Charles Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus, The University of British Columbia
[permission to reproduce granted if authorship is acknowledged]
The central job board for teacher recruitment in British Columbia is a website called Make a Future. Although the catch phrase is close to becoming a cliché, there is much truth in the claim that teachers can make the future.
Teaching is one of the most influential professions. It shapes the future of the students taught and in doing so helps shape the future of society. Research, coupled with real-world economic considerations, makes the case that competent, effective teachers help promote student success and social improvement.
John Hattie's Visible Learning summarizes much of the research about the immense impact teachers that have on student learning. That research summary and subsequent research shows that teachers exert a greater influence on student learning outcomes than any other single factor. The pedagogical strategies, content knowledge, and rapport-building skills that teachers possess are pivotal to student achievement.
Teacher influence extends well beyond the boundaries of the classroom and academic achievement. Economists have found that teachers also contribute substantially to students' long-term life outcomes. Studies show that the quality of the teaching students receive can significantly affect their future employment opportunities and health outcomes. These findings confirm the value to society of effective teachers.
Well-prepared teachers represent a significant investment. Considering salary, benefits, including pension costs, the amount exceeds $3 million per person over a thirty-year career without factoring in the costs of recruitment, professional development, and the cost of supply or substitute teachers during periods of absence. This is a substantial financial investment for any educational organization. Given the educational benefits that skilled, effective teachers bring, the expense is necessary and justifiable.
The hiring of teachers extends beyond simple economic calculations. The educational and economic repercussions of employing ineffective teachers or those who leave the profession prior to retirement are considerable. Effective pre-employment assessment strategies are pivotal to hiring competent teachers.
Although they are too infrequently used, teaching demonstrations provide real-time insights into an applicant’s teaching. Applicants may be asked to teach a lesson to a class while evaluators observe. This allows schools to directly assess an applicant's teaching skills, classroom management strategies, and ability to engage students.
If the situation is like the one for which the applicant has applied, the students and curricula should be familiar. If the situation is too disparate with the position, the curriculum and students may be unfamiliar to the applicant and may violate the expectations of the observers.
While it is inadvisable to make a strong judgment based on a single observation, even a single observation is preferable to no observations at all.
Applicants may be asked to submit sample lesson plans. Reviewing these can provide insight into a teacher's planning skills, their understanding of curriculum standards, and their ability to structure lessons effectively. Like demonstration lessons, this method requires expert evaluators who can recognize effective lesson planning.
Interviewing applicants for teaching positions is a near universal practice. During interviews, applicants may be asked to describe how they have handled (or would handle) specific situations in the classroom (often called behavioural or situational interviewing). Their responses can provide insight into their problem-solving skills, understanding of student development, and classroom management strategies. The quality of these interviews largely depends on the questions asked and the interviewer's skills. The validity of interviews depends upon using a robust question set and skilled interviewers.
It is fashionable among some recruiters to ask applicants to submit a professional portfolio. The portfolio may include prior lesson plans, samples of student work, teaching philosophy statement, and performance evaluations from previous positions. Portfolios are intended to provide a holistic view of a teacher's abilities and achievements through representative objects and documents. The effectiveness of portfolios relies heavily on their design and the evaluators' ability to interpret them accurately.
Reference checks, like interviews, are nearly universal. They are intended to provide additional insights about a candidate. Their value is limited by the referees' willingness to provide candid and unbiased feedback. This is difficult to achieve because applicants understandably select referees who will provide positive appraisals.
I do not think it is an
overstatement to say that teachers make a future for students and the wider
society. They drive student achievement, influence long-term life outcomes, and
create social value. For those reasons I also think it is of great importance
that the education sector prioritizes the hiring of highly competent teachers.
Each pre-employment assessment method I have enumerated adds information about
as applicant’s potential, but each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Given
the magnitude of a school district’s investment in teachers, an approach that
combines these methods is likely to yield a more comprehensive understanding of
an applicant’s suitability for a teaching position than one that is more
limited in scope.