Teacher careers : constraints and consequences

Abstract

It has become quite common for local politicians, administrators and even the person in the street to assert themselves that the role of schools and the contributions of our teachers to society are immeasurable. The quality of life, strength of our economy, and the realisation of democratic principles depend to a large extent on our educational system and quality of teaching. Our study aims to help teachers and all those who work with them, to think more deeply about how teachers change and develop throughout their lives and suggests how they might be better treated by others, and not left to develop their career almost single-handedly. The restructuring of our schools, the composition of the National Minimum Curriculum - all these and other things are of little value if they do not take the teacher into account. It is what teachers believe, what teachers think and what teachers do at the classroom level that ultimately shapes the kind of learning that young people get. If we want to employ and retain good teachers in our State schools, and if we want our State schools to provide a stable, motivating and stimulating environment for our children, these matters we cannot afford to ignore.