#CIES2018 Widening career opportunities available to teachers: a road to enhanced motivation?

1. WIDENING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO TEACHERS: A ROAD TO ENHANCED MOTIVATION? Insights from New York City & South Africa Chloé Chimier IIEP-UNESCO Paris c.chimier@iiep.unesco.org Panel Addressing teacher motivation from a systemic perspective: learning from complementary initiatives CIES 2018 Re-mapping global education Mexico City 25 – 29 March 2018

2. Why is it relevant to study teacher careers? Ministry of Education across the globe face similar challenges in terms of attracting and retaining capable and motivated teachers. How can we reverse this phenomena and ‘reprofessionalise’ the profession? Motivation theories highlight a number of variables that can be affected by the way careers are organised. Teacher careers can potentially act as a powerful leverage to influence teacher motivation. Many countries are in the process of reforming their career structures, yet relatively little information is available.

3. Zooming in on horizontal mobility There is no consensus on how to give greater recognition to teachers. Career structures offering advancement opportunities to teachers while allowing them to stay in the classroom are promising. Lessons from New York City & the Western Cape, South Africa.

4. Intrinsic motivation matters Teacher careers should encourage, not undermine, intrinsic motivation. It is difficult to validate the link between the career structure and teacher motivation. Looking at 3 variables susceptible to increase teacher motivation: agency; teacher collaboration; opportunities for continuous professional development.

5. Agency over career choices Teachers value having opportunities to choose between different career paths. Teacher agency is constrained by challenges in the implementation of the career structure. Agency over improving learning conditions and having their voices heard appears to be even more important to teachers. 30% 41% 10% 7% 4% 5% 3% Strongly agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly disagree No opinion No response I have control over the direction my career takes me n= 101; source: teacher questionnaire, South Africa case study

6. Teacher collaboration In NYC, teacher collaboration has substantially improved as a result of the teacher career pathways programme design and implementation. In South Africa, limited number of promotional posts generate competition among teachers. “It’s a chance to facilitate and help other teachers in their classroom. Not being on an island. I collaborate so much more with other teachers. It’s made me a stronger teacher. Peer Collaborative Teacher New York City

7. Opportunities for CPD In NYC, a significant majority of teachers reported that their instructional practice had improved as a result of working with Teacher Leaders. In South Africa, teachers complain about the CPD not being explicitly tied to the teacher career. Source: 2017 Eskolta survey 49% 29% 13% 5% 2% 2% “Having teacher leaders in our school last year helped me to build instructional capacity” (n=245) Strongly Agree Agree Somewhat Agree Somewhat Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree

8. Inferences on teacher motivation Teachers willing to move along the career ladder might already be the most motivated… … but the career ladder gives them satisfaction and strengthens their intrinsic motivation. Teacher motivation is strongly affected by the degree of support teachers receive from the system. “We need better care from teachers on the part of the Department of Basic Education. More incentives are needed but these are not necessarily monetary. Teacher South Africa

9. Learnings from implementation: design & structure 1 Shifting from an accountability frame to a collaboration frame requires time Striking a balance between support and accountability structures… … and keeping them separate Defining clear roles and professional standards at each level of the career ladder 2 3 4

10. Learnings from implementation: administration & management 1 Ensuring teacher buy-in Ongoing monitoring and adjusting of the policy School leadership is key Financial and human constraints are the most substantial limitations 2 3 4

11. Contact information Barbara Tournier & Chloé Chimier IIEP-UNESCO Paris 7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix, 75116 Paris, France +33 1 45 03 77 00 b.tournier@iiep.unesco.org c.chimier@iiep.unesco.org www.iiep.unesco.org @IIEP_UNESCO