Background
The Teacher Status Project was a national four-year study of the status of teachers and the teaching profession in England. It investigated how teachers view themselves, their work and their profession, and how teachers were viewed by other members of society in 2003 and 2006. It was carried out by researchers at the University of Cambridge and University of Leicester, and funded by the (then) DfES, following competitive tender. It sought to ascertain and monitor the status of teachers following the then Labour Government’s commitment to raise teacher status to that of senior consultants and surgeons by 2006, following implementation of a large number of ‘workforce’ reforms and initiatives.
Data were collected through large scale, national, cross-sectional questionnaire surveys of teachers, education stakeholders and the general public in 2003 and 2006; an extensive programme of state school case studies representing all key stages; and a series of focus group studies of teachers in specific settings and roles (e.g. early years, special educational needs, continuing professional development, research). In addition, further study of the status of Black and Minority Ethnic Teachers was conducted by Mark Cunningham in 2005-6, and press coverage of teachers during the 1990s and early 2000s was investigated by Dr Anders Hansen and Jaideep Mukherjee at the Leicester University Department of Media and Communication in 2003 and 2005.
Key findings include:
- Steep decline in the status of teachers since the 1960s, perceived by teachers and other education stakeholders
- Marginal improvement in teachers’ self-perceived status between 2003 and 2006, especially among longest serving teachers.
- Teachers considered teaching to be highly controlled and under-rewarded compared with a ‘high status profession’.
- Higher status attributed to teachers by teaching assistants, governors, parents and the general public than by teachers themselves
- One in three of the general public regarded both primary and secondary teachers as equivalent in social status to social workers, and headteachers to management consultants.
- A slight drop in public opinion of the attractiveness of a teaching career, between 2003 and 2006, but with salaries more likely to be seen as attractive, and controlling a class as a less attractive feature in these years.
- Press treatment of teachers had become more sympathetic towards the profession, compared with the 1990s with greater prominence given to educational issues.
- Black and minority ethnic teachers viewed teaching as a respectable and desirable occupation. They felt seriously under-represented in the profession. The vast majority had experienced racial abuse from colleagues, parents and students in their careers. Many felt their promotion opportunities limited to pastoral rather than academic senior roles.
Research Team
University of Cambridge: Linda Hargreaves (Director); Donald McIntyre & Tim Everton, (Co-directors); Mandy Swann (2002-4), Louise Wilson (2002-3), Penny Turner (2003-5), Mark Cunningham (2004-7), Caroline Oliver (2004-6) (Research Associates); Anthony Pell (Project analyst); Holly Anderson, Bev Hopper, Martyn Rouse, Anne Thwaites, (Specialist tutors); Robin Alexander & Maurice Galton (Consultants)
University of Leicester, Department of Media and Communication Anders Hansen (Director) Jaideep Mukherjee (Research Associate)
Final Reports
The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession in England: Views from Inside and Outside the Professio
Final Report of the Teacher Status Project - Research Brief
Final Report of the Teacher Status Project
Evidence Base for the Final Report
Evidence Base
Part I: The Surveys: Public Opinion, Media, Teachers and Associated Groups in 2003 and 2006
Part II: School-based Case Studies: The Status of Teachers in Ordinary/Typical Schools
Part III: School-based Case Studies: The Status of Teachers in Classified Case Study Reports
Part IV: Teachers and Pupils: Minority Ethnic Teachers, Teachers in Specialised Roles or Settings and Pupils' Views
Minority Ethnic Teachers' Professional Experiences: Evidence From The Teacher Status Project
by Mark Cunningham and Linda Hargreaves
Final Brief and Full Reports
Publications
Swann, M, McIntyre, D., Pell, T., Hargreaves, L. & Cunningham, M. (2010) 'Teachers' conceptions of teacher professionalism in England in 2003 and 2006', British Educational Research Journal, 36: 4, 549 — 571. DOI: 10.1080/01411920903018083
Hansen, A. (2009) Researching ‘teachers in the news’: the portrayal of teachers in the British national and regional press, Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, 7:4, 335-347, DOI: 10.1080/03004270903099900
Hargreaves, L. (2009) ‘The status and prestige of teachers and teaching’, (pp 217-230). In L. Saha & G. Dworkin (Eds.) International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching. New York, NY: Springer. e-ISBN 978-0-387-73317-3
Everton, T., Turner, P., Hargreaves, L. & Pell, T. (2007). Public perceptions of the teaching profession. Research Papers in Education, 22 (3), 247–265. DOI: 10.1080/02671520701497548
Hargreaves L. & Hopper, B. (2006) Early years, low status? Early years teachers’ perceptions of their occupational status. Early Years, 26(2), 171-186.
Warin, J., Maddock, M., Pell, A. & Hargreaves, L. (2006) Resolving identity dissonance through reflective and reflexive practice in teaching, Reflective Practice, 7:2, 233-245, DOI: 10.1080/14623940600688670
Contact us
University of Cambridge
Linda Hargreaves: 01223 767548
Email: lh258@cam.ac.uk