Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543

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Teaching and Teacher Education

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

Pre-service and beginning teachers’ professional identity

and its relation to dropping out of the profession
Ji Y. Hong*
University of Oklahoma, Department of Educational Psychology, Collings Hall Room 305, 820 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019-2041, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study explores different perceptions of pre-service and beginning teachers’ professional identity in
Received 3 July 2008 relation to their decisions to leave the profession. Teachers’ professional identity was further broken
Received in revised form down into six factors: value, efficacy, commitment, emotions, knowledge and beliefs, and micropolitics.
18 May 2010
This study employed mixed-methods which included 84 participant surveys, and 27 interviews from four
Accepted 2 June 2010
groups of participants at different stages of teaching. The findings of this study showed that pre-service
teachers tended to have naïve and idealistic perceptions of teaching, and dropout teachers showed most
Keywords:
emotional burnout. Implications for improvement of teacher education and retention of beginning
Teachers’ professional identity
Teacher attrition
teachers are discussed.
Teacher emotion Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Pre-service teacher education
Teachers’ professional development

1. Introduction which has an increasing attrition rate (Changying, 2007). Although

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future
(1996) has noted the “need to hire more than two million teachers
to handle huge enrollment increases, replace an aging teacher
workforce ready to retire, and respond to the chronic attrition of
new teachers that plagues American schools” (p. 8). In spite of such
a growing need, sizable proportions of teachers have left the
profession. According to the National Commission on Teaching and
America’s Future (2003), the attrition rate of teachers has increased
faster than the supply of teachers. In particular, the group of greatest
concern in the area of teacher attrition is beginning teachers. In the
U.S., 30e50% of new teachers leave the field within their first five
years (Ingersoll, 2003; Quality Counts, 2000). The Alliance for
Excellent Education (2004) reported alarming attrition rates: 14%
of new teachers leave by the end of their first year, 33% leave within
three years, and 50% leave within five years. This high rate of teacher
attrition has been reported not only in the U.S., but also in other
countries around the world. For example, the Ministerial Council on
Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (2003)
acknowledged teacher shortages in Australia and predicted
continued teacher shortages until 2012. Similar trends have been
reported in England, which has a consistent vacancy rate
(Department for Education and Skills, 2005) and also in China,
* Tel.: þ1 405 325 1067; fax: þ1 405 325 6655.
E-mail address: jyhong@ou.edu
statistical data vary depending on the research site and data
collection methods used, research on teacher attrition has consis-
tently indicated a high rate of new teacher attrition worldwide
(Changying, 2007; Darling-Hammond, 1999; DeWert, Babinski, &
Jones, 2003; DfES, 2005; Haberman & Rickards, 1990; MCEETYA,
2003; Quartz, 2003; Weiss, 1999).
Having such a high attrition rate places a considerable burden
on schools and students, and impacts school effectiveness overall. It
disrupts program continuity and planning, and also brings signifi-
cant financial costs to school districts in recruiting and managing
teachers. Public schools spend over 2.6 billion dollars annually
replacing teachers. Given this problem, a number of researchers
have explored the reasons that teachers leave schools in such high
numbers (e.g., Cockburn, 2000; Fresko, Kfir, & Nasser, 1997;
Ingersoll, 2001; Reynolds, Ross, & Rakow, 2002; Theobald, 1990;
Weiss, 1999). However, existing studies have focused on either
demographic characteristics of the individual teachers such as
gender, age, ethnicity, or marital status (Bobbitt, Faupel, & Burns,
1991; Boe, Bobbitt, Cook, Whitener, & Weber, 1997; Smith &
Ingersoll, 2004; Theobald, 1990), or school characteristics such as
average class size, expenditure, poverty enrollment, student
demographics, and minority enrollment (Bloland & Selby, 1980;
Heyns, 1988; Mont & Rees, 1996; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004).
