Student Teachers' Expectations of Teaching as a Career in England and Norway

Abstract

Research on student teachers' expectations regarding teaching as a career may help explain the reasons underlying problems of teacher recruitment and teacher retention which are causing concern in many countries. This study explores the expectations held by a group of student teachers in York, England and Stavanger, Norway. Questionnaires were completed by 121 York PGCE students and 75 Stavanger B.Ed. students. A majority of students in both groups were absolutely certain that they will be doing a socially worthwhile job, will be happy with the amount of holiday, and will feel elated by pupil achievement. However, only a low percentage in both groups were absolutely certain they will have enough time to do a good job. A majority of student teachers in both groups also regard teaching pupils as more important than their specialist subject, expect a proportion of the job to involve bad times (most often between 11 and 25% of the time), expect to be involved in management within a few years, and expect to stay in teaching for more than 10 years. Overall, the Stavanger students appeared to hold more positive expectations.