University of Tübingen: Lateral entrants in schools are often less satisfied

Not only in Germany, but in many countries around the world there is a shortage of teachers. For this reason, lateral and lateral entrants are often employed at schools who originally completed a different type of training than a classic teaching degree. However, they are often less satisfied in their new job than their colleagues who have already decided to become an apprentice before or during their studies. “This can become a problem because job satisfaction is not only related to personal well-being, but also negatively to the quality of the teaching,” says Tim Fütterer from the Hector Institute for Empirical Educational Research at the University of Tübingen, who is involved in the study was. The findings were published in the journal Teaching and Teacher Educationreleased.

Teacher dissatisfaction at work can be associated with lower teaching quality and ultimately have a negative impact on student learning. “Furthermore, satisfied teachers stay in the job longer,” says Fütterer, which is an important goal in view of the ever-worsening shortage of staff in schools. Knowing that many teachers feel inadequately prepared by alternative certification programs, education policymakers could review the quality and effectiveness of entry and working conditions to avoid transition shocks and low job satisfaction. “That’s why it’s important to give lateral and lateral entrants intensive support during the transition phase, for example through mentoring and networking initiatives,”

The study used data from the PISA surveys of 2015 and 2018, in which teachers participated for the first time at an international level. Around 125,000 teachers from 13 countries and with an average of 16 years of professional experience reported on their job satisfaction. About two-thirds of them had undergone traditional training that enabled them to become teachers, one-third were career changers who completed an alternative certification program and were more or less prepared for their work with children and young people.

The scientists only evaluated data from countries that had participated in both PISA studies. In addition to Germany, these included the United States, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Peru, the United Arab Emirates, Korea and Taiwan. Also the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.