These studies have provided useful information in under-
standing high attrition rates, but are limited in fully explaining the
phenomenon because decision-making and particular career prac-
tices are deeply intertwined with an individual’s meaning-making

0742-051X/$ e see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.003
 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
process and internal value system. Neither demographic charac-
teristics nor school contexts can adequately explain how teachers
perceive their classroom and school experiences, how they inter-
nalise their external conditions, how their career influence their
perceptions of themselves as teachers and how these thoughts and
experiences independently or collectively impact their decisions to
leave the teaching profession. Thus, this study explores teacher
attrition and related issues as a function of the individual teacher’s
perceptions of himself/herself as a teacher and of the teaching
profession. Under the same working conditions, individual teachers
react in different ways and make different decisions. Therefore, it is
important that we consider the individual teacher’s values and
meanings so we may come to a better understanding of the deci-
sion-making process and related consequences to teaching
(Chapman & Hutcheson, 1982; Van den Berg, 2002). In addition,
a teacher’s decision to discontinue teaching is generally not an
immediate choice resulting from a single event. Rather, such
a career decision tends to be closely associated with the teacher’s
own sense of self and identity as a teacher, which have been con-
structed, challenged, and modified throughout pre-service teacher
education and in-service teaching experience. Thus, in exploring
teacher attrition, it is essential to focus on the continuously devel-
oping teacher identity, which may lie behind the dropout
phenomenon.
1.1. Teachers’ professional identity
Teachers’ professional identity is an important factor in under-
standing their professional lives and career decision making.
Existing studies across countries have considered teachers’
professional identity as a key factor in teachers’ motivation, effec-
tiveness and retention (Avalos & Aylwin, 2007; Day, Elliot, &
Kington, 2005; Day, Kington, Stobart, & Sammons, 2006; Lasky,
2005; Van den Berg, 2002). This is because the ‘self’ is crucial in
constructing the way we interact with the environment and make
judgments in a given context. As Watson (2006) stated, “profes-
sional action is doing professional identity” (p. 510). In other words,
the way we perceive ourselves influences our choice of action and
judgment. Thus, understanding teachers’ professional identity is
important for gaining insight into the essential aspects of teachers’
professional lives such as their career decision making, motivation,
job satisfaction, emotion, and commitment.
Researchers in the area of professional identity have yet to
develop a comprehensive understanding of how teachers establish
a framework to guide their actions and judgments (Beijaard, Meijer,
& Verloop, 2004; Beijaard, Verloop, & Vermunt, 2000). Early on,
researchers conceptualised the self as a singular, fixed, stable, and
decontextualised attribute that was fairly independent from the
external environment (Allport, 1955; Cooley, 1902). However, these
initial views were challenged, because they could not explain the
diversity and changes in behaviour depending on context. Conse-
quently, researchers have begun to think about identity as
a dynamic, continually changing, and active process which
develops over time through interaction with others (Cooper &
Olson, 1996; Kelchtermans, 1993; Lemke, 2003; Watson, 2006). In
particular, the relational aspect of identity has been emphasised in
recent studies (Johnson, 2003), because identity is continually
being formed and reformed through the way we internalise the
external environment, negotiate interactions, and externalise
ourselves to others.
This idea of a relational aspect of identity is aligned with the
perspective of symbolic interactionism. Mead explained that, “The
self is something which has a development; it is not initially there,
at birth, but arises in the process of social experience and activity”
(Mead & Morris, 1934, p. 135). In other words, humans act and
1531
interact on the basis of meaning and this is a result of interpretation
of the objects involved, which is a social and interactive process.
Thus, if an individual interacts in a particular setting on a daily
basis, then he or she is more likely to handle the meaning in the
interpretive framework shared by the people in that setting. Given
this idea, Beijaard et al. (2000) explained professional identity as
something established and maintained through the interaction in
social situations and negotiation of roles within the particular
context. Therefore, teachers who share their experience in the
teaching profession and pre-service teachers who are trained and
exposed to teaching practices shape their professional identity as
a teacher in relation to the interactions.
