Teacher Selection: Evidence-Based Practices

172 Pages·2021·4.641 MB·English

by  Robert M. Klassen, Lisa E. Kim

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
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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