UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION WINNEBA PHD VIVA PRESENTATION BY

UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA PHD VIVA PRESENTATION BY IGNATIUS KOFI FENU ON FACTORS INFLUENCING CAREER CHOICE AMONG TEACHER TRAINEES IN THE EASTERN REGION OF GHANA RESEARCH AREA: GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION • BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENT • PURPOSE • RESEARCH QUESTIONS • SIGNIFICANCE • REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE • METHODOLOGY • FINDINGS • CONCLUSION • IMPLICATIONS TO COUNSELLING • RECOMENDATIONS

BACKGROUND • A developmental task that confronts all individuals as they grow is the decision on the career path one wishes to pursue in life and how to develop it. The process is lifelong and each individual undertaking the process is confronted with several options. At the same time several factors influence them in the choice process and teaching as a profession is no exception

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM • The educational sector in Ghana is bedevilled with perpetual shortage of trained teachers in public basic schools couple with high attrition rate. Shortage - 40, 000, untrained teachers - 24000; attrition rate 10, 000 (Quansah, 2003; GNAT & TEWU, 2009). • • There is widespread belief that teachers only choose the teaching profession as a last resort career (Korb, 2010) and/or as a stepping stone to do something else (Cummings, 2012). There is the need to ascertain that claim. • Most researches on choice of teaching career are from the developed countries which does not take into consideration the cultural differences inherent in Africa and Ghana specifically.

PROBLEM STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Generally, most researches on the teaching profession concern teacher motivation, retention and attrition (Amanor, 2010; Mawutor, 2012). Only a few deal with choice of teaching career. • No research was spotted specifically on intentions of pre-service teachers after college. • Understanding the influences of pre-service teachers’ choices to teach or not to teach could help to more effectively recruit high-quality individuals and provide targeted strategies to help retain them in the teaching profession (Harms & Knobloch, 2005).

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY • The purpose of the study is to examine factors that influenced the career choice among teacher trainees in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study further delved into the intentions of the trainee teachers to stay in the service after training.

OBJECTIVES i. To find out the demographic characteristics of preservice teachers in the Eastern Region of Ghana. ii. Find out the extent to which familial, societal and motivational factors determine trainee teachers’ choice of teaching career? iii. Determine the extent to which trainee teachers are influenced by gender factors to choose teaching as a career. iv. What are the intention of trainee teachers after college?

RESEARCH QUETIONS i. What are the demographic characteristics of preservice teachers in the Eastern Region of Ghana? ii. To what extent do familial, societal and motivational factors determine trainee teachers’ choice of teaching career? iii. How does being male or female influence choice of career among teacher trainees? iv. What are trainee teachers’ intentions after college?

HYPOTHESIS 1. H 1: The demographic characteristics of pre-service teachers are statistically related to the choice of teaching as a career H 0: The demographic characteristics of pre-service students are not statistically related to the choice of teaching as a career 2. H 1: There is a significant association between familial, societal, intrinsic, extrinsic, altruistic factors and pre-service teachers’ choice of teaching as a profession. H 0: There is no significant association between familial, societal, intrinsic, extrinsic, altruistic factors and pre-service teachers’ choice of teaching as a profession. 3. H 0: There is no significant relationship between sex and the choice of teaching as a career. H 1: There is a significant relationship between sex and the choice of teaching as a career.

DELIMITATION AND LIMITATIONS • Delimitation The study is focused on finding the factors that influenced trainee teachers in choosing teaching as a profession. The study is further restricted to the second and third year trainees of the colleges of education in the Eastern Region of Ghana. • Limitations The sample size of 358 is small for generalisation Challenges with data collection

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK • Socio-cultural Theory by Blau, Gustav, Parmes and Wilcox (1956). This theory proposes a strong interrelationship of sociological and cultural determinants of occupational choice and development. The individual characteristic responsible for choice are biologically determined but are socially and cultural conditioned through family values, attitudes etc. • The Learning Theory of Careers Counselling by Krumboltz (1975) • The theory believes in the influence of life events in the choice of career. The main factors involved are: genetic endowments and special abilities environmental conditions and events learning experiences (instrumental and associative) task approach skills (Zunker, 2002

RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW • Empirical literature was reviewed under the following sub-themes The concept of career and career choice Factors that influence choice of career Intentions of preservice teachers to remain in the teaching field A brief overview of teacher education in Ghana over the years Conceptual framework

Choice of Teaching CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

METHODOLOGY • RESEARCH DESIGN • The study is a descriptive survey design which adopted the Mixed Method Approach in the collection and analysis of data, specifically the Sequential Explanatory Approach. • Figure: Mixed Method Sequential Explanatory Design. • Source:

METHODOLOGY CONTD • Paradigm: The study adopted the pragmatic paradigm that lean more towards the positivist orientation. • Population: All second and third year preservice teachers in the Colleges of Education constituted the accessible population. Total population was 1455, made up of 616 females and 839 males. • Sample size: 350 teacher trainees for the survey and 8 preservice teachers for the follow-up interview (PCE-95, PWCE- 80, SEDATCO- 90, MOMACO- 85) • Sampling Technique: The Multi-stage and Purposive Sampling techniques