Besides this relational aspect of identity, it is also important to
consider the developmental aspect in studying teachers’ profes-
sional identity as something developed over time. A number of
researchers have studied how teachers develop their sense of self as
a teacher (Berliner, 1988; Bullough & Knowles, 1990; Bullough &
Knowles, 1991; Fuller, 1969; Fuller & Bown, 1975; Huberman,
1985, 1989, 1993; Kagan, 1992). For example, Fuller and Bown
(1975) developed four stages depending on the sequence of
concerns. Later, Berliner (1988) suggested five stages centred on
their cognition and related classroom behaviours. In line with this
effort, Kagan (1992) reviewed existing studies on teacher growth
and confirmed that teachers tend to change over time in terms of
their behaviours, knowledge, beliefs, or image as a teacher. Addi-
tionally, researchers have tried to cluster similar patterns of teacher
characteristics and contexts into developmental stages. Teachers in
each stage go through different issues and tasks and thus it is
necessary to consider their developmental change in under-
standing teachers’ emerging identity and decision making. In an
attempt to gain a better understanding of teachers’ professional
identity given these aspects, Beijaard et al. (2004) reviewed 22
studies that dealt with teachers’ professional identity. Although
their review provided invaluable understanding and insights, it also
showed that not enough research has been accumulated to
generate indisputable agreement on the definition and core tenets
of teachers’ professional identity. This lack of an empirical and
theoretical foundation has led researchers to try to identify major
components that constitute teachers’ professional identity in rela-
tion to particular research emphases. For example, Kelchtermans’
research (1993) focused on exploring teachers’ lives and their
professional development, and listed five interrelated parts of
professional identity: self-image, self-esteem, job-motivation, task
perception and future perspective. In addition, Lasky (2003)
studied teacher vulnerability in relation to reform mandates, and
identified several factors included in teacher identity such as
commitment, knowledge, beliefs, values, emotional well-being, and
vulnerability.
In line with these efforts, the current study also attempts to
identify several factors that may constitute pre-service and begin-
ning teachers’ professional identity and their decision to dropout.
Throughout the process of reviewing U.S. and international
scholars’ works in the field of teacher education and educational
psychology, major psychological factors emerged that are related to
teachers’ career pursuit, decision making and goal commitment.
These six factors include value (Eccles et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles,
1992; Wigfield & Eccles, 2002), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1986,
1993; Pajares, 1996; Pajares, 2000; Pajares, Miller, & Johnson,
1999), commitment (Blustein, Ellis, & Devenis, 1989; Choi & Tang,
2009; Elliott & Crosswell, 2002; Nias, 1981; Serow, 1994; Tyree,
1996), emotions (Ballantyne, 2007; Hargreaves, 1998; Maslach &
Jackson, 1984, 1986; Zembylas, 2003, 2004), knowledge and
beliefs (Ashton & Gregoire, 2003; Borko & Putnam, 1996; Grossman,
1990; Hoy, Davis, & Pape, 2006; Shulman, 1986a, 1986b, 1987), and
micropolitics (Ball, 1994; Van den Berg, 2002). These six influential
1532 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
factors formed the theoretical constructs I examine in the current
study.
Given this understanding of beginning teachers’ high attrition
rate, and teachers’ professional identity and its related components,
this study seeks to answer the following questions: How do people
in different levels of the teaching profession (i.e., pre-service
teachers before student-teaching, pre-service teachers after
student-teaching, beginning teachers who have five years experi-
ence or less, and beginning teachers who have left the teaching
profession) perceive their professional identity as a teacher?; are
their value, efficacy, commitment, emotion, knowledge and beliefs,
and micropolitics different?; if they are different, how are they
different? The findings of this study have provided meaningful
insights into beginning teachers’ decisions to leave the teaching
profession and the psychological constructs that impact the
teaching career trajectory.
2. Methods
The study employed a mixed-methods design which used both
the qualitative and quantitative approaches. As Johnson and Turner
(2003) emphasise, I attempted to use two approaches “in a way that
has complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses”
(p. 299). According to Creswell’s (2003) classification, the current
research can be identified as a ‘qualitative dominant concurrent
triangulation strategy.’ It means that the quantitative survey and
qualitative interview are concurrent, occurring in one phase of the
research, but greater weight is given to the qualitative approach. In
particular, this study utilized mixed-methods under two key
rationales. The primary rationale was ‘complementary’. According
to Greene, Caracelli, and Graham (1989), different types of data can
be used in order to seek elaboration, enhancement, or clarification.
