Part One: Market Analysis of the Teacher Workforce in Alberta

1. Part One: Market Analysis of the Teacher Workforce in Alberta Summary of Research Findings DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION November 22, 2011

2. Methodology • Project Grounding • Social Values Analysis • Workforce Trends • Learnings from elsewhere • Quantitative Surveys • Teachers and Principals (1,212) • General public (1,000) • Qualitative Research • In-depth, one-on-one interviews • n = 56 Analysis, Synthesis and Learnings • Parent Council Meetings • 3 communities • Parents from multiple schools • Quantitative Survey of All School Boards • Self-assessment of hiring strategies and issues • Invited through e-mail, completed on-line • n = 34 Action Report

3. Qualitative Research Segments • One-hour long, in-depth, one-on-one telephone interviews • School Superintendents 8 • School District HR 6 • Principals 6 • Educators (Deans & Professors) 6 • Teachers • early career 6 • mid-career 6 • recently left teaching 6 • Students • pursuing an Education degree 6 • in other post-secondary, teaching interest 6

4. The Recruitment and Retention Story

5. Recruitment is not urgent

6. Attrition somewhat downplayed… • In Alberta, early career (non-maternity) attrition appears to be significant: • 16% attrition in the first year • 28% total attrition in the first four years. • By comparison, the Ontario Teachers Federation found that 10% of Ontario teachers leave the profession in the first five years, compared to 20% of US teachers (Clark & Antonelli, 2009).

7. Teachers’ Social Values • Social values are deep beliefs or broad orientations that set the context in which people react to situations, events, opportunities and challenges. • Generally, teachers employment-related social values are focused on autonomy and well-being: • Job is an opportunity to learn/grow • Highly skilled, work independently • Work must be personally/socially meaningful • “Titles mean nothing – it’s what you do that matters

8. Teachers’ Social Values • A strong need to invest their professional lives with meaning and to find personal fulfilment through their work. • A need to feel that their work is useful to others and has social value. • Teachers tend to invest their entire lives with meaning or goals, and to regularly reflect on these goals. • A strong need for frank, warm and spontaneous relationships with people as well as a need for communication and deep, affective exchanges with others. • Teachers are citizens of the global village and enjoy a sense of being “plugged in” to what is happening in other countries.

9. Motivations to become a teacher Being a teacher is important. I was inspired by my teachers. I love my subject and want to share it. I discovered that I love teaching. Because I love children.

10. De-motivations • Two key source of de-motivation were reported by teachers: • Teachers discourage teachers. Many students reported being discouraged, rather than encouraged, to enter the profession by the teachers they know. • Academics discourage teachers. Teaching is seen as a less important career than academia or industry. • This is of particular concern as the largest pool of potential new teachers in 3 – 5 years are in post-secondary education today.

11. Overall Satisfaction with Teaching Career

12. What influences Teacher Job Satisfaction?

13. Belief that teachers are valued and respected by: (Alberta Teachers, n = 1,212)

14. Overall Public Impressions • Mixed overall impression of teachers • Very positive: 9% • Positive: 47% • Neutral/DK: 35% • Negative: 9% • Very negative: 1% 56% 10%

16. The skill of teaching • The skill of teaching and the profession of teaching may be disconnected. Parents and students find it difficult to define or identify the professional skill of teaching. • Teachers define this skill as a challenge of problem-solving, persevering, and finding out how to teach/reach each child. The real skill of a teacher is not “teaching” as much as about getting learning to happen. Finding ways to help individuals learn. • Teaching is recognized as hard work, but people outside of the teaching profession do not understand what the work really looks like.

17. Teaching as a vocation • There is a strong belief among parents and in the general public that teaching is a calling or vocation, and that a strong part of this calling is about the nurturing of children. • This notion that teaching is a calling may be limiting and restricting, and likely forms a part of the group identity challenge (us and them) between educators and non-educators. Someone who loves science and wants to share the subject, for example, won’t be part of the “calling” group. • This notion of being a vocation also potentially limits the appeal of the profession for those who don’t think they have the calling.

18. Strengths of a rural teaching career • There are benefits of being a teacher in rural Alberta that are not always well considered or well marketed: • Schools are smaller and more intimate. • When you are in a small community, opportunities arrive more quickly than if you work in a city. • It is essential in small communities that new, young teaching professionals find a way to “belong” within the first couple of years.

19. The school community The peer community Small community retention is most likely to succeed when a new teacher builds relationships in all three communities. The local community Community Engagement

20. Potential strategies: • Well-organized and staffed mentor programs for starting teachers are clearly seen to have the most potential for success.

21. Local teacher education • If more teacher education can be available in smaller communities, we are more likely to keep people in those communities. • We just have to focus on educating the people in the north. Métis, Natives – so they can be the leaders. Take the education to them. For a lot of people going to university is stressful, bring the education to them. • There is a project in Lloydminster where a cohort of students is on site there, rather than attending U of C. Almost without exception those students want to stay in their community… and if they went to Calgary they might not go back.

