Teacher Status Project 2002-2006
Final Brief and Full Reports
The Teacher Status Project, and its extension project on the status of minority ethnic teachers within the profession were completed in May 2007. The project's final reports present the research findings in the form of 4 – page 'Research Briefs', a Final Report and a more detailed 'Evidence base', which can be downloaded in four separate sections as detailed below. They contain results from the surveys of public opinion, of media coverage of education, teachers and teaching, and of teachers', teaching assistants', parents' and governors' views on teacher status. The reports can be downloaded by clicking the following links:
The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession in England: Views from Inside and Outside the Profession Final Report of the Teacher Status Project - Research Brief http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RB831.pdf (196Kb)
The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession in England: Views from Inside and Outside the Profession Final Report of the Teacher Status Project http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR831A.pdf (1.5Mb)
The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession in England: Views from Inside and Outside the Profession Evidence Base for the Final Report http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR831B%20r.pdf (4.8Mb)
The Evidence Base can also be downloaded in four separate parts: Part 1: The Surveys: Public Opinion, Media, Teachers and Associated Groups in 2003 and 2006 http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/general/RR831B%20Evidence%20Base%20Part%201.pdf (2.3Mb)
Part 2: School-based Case Studies: The Status of Teachers in Ordinary/Typical Schools http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/general/RR831B%20Evidence%20Base%20part%202.pdf (844Kb)
Part 3: School-based Case Studies: The Status of Teachers in Classified Case Study Reports http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/general/RR831B%20Evidence%20Base%20Part%203.pdf (832Kb)
Part 4: Teachers and Pupils: Minority Ethnic Teachers, Teachers in Specialised Roles or Settings and Pupils' Views http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/general/RR831B%20Evidence%20Base%20Part%204.pdf (1.6Mb)
Minority Ethnic Teachers' Professional Experiences: Evidence from the Teacher Status Project
by Mark Cunningham and Linda Hargreaves
Background to the project
The Teacher Status Project was a national cross-sectional and longitudinal study of the status of teachers and the teaching profession in England. It investigated (i) teachers' own views of their own status and what factors influence their status and that of the teaching profession; (ii) the views of the general public, parents, school governors, school support staff and trainee teachers on the status and prestige of the teaching profession; (iii) the representation of teachers in the media – national and local newpapers, and how this has changed since 1991. The research was carried out by teams of researchers in the Universities of Cambridge and Leicester, and was funded by the DfES. The main project ran from 2002 to 2006. It was followed up with further six months focused study of minority ethnic teachers' perceptions of their status within the profession.
The project aimed to:
- Understand the factors that might influence perceptions of teacher status such as government initiatives or the portrayal of teachers in the media.
- Compare teacher status with that of other 'high status professions'.
- Find out how perceptions of teacher status can be improved.
- Identify and describe changes in perceptions of teacher status over the lifetime of the project.
- Survey the views of the general public about the status of teachers.
Teachers in the media
During the project Dr Anders Hansen at the Centre for Mass Communications Research, University of Leicester, directed two surveys of national and local press media coverage of teachers and teaching. These included analyses of how teachers and teaching have been portrayed in the printed press over the last decade, as well as a study of news production and interviews with key education correspondents involved in the production of 'education news'.
The participants
The project surveyed the views of two very large, nationally representative samples of members of the teaching profession, as well as people associated with education including governors, parents, pupils, teaching assistants and LEA officials, in 2003 and 2006. It also captured and presented teachers' subjective experiences as members of the profession through a wide range of school-based case studies, including primary and secondary schools, academies and specialist schools, as well as through focus groups with specific sections of the profession. These included SEN teachers, early years teachers, teachers who work with children in Pupil Referral Units, minority ethnic teachers and teachers involved in various forms of CPD.
The research findings have significant implications for
- Future government policy on issues likely to affect teachers' careers and the status of teachers.
- The practice of those who train teachers.
- Agencies concerned with the recruitment and retention of teachers.
- Teacher unions and professional associations.
- Teachers themselves, and the educational research community.
- General public awareness of the work that teachers do.
The Research Team
The Teacher Status Project was carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers, all of whom have experience as primary or secondary school teachers and have research interests as shown.
Dr Linda Hargreaves (Project Director) Classroom processes, small schools, interactive teaching in the literacy hour
Prof Donald McIntyre (Deputy Director) Definitions of teacher professionalism and their effects on teachers' work
Mr Tim Everton (Deputy Director) Teacher education, development, and teachers' use of educational research
Dr Tony Pell (Project Analyst) Science education and children's attitudes to school
Mrs Beverley Hopper Initial teacher education and routes into teaching
Mr Martyn Rouse Special and inclusive education
Mr Mark Cunningham (2004-7)(Research Associate) ICT supporting teaching and learning; inclusive education
Dr Caroline Oliver (2005-6) (Research Associate - Qualitative Analysis) Social anthropology, identity, specifically migration and ageing, explored through ethnographic and narrative approaches.
Dr Mandy Maddock (2002-4) (Research Associate) Children's learning at home; teacher professionalism
Dr Louise Wilson (2002-3) (Research Associate) sociology of education
Mrs Penny Turner (2003-5) (Research Associate) Disaffected and excluded children and their teachers
Mrs Ann Curtis Project secretary
Project Consultants
Prof Robin Alexander (Project Consultant) Comparative/international research, pedagogy, primary education
Prof Maurice Galton (Project Consultant) School transfer, group work, and teachers' workloads
How to contact us
At the University of Cambridge:
Ann Curtis: 01223 767584 Email: ac348@cam.ac.uk
Linda Hargreaves: 01223 767548 Email: lh258@cam.ac.uk
Caroline Oliver : 01223 767582 Email: co269@cam.ac.uk