This study employed quantitative surveys to get an overview of the
participants’ perceptions in relation to their stage in the teaching
profession. Then qualitative interviews followed to illustrate and
elaborate these differences in more detail. The secondary rationale
was for ‘triangulation’. As Greene et al. (1989) explained, two
different types of data can provide validity evidence by seeking
corroboration and integrity of findings.
This research also employed a repeated cross-sectional design,
which involves the measurement of different samples of the pop-
ulation at one point in time (Baltes, Reese, & Nesselroade, 1988;
Coleman, 1981). Repeated cross-sectional design provides a snap-
shot of the target phenomenon or variables in the cross-section of
a population.
2.1. Participants
2.1.1. Characteristics of participants
Participants for this study were enrolled in or recently grad-
uated from the Secondary Science Teacher Certificate Program at
a large southeastern university in the U.S. The goal of this teacher
education program is to provide opportunities and experiences
that allow teacher candidates to enter education settings with the
cognitive tools and attitudes needed for their successful profes-
sional development. The teacher education program consists of
two block schedules: Block I and Block II. Block I entails three core
courses, Practicum in Science Education, Science Curriculum and
Learning, and Methods of Science Teaching. It typically takes one or
two semesters for students to complete Block I. Although
participants have not yet experienced student-teaching, they
have opportunities to be exposed to school settings during one
third of the semester. During Block I, pre-service teachers are on
campus for the first third of the semester (5 weeks), they then
observe, co-teach and work with teachers at a certain school
during the middle third (6 weeks), and finally they return to
campus and incorporate previous learning and experiences
during the last third (5 weeks). The first group of participants
(Group 1) is made up of those who are in Block I. As this research
is aimed at capturing pre-service teachers’ perceptions of them-
selves and of the teaching, data were collected at the end of Block
I courses in order to ensure that participants had the full expe-
rience of these courses.
Once they completed Block I successfully, they moved to Block II.
Block II includes three core courses, Science Education School-Based
Internship, Reflection on Science Teaching, and Philosophy and Lead-
ership in Science Classroom Practice. Students are also required to
complete an 11-week long student-teaching experience. It usually
takes one or two semesters for students to complete Block II. The
second group of participants (Group 2) consisted of those partici-
pants who were taking Block II courses. As with Group 1, data were
collected at the end of Block II courses in order to ensure that
participants completed student-teaching.
The third group of participants (Group 3) was comprised of
those who had gone through the same program, and worked as
a science teacher for less than five years and then left the profes-
sion. The final group (Group 4) included those who graduated from
the same program, and who are currently working as a science
teacher with less than five years of experience. The school where
participants in Group 3 and Group 4 worked included mostly rural
schools and some suburban schools. Student demographics, SES
and achievement level varied across these two groups. Although
the researcher of this study attended the same institution, she did
not have professional or personal relationships with any of the
participants. This can be seen as strength of this study, because
participants clearly knew that their responses had no bearing on
their grades, and also they are less likely to feel disempowered
during data collection process.
2.1.2. Procedure and demographics of participants
For the survey data, a total of 84 participants were recruited.
Group 1 (Block I) consisted of 31 participants, Group 2 (Block II)
consisted of 23 participants, Group 3 (Dropout teachers) consisted
of 20 participants, and 10 belonged to Group 4 (Non-dropout
teachers). As each block consisted of 40e45 students, about 70% of
the students enrolled in this program participated in this study. The
mean age for each group varied from 26 to 38 years. Regarding
gender, there were 25 male and 59 female students in total.
Females numbered approximately 2.3 times more than males
across the four groups.
For the interview data, a total of 27 participants were recruited
from those who had completed the survey. Among the 27 partici-
pants, eight belonged to Group 1, five belonged to Group 2, seven
belonged to Group 3, and seven belonged to Group 4. Each
participant’s pseudonym and demographic information are listed
in Table 1.