METHODOLOGY CONTD • Instruments: Questionnaire and Interview Schedule • Pilot Testing: the instrument was piloted on 40 pre-service teachers. Based on factor loading, Eight factors were considered namely familial, situational, altruistic, peer pressure, intrinsic, teacher influence, socio-economic and extrinsic and summarised as: • Familial • Societal • Motivational • Validity: Validity is concerned with the extent to which the instrument would measure what it intends to measure. The content, construct and face validity were considered as follows:

METHODOLOGY CONTD Content: questionnaire strictly covered all objectives, review by 2 supervisors and peers, and removal of ambiguous questions identified. Construct: Pilot testing (factor loading) and scrutiny by supervisors and peers Face: clear print out, appropriate difficulty levels of questions, clear and unambiguous instructions, spellings, • Reliability: i. Test-retest strategy ii. the Crombach Alpha values (Familial - 0. 769, Societal – 0. 756, Intrinsic – 0. 726, Extrinsic – 0. 703 and Altruistic – 0. 806).

METHODOLOGY CONTD • Trustworthiness of the Interview schedule: Use of Triangulation: collection and anlaysis of data sequentially (use of questionnaire followed by Interview) Participants checked data gathered after transcription. Credibility: Use of multiple tools to gather data Supervisor and peer review of instrument and qualitative results • Data Collection: Questionnaire: Group administration Interview Schedule: face-to-face interview

METHODOLOGY CONTD • ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Approval of research topic from the School of Research and Graduate Studies; informed consent was sought; respondents names were not sought (confidentiality); ; freedom of respondents to participate or pull out of the research (voluntary participation) • Data Analysis: • Quantitative Data: Use of IBM/SPSS version 23 statistical software. Data from the research questions were analysed descriptively To test the hypotheses: The main statistical Chi-square test of independence was used for the univariete analysis and logistic regressions were used for the multivariate analysis.

METHODOLOGY CONTD • Analysis of Qualitative Data: Thematic Analysis Approach Transcription of verbal and audio data Coding of transcribed data Themes and sub-themes were formed based on patterns emerging from transcribed data based on research questions Narrative descriptions of factors Interpretations and conclusions were drawn Selected comments were provided to aid communication and understanding

• FINDINGS: QUANTITATIVE Choice of teaching career: 55. 9% did not choose teaching as first career. Prominent careers chosen first were health and security. • Research Question 1: Demographic characteristics of preservice teachers Most respondents were above 21 years (20. 3%); they had aggregates 15 and above which qualifies Most preservice teachers were from low socio-economic

FINDINGS: QUANTITATIVE • Intentions to Stay • 50% were interested in staying after college within the first five years • Reasons why 50% wanted to leave the service: Do business in addition to teaching Further education • Factors that could influence respondents to stay: Working condition Level of salary Opportunity for advancement

FINDINGS: QUANTITATIVE • Hypothesis 1: Demographic factors Two demographic factors: previous experience (χ²=20. 633, p-value = 0. 001). mothers educational level (χ² =18. 911, p< value = 0. 001). Hypothesis 2: Societal Influence Teaching as a last resort (χ²=55. 252, p-value = 0. 001) Teachers conduct in public (χ² =7. 788, p-value = 0. 005) • Hypothesis 2: Familial Factors Parental influence: Mother: (χ² = 4. 722, p = 0. 030); Father: χ² = 10. 000, p = 0. 002) friends in college (χ² = 5. 702, pvalue = 0. 017)

FINDINGS: QUANTITATIVE • Hypothesis 2: Extrinsic Motivational • Hypothesis 2: Intrinsic Motivational Factors Love for teaching (χ 2=41. 867, p = 0. 001) Need to attain higher level of autonomy (χ 2= 20577, p= 0. 001) Feeling of personal fulfilment (χ 2= 4. 406, p-value= 0. 036) It fits my personality (χ 2= 34. 86, p = 0. 001) Factors Secure source of income (χ 2= 20. 282, pvalue = 0. 001) Ability to combine teaching with academic work (χ 2= 18. 432, p value = 0. 001) Combination of teaching with academic work (χ 2=, p-value = 0. 001) More time with the family (χ 2= 19. 092, pvalue= 0. 001) Shorter working hours (χ 2=30. 853 p-value = 0. 001) Holidays to take care of family (χ 2= 17. 259, p = 0. 001)

FINDINGS: QUANTITATIVE • Motivational Factors: Altruistic Factors Chance to share knowledge with others (χ² =7. 074 p = 0. 008) Prepare young generation for national development (χ² = 4. 951, p = 0. 026) Contribution to economic development (χ² = 7. 055, p = 0. 008) Work with children and adolescents (χ² =6. 733, p = 0. 009) • Hypothesis 3: Sex Influence No significant relationship between sex and choice of teaching (χ² =3. 056, p= 0. 08 Most respondents believe that teaching was better for females than males (χ 2=4. 945, p =0. 026). Females get enough time for family, know how to take care of kids Salaries for males is too small.

