2009 Survey

2009 Survey Results

survey conducted by COMPAS Inc

Methodology: Professionally Speaking commissioned COMPAS Inc – a public opinion and customer research firm – to conduct a representative sample survey via telephone of 1,001 teachers. The overall results are deemed accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Rounding: Due to rounding rules concerning survey results, percentages for some questions may not add up to 100 per cent.

Wording and order of questions may have been modified for brevity and presentation. For original questions, methodology and full results, please refer to the report at www.compas.ca/teaching-profession.

Professional standards

How familiar are you with the College’s standards of practice and ethical standards?

percentages
very much   very little 
MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
the ethical standards 3.5 19 33 29 10 8 1
the standards of practice 3.4 18 32 28 11 9 2

How much do you use the standards in your decision making and professional activities?

percentages
very much   very little 
MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
the ethical standards 3.8 35 30 15 6 8 7
the standards of practice 3.8 29 33 15 7 8 8

How much would you say education administrators use:

percentages
very much   very little 
MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
the ethical standards 3.9 24 38 18 5 3 12
the standards of practice 3.8 22 37 20 5 3 13

How much do the ethical standards reflect your personal values as a teacher?

percentages
very much   very little 
MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
4.3 44 37 8 1 1 9

Additional Qualifications

When did you complete your most recent AQ course?

percentages
all Licensed fewer than 5 years Licensed 5 years or more
currently enrolled in one 9 26 5
within the last year 22 49 15
within the last three years 23 22 23
within the last 10 years 28 2 35
more than 10 years ago 18 1 23
DNK/no opinion 1 1 0

How would you prefer to take an AQ course?

percentages
all Licensed fewer than 5 years Licensed 5 years or more
traditional in-class course 40 34 42
online course 34 47 30
blend of distance and face-to-face instruction 20 14 21
correspondence course 3 3 3
DNK/no opinion 3 3 3

If you could take an AQ course that used streamed video that you could access any time of the day or night, would you be more likely or less likely to enrol in that AQ?

A
a lot more likely
B
somewhat more likely
C
about the same
D
somewhat less likely
E
a lot less likely
DNK
/ no opinion

Why would you take AQ courses?

percentages
to improve my teaching practice 82
to keep current with new research 70
to prepare for a new assignment 67
for personal interest 66
to move up the salary grid 56
DNK/no opinion 2

Please rate each of the following aspects of the most recent AQ course you took.

percentages
very high   very low
MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
use of the most current research in the field at the time 4.0 33 39 17 4 3 5
use of the most current provincial legislation and policy initiatives at the time 3.9 31 31 18 6 3 11
use of best practices in instruction 3.9 28 36 20 6 3 7
use of the standards of practice and the ethical standards as part of the course instruction and discussion 3.6 22 28 22 9 7 12
helped me to establish networks with fellow teachers for ongoing dialogue and professional development 3.3 22 24 22 14 14 5

Associate teaching

Have you been an associate teacher?

percentages
  all Licensed fewer than 5 years Licensed 5 years or more
yes 46 8 58
no 53 90 41
DNK/no opinion 1 2 1

If yes, how often?

A
once
B
two to three times
C
four to five times
D
more than five times
DNK
/ no opinion

If yes, when were you most recently an associate teacher?

A
within the last year
B
within the last three years
C
within the last 10 years
D
longer
DNK
/ no opinion

Speaking personally, which of the following eight reasons to volunteer as an associate teacher do you find most persuasive? Which is the second most persuasive reason?

percentages
Most Persuasive Second Most Persuasive
to help new teachers get the best possible preparation 43 20
to give back to my profession 18 22
to refresh my own teaching practice by learning new ideas from recent graduates 17 24
to gain experience as a mentor 6 7
enjoy working with teacher educators at the faculty of education 5 8
to get some help in my classroom 4 8
free tuition for Additional Qualification courses 4 6
the stipend from the faculty of education 1 3
DNK/no opinion 3 4

What is the most persuasive reason for not working as an associate teacher? What is the second most persuasive reason?

percentages
Most Persuasive Second Most Persuasive
too much extra work 44 28
disrupts my classroom 27 27
faculty support is inadequate 13 14
compensation is not worth it 10 19
faculty does not appreciate my input 6 13
*
DNK/no opinion 31 45

*The percentages above the shaded line are based on the number of respondents who volunteered valid responses, while the percentages below the shaded line are based on the total number of respondents.

Are you likely to work as an associate teacher in the future?

percentages
  all Licensed fewer than 5 years Licensed 5 years or more
definitely 33 39 31
probably 27 41 23
maybe 6 6 6
probably not 13 8 15
definitely not 19 3 24
DNK/no opinion 3 3 3

Election

The College recently held an election to fill seats on the College Council reserved for members of the teaching profession. For 17 of the 23 positions only one candidate stood for election, so those positions were filled by acclamation.

In your opinion why don’t more teachers run to represent their peers on the College Council?

percentages
  all Licensed fewer than 5 years Licensed 5 years or more
Teachers have too many other commitments. 40 39 40
Serving on the College Council would require too much time away from school. 23 27 21
The College is not relevant to teachers. 15 6 17
Many teachers don’t know how to run or get involved with Council. 13 22 10
Only federation-endorsed candidates will win the election. 3 1 4
The nomination form is too complex and time-consuming. 3 2 3
DNK/no opinion 5 3 5

Only 2.2 per cent of College members voted in the Council election. Which of the following are the best and second-best explanations of why more teachers didn’t vote?

percentages
Best explanation Second-best explanation
all Licensed fewer than 5 years Licensed 5 years or more All
They don’t know enough about the candidates. 53 62 50 22
The College is not relevant to teachers. 23 13 26 16
They want to vote only for candidates in their own region or school system. 11 11 11 18
Federation-endorsed candidates are going to win anyway. 5 3 5 11
Candidates they would have voted for were acclaimed. 3 2 3 8
They don’t have computer access to the College’s online voting system. 1 2 1 4
DNK/no opinion 5 6 5 22

Professionally Speaking

Which of the following action(s), if any, have you taken after reading an article or advertisement in Professionally Speaking?

percentages
discussed the information with a colleague or friend 75
kept the magazine for reference 67
visited a web site 67
applied an idea in my classroom 61
attended a course 17
attended an event/attraction 17
purchased a product or service 17
called for more information 13
considered writing a letter to the editor 10
DNK/no opinion 7

Communication

How useful is each of the following sources of information about the College?

percentages
very high   very low
MEAN 5 4 3 2 1 DNK
annual certificate mailing 3.7 37 22 19 9 11 2
speaking with colleagues 3.6 35 24 21 9 11 1
Professionally Speaking 3.6 27 32 26 8 7 1
the College web site 3.4 25 26 23 12 11 3
e-mails from the College 3.0 14 24 26 13 20 4
information provided by other organizations 2.6 6 17 31 19 22 6

Thirty-seven per cent of the poll’s respondents fit within the 35 to 49 age category, followed by 31 per cent aged 50 to 64. Almost a quarter of those who responded were 25 to 34 years old. Seventy-three per cent were female, 27 per cent male, and the average respondent had 15 years of teaching experience.

COMPAS Inc reached over 1,000 randomly chosen College members by telephone in June and July. The poll results have a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points and are considered accurate 19 times out of 20.
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