As Table 1 shows, there were more female participants (N ¼ 17)
than male (N ¼ 10) in the entire group. In particular, the dropout
teacher group (Group 3) consisted of only females contrary to non-
dropout teacher group (Group 4) that has five males out of seven
participants. The disproportion of gender may be due, in part, to the
participant recruitment procedure. The participants were recruited
on a voluntary basis. First, a survey package that includes five
instruments was mailed to all graduates from the Science Educa-
tion Program, and they returned it by mail. A total of 308 surveys
were sent out, and 30 (9.7%) completed surveys were returned. If
they indicated a wish to participate in the interview portion of this
study, interviews were conducted individually. Although it was not
intended, gender disproportion resulted and will be discussed in
relation to findings.
 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543 1533

Table 1 meanings were clustered into themes. In this process of generating

Interview participants’ demographic information. the codes, words or phrases that emerged directly from the tran-
Group Sub-groups Pseudonym Gender Age Number of scripts were used in order to stay as close to the original transcripts
years taught as possible.
Group 1 (Block I) Stacey F 19 0 With these emergent themes and codes in mind, the opposing
Stephanie F 21 0 transcripts were constantly compared by reading each interview
Jenna F 23 0
back and forth in order to identify commonalities and variations
Linda F 24 0
Sonya F 27 0 between them (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). For example, within the
Kate F 30 0 code of “boundaries with students and burnout,” dropout teachers
Jacob M 22 0 (Group 3) and non-dropout teachers (Group 4) showed opposing
Sean M 32 0 views and experiences, such as “I’m taking things too personally. I
Group 2 (Block II) Stephanie F 21 0 let things just kind of stew inside and it carries on to the point
Barbara F 34 0 where I lose sleep” (Bona from Group 3). Compare this to, “I knew
Joe M 23 0
how to separate. Okay. That’s their problem and I care about it, but
Bill M 27 0
Beck M 35 0 it’s not my problem and I’m not going to fix their anorexia or I’m not
going to fix their drug problem. I care about it, but it’s not mine”
Group 3 Group 3-A Bona F 24 3
(Calvin from Group 4). Using the constant comparison methods,
(Dropout Teachers) (Discipline) Rosa F 29 2
Maree F 47 3 these differences were captured and highlighted.
Group 3-B Kirra F 30 4 Although the interview is a valid method to collect necessary
(Family) Joyce F 35 2 data for this study, certain limitations need to be acknowledged. A
Christa F 27 5 single interview for each individual may not be enough in fully
Group 3-C Kalli F 29 1.5 understating their professional identity. Also, this self-report
(Career)
interview may distort the information due to participants’ social
Group 4 Hardi F 28 1 desirability or impression management. In order to minimise
(Non-Dropout Debbie F 30 1.5 drawbacks, survey data were triangulated to check consistency
Teachers) Bryan M 23 1.5
between two different data sets and to complement missing
Mason M 26 2
Calvin M 26 1 information from each other’s data set. In addition, participants in
Andrew M 28 5 Group 3 already dropped out from the profession, thus their
Chase M 31 5 responses are inevitably retrospective. This may result in the recall
bias such as decay of memory or oversimplification of past
experiences.
Participants in Group 3 can be further broken down into 3 sub-
groups based on their reason for dropout. Detailed descriptions for 2.2.2. Quantitative data: survey questionnaire
each subgroup and related findings are provided in the Result Five different surveys were used to measure participants’ value,
section. self-efficacy, commitment, emotion, and micropolitics. For value,
the Perceived Task Value Scale (Eccles, O’Neill, Wigfield, Moore, &
Lippman, 2005) and the Instrumentality Scale (Husman, McCann,
2.2. Data collection and analysis & Crowson, 2000) were adopted. This instrument has seven items
and is used to measure participants’ intrinsic interest value,
2.2.1. Qualitative data: semi-structured interview attainment value, and utility value. Sample items include, “Is the
Semi-structured interview protocols were designed based on amount of effort it will take to be a good science teacher worth-
the research questions and participants’ stage in the teaching while to you?”, and “How much do you like being a science
trajectory. Twenty-five participants took part in face-to-face inter- teacher?”
