisions.Whenselectingcandidatesfor teachertrainingorforteachingjobs,weareinfluencedbyourconsciousanduncon- sciousbiases,intuition,andbytheundueconfidencewehaveinthecorrectnessof ourpastdecision-making. Inthisbookwetakethestancethatidentifyingthebestpossiblecandidates for teaching is worth serious scientific consideration because the stakes are so high, not just for individual students, classrooms, and schools, but for a nation’s well- being.Selectingthebestpossibleprospectiveteacherswillneverbeanexactscience, and as with all predictions of human behavior there will be hits and misses, but we can use theories and methods from other disciplines, especially organizational psychologyandmedicaleducationtoimproveour‘hitrate’ofidentifyingthebest possiblenewteachers.Attheheartofselectionisthequestion,Doesthiscandidate havethepotentialtobeaneffectiveteacher?andiftherearemorecandidatesthan places,IsCandidateXmorelikelytosucceedthanCandidateYinourprogram(or in practice)? But understanding, or even defining, teacher effectiveness is not so straightforward,andinthisbook,aftermakingacasefortheimportanceofteacher selection, we consider in Part I what ‘teacher effectiveness’ might mean, and how personalcharacteristicsmightbeassociatedwithsuccessfulpractice.Thesepersonal characteristics, or individual attributes, are not equally predictive of success in all settings, and we consider how these characteristics might vary among individuals andacrossculturalcontexts. InPartIIwedelveintoselectiontheory,research,andpractice,andexaminethe problemsthatcropupwhendevelopingaselectionprogramorstrategy,andhowother fieldshavewrestledwiththechallengesofdevelopingandtestingselectionstrategies andmethodsintheirrespectivecontexts.InPartIIIweturnourattentiontoteacher selection, and in these four chapters we explore the history of teacher selection, current practices, some evidence-based practices that have been trialled in the last fewyears,andaconsiderationofhowselectionprogramsmightbeimplementedin a range of real-life settings. We conclude the book in Part IV with a look beyond currentpractices,andconsiderhowwemightapplythelessonsofteacherselection totherecruitmentanddevelopmentofprospectiveteachers. UNESCOhasrecentlyprojectedaneedfornearly70millionnewteacherstobe selectedandtrainedinthenextdecade,andweknowthatthequalityofcandidates is influenced by the quality of recruitment, selection, and development processes. Implementingstate-of-the-artteacherselectionmethodscansavethousandsofhours in the recruitment process, and can act as a ‘quick win’ in improving the teacher Preface vii workforce. Our goal in this book is to highlight that one approach to building a stronger teacher workforce is through research-based teacher selection. We see a futurewhereteachersareselectedwiththesamerigourandcareascandidatesinother professions, and we hope that this book begins a conversation among researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers about the importance of using the best possible methodstoselectthebestpossibleteachers. Heslington,York,UK RobertM.Klassen LisaE.Kim Acknowledgements Thisbookistheresultofmultipleconversationswithacademiccolleagues,notjust about teacher recruitment and selection, but about much more interesting topics, liketheintersectionoflifepurpose,family,andwork.Afteradecadeofresearchon achievement motivation,Iwasbotheredbythelackofpotentialapplicationofmy research,andIwonderedhoweducationalpsychologycouldmakeabiggerimpact onreal-lifeproblems.Abigthankyoutomyacademiccolleaguesaroundtheworld, but especially Tracy Durksen, Ellen Usher, Flaviu Hodis, Richard Remedios, Paul Tiffin, Sündüs Yerdelen, Lia Daniels, Rauno Parrila, Andrew Joyce-Gibbons, and ColinAndersonfortheirwillingnesstoengageindiscussionsabouttopicsthatwere importantforme,ifnotnecessarilyforthem. I would also like to highlight the support given by my fantastic colleagues at theTeacherSelectionProjectattheUniversityofYorkwhohavecontributedmuch inspirationforthelastsixyears,andwhohavemadeworkingonthistopicsoenjoy- able and fulfilling. Many people have