Presentation by Chloé Chimier, IIEP-UNESCO, for the CIES panel 'Addressing teacher motivation from a systemic perspective: learning from complementary initiatives.'

1. WIDENING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
AVAILABLE TO TEACHERS:
A ROAD TO ENHANCED
MOTIVATION?
Insights from New York City & South Africa
Chloé Chimier
IIEP-UNESCO Paris
c.chimier@iiep.unesco.org
Panel
Addressing teacher
motivation from a systemic
perspective: learning from
complementary initiatives
CIES 2018
Re-mapping global
education
Mexico City
25 – 29 March 2018

2. Why is it
relevant to study
teacher careers?
Ministry of Education across the globe face
similar challenges in terms of attracting and
retaining capable and motivated teachers.
How can we reverse this phenomena and
‘reprofessionalise’ the profession?
Motivation theories highlight a number of
variables that can be affected by the way
careers are organised. Teacher careers can
potentially act as a powerful leverage to
influence teacher motivation.
Many countries are in the process of
reforming their career structures, yet relatively
little information is available.

3. Zooming in on
horizontal
mobility
There is no consensus on how
to give greater recognition to
teachers.
Career structures offering
advancement opportunities to
teachers while allowing them
to stay in the classroom are
promising.
Lessons from New York City &
the Western Cape, South
Africa.

4. Intrinsic
motivation
matters
Teacher careers should encourage, not
undermine, intrinsic motivation.
It is difficult to validate the link between
the career structure and teacher
motivation.
Looking at 3 variables susceptible to
increase teacher motivation: agency;
teacher collaboration; opportunities for
continuous professional development.

5. Agency over
career choices
Teachers value having
opportunities to choose
between different career paths.
Teacher agency is constrained
by challenges in the
implementation of the career
structure.
Agency over improving
learning conditions and having
their voices heard appears to
be even more important to
teachers.
30%
41%
10%
7% 4% 5% 3%
Strongly
agree
Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly
disagree
No opinion No response
I have control over the direction my career takes me
n= 101; source: teacher questionnaire, South Africa case
study

6. Teacher
collaboration
In NYC, teacher collaboration has
substantially improved as a result
of the teacher career pathways
programme design and
implementation.
In South Africa, limited number of
promotional posts generate
competition among teachers.
“It’s a chance to facilitate and help
other teachers in their classroom.
Not being on an island. I collaborate
so much more with other teachers.
It’s made me a stronger teacher.
Peer Collaborative Teacher
New York City

7. Opportunities
for CPD
In NYC, a significant majority of
teachers reported that their
instructional practice had
improved as a result of working
with Teacher Leaders.
In South Africa, teachers
complain about the CPD not
being explicitly tied to the
teacher career.
Source: 2017 Eskolta survey
49%
29%
13%
5%
2% 2%
“Having teacher leaders in our school last year helped
me to build instructional capacity”
(n=245)
Strongly Agree
Agree
Somewhat Agree
Somewhat Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

8. Inferences on
teacher
motivation
Teachers willing to move
along the career ladder might
already be the most
motivated…
… but the career ladder gives
them satisfaction and
strengthens their intrinsic
motivation.
Teacher motivation is strongly
affected by the degree of
support teachers receive from
the system.
“We need better care from
teachers on the part of the
Department of Basic Education.
More incentives are needed but
these are not necessarily monetary.
Teacher
South Africa

9. Learnings from
implementation:
design & structure
1 Shifting from an
accountability frame to a
collaboration frame requires
time
Striking a balance between
support and accountability
structures…
… and keeping them
separate
Defining clear roles and
professional standards at
each level of the career
ladder
2
3
4

10. Learnings from
implementation:
administration &
management
1 Ensuring teacher buy-in
Ongoing monitoring and
adjusting of the policy
School leadership is key
Financial and human
constraints are the most
substantial limitations
2
3
4

11. Contact
information
Barbara Tournier & Chloé
Chimier
IIEP-UNESCO Paris
7-9 rue Eugène Delacroix, 75116 Paris,
France
+33 1 45 03 77 00
b.tournier@iiep.unesco.org
c.chimier@iiep.unesco.org
www.iiep.unesco.org
@IIEP_UNESCO