Ahead of Teacher Appreciation Week 2017, University of Phoenix College of Education commissioned an survey to better understand why America’s teachers enjoy teaching, what they struggle with on a day-to-day basis, and why they would recommend their profession to others.
The University of Phoenix survey of 1,001 U.S. full-time K-12 teachers conducted online in spring 2017, revealed that a high majority of teachers are satisfied with their career choice, and that they would also recommend their profession to others. However, as the nation faces a teacher shortage, our country’s educators are feeling the pressure in the classroom. The findings show that while teachers are generally happy, the shortage has led to larger class sizes and created high teacher turnover rates, among other issues. In fact, 41 percent of teachers reported at least one unfilled teaching position at their school.
Key Findings
A third of teachers are career changers
- 64% of educators agree that “real world” experience is a benefit of having a career changer lead the classroom
- 48% of teachers agree that career changers bring fresh ideas to the education environment
- 46% agree that career changers bring more teacher diversity to the school
- 42% responded that career changers add unique teaching styles and perspectives on the material being taught
- 85% of respondents who have been teaching for more than 20 years see the benefits to having career changers in the classroom
Teachers feel that they have more opportunities to assume leadership roles than in the past
- 47% of those who have worked five years or more in the profession say they have gotten more opportunities to assume leadership roles in the past five years
- Out of those, 56% serve on special committees
- Additional opportunities for leadership include mentoring (45%) and running special after-school programs (34%)