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Transition to Teaching: 
College Studies New Teachers’ Career Plans


School boards across the province are competing with each other and with a growing number of out-of-province recruiters to fill urgent needs for new probationary and occasional teachers. But how many of May’s 7,200 graduates from Ontario’s faculties of education are really available to Ontario’s schools?

College records show that about nine out of 10 new Ontario teacher education graduates joined the College of Teachers between 1998 and 2000. How many of these graduates are intent on a long-term teaching career?

Do they plan to teach in Ontario or elsewhere, in private or in public schools? Do some take a detour to teach first in another province or country, to complete a master’s degree or perhaps to travel before settling into their profession?

A recent U.S. study found that 39 per cent of their teacher education graduates between 1993 and 1997 chose not to go into teaching. Ontario’s high demand for new teachers underlines the critical need for improved knowledge of how many of our teacher education graduates look to alternatives to Ontario teaching in starting their careers, as well as better information about the career plans of those who do opt to teach in Ontario.

With the encouragement of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation and financial support from the Ministry of Education, the College recently began a longitudinal study of the transition from teacher education to teaching and the progress of new teachers’ careers in the first five years in the profession.

Do most of the new graduates headed directly for Ontario teaching get jobs? Do some qualifications lead more readily to a teaching job offer than others? How quickly do new graduates land that first job? Is it full-time or part-time? How many do occasional teaching first and for how long? How many choose to opt for part-time or occasional teaching, at least in the early years of their careers?

The first part of the study focuses on the initial career plans of the province’s 2001 teacher education graduates. With the co-operation of the province’s faculties of education, a survey was distributed to new graduates in June 2001. The results of this survey will shed light on the share of graduates available to Ontario’s schools for 2001-02, their short and long-term career plans, and the numbers who accepted early teaching job offers.

Data from other jurisdictions also raise concerns about the rate of losses to the profession in the early years of teaching.

Saskatchewan, for example, reports that 30 per cent of their teachers leave in the first five years. A recent Canadian Teachers’ Federation study found that 60 per cent of Ontario school boards believe that teacher retention is a problem.

Australia reports 50 per cent of working age teachers are not actively teaching. The National Education Association in the U.S. reports that 25 per cent of new teachers nation-wide leave teaching in the first five years, with loss rates as high as 50 per cent over three years in some urban areas.

Ontario data in this area is mainly anecdotal and impressionistic. Later stages of the College transition and early years study will document the early years career patterns, including losses to the teaching profession in Ontario.




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