22. The mentoring gap • Mentoring programs across the province range from very informal to very formal and structured. • There is evidence that there is an extremely large gap between how well stakeholders, including school board administrators, think mentoring and on-boarding is being done and how well teachers feel this is being done. • There were suggestions that mentoring should not to be restricted to other teaching professionals, but something that could be formally provided by the educational institutions.

23. The first 3 – 5 years • The early years are very tough. Support from leadership, or lack of it, can make or break a teacher’s career. Classroom management, discipline, and the management of non-academic issues are the key challenges for which teachers feel unprepared. • Team building in schools is mentioned as an important element of retention. New teachers benefit from having a supportive network of teachers to help them deal with new issues.

24. The desire for certainty • Probationary contracts create a lot of stress about evaluation. And they contribute to tension with administrators, potentially discouraging young teachers from seeking help. • The current climate with worries about job cuts will likely increase early career attrition. New teachers might love the job, and want to be doing it, but they will leave if they don’t think there will be a position for them.

25. Local school leadership is essential, but is this good enough? • Most other elements of attraction and retention are directly connected to the quality of the school leadership.

26. Management versus leadership • A school leader has two core roles: • Management – budgets, facilities, reporting • Leadership – building a learning community, inspiring staff • There is a perception that school administrations are focused on budgets rather than teacher support. • Teachers express concern that there is a conflict between evaluation and support. They are reluctant to seek support from the individual who is evaluating them.

27. Teacher Preparation • Teachers almost universally cite that they are least prepared for all of the non-teaching aspects of the classroom. • Almost everyone agrees that practicums are absolutely essential to teacher preparation. • If there is a gap in the practicum experience for many teachers, it is the first two weeks of September. Many students do not receive a practicum during this period.

28. Part Two: Inspiring Educators Teacher Workforce Marketing Plan May 18, 2011

29. Rationale • More students • Economic boom expected in 2012 • Enrollment in teaching programs declining • Attrition is a problem

30. Alberta Education Business Plan Attract the best possible candidates Get them high- performing faster Keep them engaged and learning longer

31. The Reality of Fiscal Constraint • The current fiscal environment presents a number of difficult challenges: • Funding for a marketing plan may be limited • Appetite to promote teaching during a time of constraint may be limited

32. Aligning with School Board Recruitment • Job-specific hiring • Seasonality • Recruiting tools • Types of positions • Web-centric • Emerging tools • The familiar rural challenge • Practicums • Not a primary career choice • Promising practices • College and Board reputation • A new generation of teachers

33. Conclusions • As the number of applications still exceeds the number of spaces, marketing is a low priority for teacher preparation colleges. • The quality, challenge and opportunities presented by a career in education has no profile.

34. The Opportunity • Today most recruiting activity happens on-line, though the decision to pursue a teaching career is the result of a host of personal decisions and social influences. • Focusing initial resources on online recruiting will have the most immediate impact. • Looking longer-term, a broader marketing effort is required to inspire young people to teach.

35. The strategic approach

36. Integrating with board recruiting initiatives

37. Integrating with board recruiting initiatives

38. Target audiences • Primary Target audience • High school students in Alberta • Undergraduate students in Alberta • Teacher preparation students across Canada • Secondary target audiences • Those who have the most influence over the primary audience • Those who might not have considered a career in teaching

39. Marketing goals • Inspire more Albertans to become teachers. • Motivate outstanding teaching graduates from Alberta and across Canada to choose a teaching career in Alberta. • Elevate the status of the teaching profession in Alberta.

40. Objectives • Teacher recruitment • Increase the number of students hired from teacher preparation institutions in Alberta and the top preparation institutions across the country. • be recognized as having the most attractive and most innovative education system (compared with other provinces).

41. Objectives • Teacher preparation program enrollment • Increase the number of applications into teacher programs in Alberta • Increase the average GPA of all applicants at teaching programs across Alberta. • Public perception • Improve the public perception of teaching

42. Mapping Marketing Strategies to Teaching Choice Career Funnel Teaching is stimulating work Helping Learning Happen is not for the Faint of Heart I want to teach in Alberta Inspiring Educators Recruitment Strategy High School / General Education Programs Teacher Colleges Alberta K-12 Inspiring Our Future – Teaching Talent Spotting I want to go into teaching

46. Partnership Opportunities • Alberta Education can enhance marketing activities by partnering with various education stakeholders. • Expand the reach of the marketing activities • Leverage added organizational resources i.e., people, funding, etc. • Increase the credibility of the message • Align objectives and marketing activities between stakeholders • Provide additional perspectives and ideas

47. Possible avenues for partnering • Content • Funding and co-branding • Implementation

48. Priority Initiatives • Inspiring educators • Develop the Inspiring Educators website to position Alberta as the best place in Canada to have a teaching career • Support the website with a search engine optimization campaign

49. Success Metrics • Teacher recruitment • Increase the number of students hired from top institutions in Alberta and across the country • Amongst education students and professors at the leading education faculties / teaching colleges in Canada, be recognized as having the most attractive and innovative education system compared with other provinces

50. Success Metrics • Teacher recruitment: • Teacher preparation program enrollment • Increase the number of applications into teacher programs in Alberta. • Increase the average GPA of all applicants at teaching programs across Alberta. • Public perception • Improve the public perception of teaching