Choosing to Teach
A comparison of context-specific teacher education programs preparing beginning teachers to serve in Jewish, Catholic and urban public schools
Now available: Inspiring Teaching: Preparing Teachers to Succeed in Mission-Driven Schools (Harvard Education Press)
"Choosing to Teach: Enacting Values in Practice" was a research study that offered a more nuanced understanding of what draws people into teaching and what keeps them there. It explored how their work as teachers intersects with their personal background, teacher preparation, school context and evolving personal and professional selves to shape their practice and commitments.
The "Choosing" study was jointly designed by the Mandel Center and the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame (ACE). The study focused on beginning teachers in Jewish, Catholic and urban public schools who have chosen to prepare to teach in mission-driven, context-specific teacher education programs.
We investigated new teachers' decisions to teach, their decisions to become trained in particular teacher education programs (DeLeT at Brandeis University, ACE at University of Notre Dame and Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP) at University of Chicago), and their decisions to teach in particular schools. Data for this qualitative study included interviews with 30 beginning teachers (10 in each program) at two points in time (after their second and fourth years in teaching) and interviews with program directors, focus group conversations with program faculty, classroom observations and interviews with school principals.
All in all, our collaborative investigation discovered the impact of context-specific teacher education programs on the ways teachers:
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teach in their specific schools,
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develop career commitments to their respective fields of education, and
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form their religious and professional identities.
The study grew out of a three-day retreat in May 2005 that brought together a small group of DeLeT (Day School Leadership Through Teaching) teachers and faculty and a small group of University of Notre Dame’s ACE (Alliance for Catholic Education) teachers and faculty (30 in all).
A follow-up retreat was held in April 2008.
Research Work
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Matsko, K. K., & Hammerness, K. (2014). Unpacking the “Urban” in Urban Teacher Education: Making a Case for Context-Specific Preparation. Journal of Teacher Education 65(2).
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Tamir, E. (2013). Choosing teaching as a career in urban public Catholic and Jewish schools by graduates of elite colleges. Journal of Educational Change.
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Tamir, E. (2013). What keeps teachers in and what drives them out: Findings from a longitudinal comparative case-based study of beginning teachers in urban-public, urban-Catholic and Jewish day schools. Teachers College Record 115(6).
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Hammerness, K., & Matsko, K. K. (2013). When context has content: A case study of new teacher induction in the University of Chicago’s Urban Teacher Education Program. Urban Education 48(4), 557-584.
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Watzke, J. L., & Valencia, F. M. M. (2011). Reinvention and context: Freirean approaches to pedagogical dialogue in Catholic, Jewish, and public schools. Religion & Education 38(2), 141-164.
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Tamir, E. (2010). The retention question in context-specific teacher education: do beginning teachers and their program directors see teachers’ future career eye to eye? Teaching and Teacher Education 26(3), 665-678.
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Tamir, E. (2009). Choosing to Teach in Urban Schools among Graduates of Elite Colleges. Urban Education 44(5), 522-544.
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Tamir, E., Watzke, J., Kardos, S. M., and Feiman-Nemser, S. (2007). Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP) Report.
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Tamir, E. (2013, April). School support for beginning teachers through the eyes of principals. Paper accepted for Division A paper session. American Educational Research Association (AERA). San Francisco, California.
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Tamir, E. (2012, April). The decision to teach in urban public urban Catholic and Jewish schools among elite college graduates. Division K. American Educational
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Choosing to Teach Symposium (2010, May). American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. Symposium included the following presentations:
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Feiman-Nemser, S. and Tamir, E. The Role of Context in Preparing Jewish Day School Teachers: The Case of DeLeT (Brandeis University)
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Dallavis, C. and Holter, A. Preparing Teachers for the Catholic School Context: The Case of ACE (University of Notre Dame)
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Matsko, K. and Hammerness, K. What’s Urban about Urban Teacher Preparation? A Case Study of the Urban Teacher Education Program (University of Chicago)
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Grinberg, J. The Role of Context in Progressive Teacher Education: A Historical Case Study of Bank Street (Montclair State University)
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Discussant: Pam Grossman, Stanford University
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Tamir, E. (2009, October). Choosing to teach among DeLeT teachers. Invited presentation, Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, Brandeis University. and
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Tamir, E. and Feiman Nemser, S. (2009, July). Choosing to teach among ACE teachers. Invited presentation, Alliance for Catholic Education, University of Notre Dame.
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Tamir, E. (2009, April). What Keeps Teachers In and What Drives Them Out: A Longitudinal Comparative Study of Beginning Teachers in Urban-Public, Urban-Catholic, and Jewish Day Schools. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego.
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Feiman-Nemser, S. (2009, January). Identity Formation in Teacher Education: A Comparative Study. Paper presented at the International Conference on Multiple Identities in Jewish Education: Fifth International Conference of The Israel Association of Research in Jewish Education.
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Hammerness, K. (2009, January). Visions of Good Teaching and the Development of Teacher Identity. Paper presented at the International Conference on Multiple Identities in Jewish Education: Fifth International Conference of The Israel Association of Research in Jewish Education.
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Horowitz, B. (2009, January). Jewish and Professional Identity Formation. Paper presented at the International Conference on Multiple Identities in Jewish Education: Fifth International Conference of The Israel Association of Research in Jewish Education.
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Tamir, E. (2009, January). Professionalizing teacher identity in urban, catholic, and Jewish schools. Paper presented at the International Conference on Multiple Identities in Jewish Education: Fifth International Conference of The Israel Association of Research in Jewish Education.
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Feiman-Nemser, S. and Tamir, E. (2008, June). Context specific teacher education: Identity, coherence, and career commitment. Invited presentation. The Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, Brandeis University.
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Hammerness, K. (2008, March). Examining Coherence in Context-Specific Teacher Preparation Programs: Looking for Alignment Across Program Goals, Teachers’ Goals for Students, and Opportunities to Learn. Paper presented in Division K, American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York City, 2008.
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Tamir, E. (2007, August). Choosing to teach or choosing to lead: Elite colleges’ and preparation of urban teachers. Paper presented to the American Sociological Association (ASA), New York City.
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Tamir E. and Elkind J. (2007, January). A Beginning Profile of the DeLeT Fellow's Jewish Identity. Invited presentation. The Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, Brandeis University.