Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Research in Education, Teaching and Learning, 2024
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Perceptions of High School Students Regarding the Teaching Profession
Robert J. Levesque, Marc Basque
ABSTRACT:
The problem of recruitment and retention of teachers in the school system is a provincial, national, and even international phenomenon. This can be explained by various causes such as teachers leaving the profession at the start of their careers, the high number of students experiencing difficulty in the classroom and the drop in the number of enrollments in post-secondary education. In connection with these causes, this study attempts to clarify students’ perceptions of the teaching profession to better understand the causes of the low enrollment rate in education programs. More specifically, this research analyzes students’ responses to assess their interest in the field of education and to identify the main advantages and disadvantages of enrolling in education. Methodologically, 424 semi-structured interviews were carried out with 11th and 12th grade students in 7 French-speaking high schools in New Brunswick (Canada). From the thematic analysis carried out with the NVivo software, three main advantages of a career in teaching emerged: vacations, being able to help young people and the social aspect of the profession. From these interviews, the three main disadvantages retained were: behavior management/discipline, additional work, and salary. The results of this study represent tangible avenues to rectify students’ false perceptions and thus optimizing their recruitment into the teaching profession.
keywords: recruitment; retention; teachers; discipline; vacation