Why Do They Teach? A Comparison of Elementary, High School, and College Teachers

Introduction How satisfied are teachers? Why do they remain in the profession? By listening to the voices of elementary teachers, high school teachers, and college professors, we can gain insight into the profession and help increase job satisfaction and effectiveness, with positive outcomes for students. The purpose of the present study is to explore similarities and differences among three levels of teachers--elementary, high school and college--with respect to their satisfaction with teaching and their motivation to persist as classroom practitioners. The study represents a synthesis of the findings from earlier research that the author and her colleagues conducted with experienced elementary and high school teachers (Brunetti, 2001; Marston, Brunetti, & Courtney, 2005; Marston, Courtney, & Brunetti, 2006) and college professors (Marston & Brunetti, 2009). Theoretical Framework Life History In his seminal study, Huberman (1993) studied the lives of French-Swiss secondary teachers using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Like Huberman, I combined quantitative and qualitative in studying the lives of experienced teachers; and I incorporated a life-history approach as described by Goodson and Sikes (2001). Other researchers have also used life-history approaches in exploring the beliefs of teachers (Ball and Goodson, 1985; Knowles and Holt-Reynolds, 1994; Much more, 2001, 2004; Stanford, 2001; Williams, 2001). Elementary, High School and College Studies A review of research yielded few studies that focused specifically on the similarities and differences among elementary and high school teachers and college professors, although many studies have been conducted with one or another of these groups. Thompson, McNamara and Hoyle (1997) did a meta-analysis of job satisfaction findings of teachers and administrators at the three levels but did not compare across levels. Evans' 2001 study provides a comparative analysis of morale and job satisfaction among primary school teachers in the United Kingdom and a study of the effectiveness of teaching and learning in higher education. This study, which examined how leadership influences job related attitudes, reveals that Whether they realize it or not, it is their work contexts--not their leaders-upon which people are essentially reliant, and analysis of the findings of a parallel study, encompassing a wider perspective than that afforded by examination of the school teacher study only, demonstrated this to be the case (p. 305). The present study also provides a comparative analysis of separate studies that have been brought together to gain a wider perspective about teachers' motivations for remaining in the classroom. Methods Context Data for this study were collected from the following groups of teachers: 1) a high school sample from a large northern California school district, 2) an elementary school sample from the same California school district and an elementary school sample from two middle-sized school districts in eastern Pennsylvania, 3) a sample from a northern California college that is classified as comprehensive under the Carnegie categories but that has the "look and feel," in many ways, of an undergraduate liberal arts college. Data Sources Data for this study primarily came from two sources: Experienced Teacher Survey (Brunetti, 2001) (modified for use in higher education), and extended interview with select experienced teachers. Part 1: Experienced Teacher Survey (ETS). In each of these studies, the ETS was distributed to groups of experienced teachers--elementary, high school and college. Using a 4-point Likert scale, the ETS asked teachers to rate the importance of a variety of factors--18 in all: professional, practical, and social (Brunetti, 2001)--that influenced their decision to remain in their teaching positions. …