contributed to our work, but I want to espe- ciallythanktheTSPSuperheroes!Group(LizMaxwell,JadeRushby,LisaBardach, HelenGranger,andLizHooper)formakingourworkingenvironmentsoenjoyable. I also thank my co-author Lisa Kim for her willingness to challenge ideas and for contributingtothisbookandtheresearchonteacherselection.Ithasbeenapleasure workingwithsomanyofyouonourERCresearchprojectandonplanningthenext stageofourwork. I’m grateful to our supportive education partners from around the world who have joined with us in teacher selection work at their institutions: Tracy and Lynn fromUNSWandWollongong;MichellefromLiverpoolHope;PaulandJanefrom Cambridge;CatherineandLindafromStrathclyde,Tallulah,Gemmaandcolleagues fromTeachFirst;Matthew,RichardandPeterfromYorkStJohn;KenandAudrey fromStranmillis;ClairefromYork;Riitta-Leenaand AnnaMaijafromJyväskylä; Ina from Teach for Bulgaria; János in Hungary; Anna and Susana in Peru; Ken andtheTTCselectionteamfromMalawi;ourcolleaguesatAlphaPlus;andmost recently,Lucas,Louise,andM.ElazhariandcolleaguesinMorocco,andDeborah andcolleaguesinKenya.ThanksalsototheSocialSciencesandHumanitiesResearch ix x Acknowledgements CouncilofCanadaandtheEuropeanResearchCouncilwhohaveprovidedgenerous fundingfortheresearchthatisrepresentedinthisbook. Finally, I’m eternally grateful for the love and encouragement from my wife, Lenore, who has endured my early wake-ups, and has encouraged me to pursue my academic dreams. Thanks also to my kids—Andrea, Danielle, and Joel—who weredraggedmore-or-lesswillinglytotheUKfromCanada,andwhoare,without doubt, my three proudest accomplishments. And of course, thanks Mom, for your continuousloveandsupport. RobertM.Klassen I’m grateful to Professor Rob Klassen and the European Research Council for providing me with opportunities to explore the area of teacher selection when I wasaPostdoctoralResearchFellowfortheTeacherSelectionProject.Iwouldalso liketothankthepeopleandorganizationsIworkedwithatthattime,bothintheUK andworldwide,forstretchingmythinkinginthisarea.Turningtoamorepersonal arena,I’mverythankfulfortheunwaveringsupportandlovemyfamilyhasalways shownme.Lastly,Iwouldliketothankteachersallovertheworldfortheamazing workthattheydo. LisaE.Kim Contents 1 TheImportanceofSelectingtheMostEffectiveTeachers ......... 1 1.1 StrengtheningtheTeacherWorkforce ....................... 2 1.2 TeacherSelectionisa‘QuickWin’ ......................... 3 1.3 WhyTeacherSelectionMatters ............................ 5 1.4 TheCostsandBenefitsofTeacherSelection ................. 7 1.5 PurposeandOverviewoftheBook ......................... 8 1.6 ChapterSummary ........................................ 9 References .................................................... 10 PartI IdentifyingtheCharacteristicsofEffectiveTeachers 2 WhatDoes‘TeacherEffectiveness’Looklike? ................... 15 2.1 TeacherEffectiveness ..................................... 16 2.2 MeasuringTeacherEffectiveness ........................... 19 2.3 TrajectoriesofTeacherEffectiveness ........................ 23 2.4 TeacherEffectivenessandRelatedOutcomes ................. 25 2.5 AreEffectiveTeachersBornorMade? ...................... 26 2.6 ChapterSummary ........................................ 29 References .................................................... 29 3 TheRoleofIndividualAttributesinTeacherSelection ............ 33 3.1 IndividualAttributes ...................................... 34 3.2 TheDistinctionBetweenCognitiveandNon-Cognitive Attributes ............................................... 36 3.3 IndividualAttributesandTeacherEffectiveness ............... 36 3.4 ResearchonAttributesRelatedtoTeacherEffectiveness ....... 37 3.5 Inductive,Deductive,andIntegratedApproaches ............. 41 3.6 Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Which Attributes Are Universal? ............................................... 42 3.7 ChapterSummary ........................................ 44 References .................................................... 44 xi
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