LOGISTIC REGRESSION RESULTS SIGNIFICANT NOT SIGNGIFICANT • Teaching status before college entry • Aggregate used to enter college • Teaching as last resort • Mothers educational level • Influence of friends in college • Parental influence • It fits my personality • Teachers conducts in public • Pleasure working with children • Shorter working hours • Wish to gain higher level of autonomy • Personal fulfilment

FINDINGS: QUALITATIVE • Research question 1: What factors influenced trainee teachers to choose teaching career • Family Influence: familial factors influenced most of the participants to choose teaching especially as a means to an end also due to cost of other tertiary courses. My father influenced me to college because going to fashion design school will be more costly. My mum asked me to comply so that I can divert later after I am working and can meet the cost (PWCE, L 200). • Societal Influence: Teachers, peers, and other opinion leaders were influential in participants’ choice of teaching career My teacher at the secondary school advised me based on his personal experience to choose teaching, at least as a stepping stone since my result could not offer me the course I wished to pursue at the university. He was of the view that entering teaching will enable me improve on my grades before I complete the college and in reality I have achieved that. I entered with aggregate 24 but I currently hold aggregate 10 (Level 200, PCE)”

FINDINGS: QUALITATIVE • Teaching as last resort: Half of the participants chose teaching as last resort • “Yes that is true. Because I earlier on got admitted to Bumso Agric School but my father could not raise money to pay for my fees so I had no option but to enter the college the next year as a last resort” (MOMACO, L 200). • Social Status of teachers: Participants were influenced in some way by the status of teachers to choose teaching “Socially, people do not respect them as people who have money and from close observation it is true that teachers don’t have anything. That was why I originally chose Agric although my parents were interested in teaching” (MOMACO, L 200). • Other motivating factors: Love for teaching, job security, teaching as a call, contribution towards eradication of illiteracy and ability to impact knowledge.

FINDINGS: QUALITATIVE • Gender Influence: No gender influence but teaching was considered to be better for females “No. I was not influenced at all by my gender. I however feel that teaching is more suitable for females because they will be able to get enough time for their husbands, children and other domestic chores” (PCE, L 200). Research Question 4: What are trainee teachers intentions about staying in the teaching profession • Intentions to Stay: Most participants intend to leave the profession I intend to leave teaching at a time because it disturbs a lot when you remain in teaching for too long compared to other disciplines. So it’s better to leave at a point (MOMACO, L 200). • Plans for the next five years: almost all the participants intended to further their education in the next five years: “Even if I wish to leave the teaching field I will like to teach at the secondary school in the next five years. Then I will do my masters” (MOMACO, L 300) My plan is that in the next five years, I will have my masters” (PCE, 300)

CONCLUSION • Most pre-service teachers chose teaching as last resort or as stepping stone to pursue other objectives like further education. Altruistic and intrinsic factors were the predominant determinants of choice of teaching. However, half of preservice teachers intend to leave the teaching field if conditions are not improved. There is therefore the need to harness the those factors that influenced them while they are as well properly inducted into the teaching field to reduce the high attrition rates.

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING IMPLICATIONS • The role of professional counsellors in the applicant recruitment procedures of trainee teachers • Professional counselling in colleges of education to nurture intrinsic and altruistic motivational factors during the three years of training. • The choice of teaching as last resort implies that professional counsellors must extend their services to newly trained teachers through induction or orientation programmes in order to curb attrition of newly trained teachers.

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING • The influence of teachers IMPLICATIONS conducts and social status on career choice: school counsellors need to update their knowledge on how to handle issues on teacher conducts and problems (i. e. stress etc). • Parental influence on career choice: It provides opportunity for school counselling units to develop programmes to orient parents on career options available to their parents and their role as parents in the process. • Professional counselling is needed for teachers to help them develop strategies for dealing with their personal challenges and also how to deal with the students.

RECOMMENDATIONS • Improvement in the remuneration and other conditions within the Ghana Education Service to attract and retain very qualified and committed people into the service. • Seminars, workshops and programmes must be organised for parents to enlighten them on career choices and available programmes and the qualifications required. • It is recommended that the trainee teacher’s allowances be restored while cost of teacher education be reduced drastically • programmes like the Community Teaching Module of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA’s) must be encouraged serve as a stepping stone for those who are interested in entering teaching.

RECOMMENDATIONS • They must eschew all conducts that could present the teaching profession in bad light. • The guidance and counselling units in the second cycle schools must be well resourced so that they can properly orient students to make informed career choices • At the colleges, efforts must be made to harness the intrinsic and altruistic values that influenced preservice teachers to choose teaching • Development and implementation of proper induction programmes for new teachers to settle better and overcome initial challenges as beginning teachers

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