views, but two participant interviews were conducted by telephone In terms of self-efficacy, the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale e
due to geographic distance. Each interview was administered Short Form (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) was used. This 12-item
individually and was also audio-taped. Core questions were pre- measure is designed to assess teachers’ efficacy in terms of student
developed to explore participants’ perceptions and probes were engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.
used based on their answers. Pre-developed interview questions This instrument includes items such as, “How much can you do to
were guided by the main research questions, and sample interview motivate students who show low interest in school work?” and
questions included “How do you describe yourself as a teacher?” “How much can you do to adjust your lessons to the proper level for
and “What do you think are the most important characteristics of individual students?”
teachers?” This qualitative data was analyzed using inductive For commitment, different scales were used for pre-service and
analysis and constant comparison methods (Charmaz, 2000; Le in-service teachers because pre-service teachers are committed to
Compte & Preissle, 1993; Strauss & Corbin, 1994, 1998). First, each their career choice rather than the career itself. Thus, for pre-
transcript was read thoroughly and all responses relevant to the service teachers, the Vocational Exploration and Commitment
phenomenon of interest were noted on the transcript. In order to (VEC) scale was used (Blustein et al., 1989), and the Work
enhance trustworthiness of the current study, researcher triangu- Commitment Index (WCI) was used for in-service teachers (Blau,
lation strategy was employed for data analysis by constantly Paul, & John, 1993). The VEC is designed to measure variations in
comparing and discussing two researchers’ thoughts and ideas one’s level of commitment to career choices. Participants were
throughout the process of reading key portions of transcripts and asked to rate sentences such as, “I can commit myself firmly to
analyzing them. The six factors were considered as a priori codes, a teaching career.” WCI asks participants to rate each statement
thus within each of these six factors, when events or beliefs were about occupational commitment such as, “If I could, I would go into
found to be similar in nature, they were grouped under broader and a different career.” Both instruments consist of eight items.
more abstract categories (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982; Strauss & Corbin, To measure emotional burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory
1998). These categories were formulated into meanings, and the (MBI) (Maslach & Jackson, 1986) was used. MBI is intended to
1534 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543

measure teachers’ emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation experienced student-teaching yet (Group 1) showed the highest
with 14 items. Sample items include, “I feel emotionally drained score on emotion, which indicates least burnout experience.
from my work.”, and “I feel I treat some students as if they were In order to examine whether Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 differed
impersonal objects.” Finally, the School Participants Empowerment significantly on the teachers’ overall professional identity, which
Scale (SPES) (Short & Rinehart, 1992) was used to assess teachers’ includes all the five variables (efficacy, value, emotion, commit-
empowerment such as decision making, status, and autonomy. It ment, and micropolitics), a one-way ANOVA was conducted.
consists of 16 items, and sample items include “I can determine my ANOVA results indicated that the differences between the groups
own schedule.”, and “I have the respect of my colleagues.” were significant (F(3.80) ¼ 16.088, p ¼ .000, h2 ¼ .376). That is, the
Given the high value of Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency four groups perceived their professional identity differently, and
reliability measure for each instrument (ranging between r ¼ .80 37.6% of the variance in professional identity was accounted for by
and r ¼ .93), sum scores for each instrument were used in analyzing participants’ stage in the teaching trajectory.
quantitative data. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and Next, a MANOVA was conducted to simultaneously compare the
MANOVA were employed. mean differences between Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the five
measures. The results of the MANOVA indicated that there was
a significant mean difference among the four groups (L ¼ .370,
3. Results F(15,210.204) ¼ 6.085, p ¼ .000, s2 ¼ .282). That is, the five measures of
commitment, emotion, value, micropolitics, and efficacy were
3.1. Overall differences among the four groups: significantly different among Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4. In addition,
quantitative findings 28.2% of the variation in the underlying constructs was explained
by participants’ grouping. As the MANOVA result was significant,
In order to get some overview of how people at different stages a Fisher’s LSD post hoc analysis was conducted to examine the
of the teaching profession perceive themselves differently on the source of differences.
five factors, descriptive statistics were examined to compare the As Table 3 shows, significant differences were found when the
differences. Table 2 shows each group’s mean, standard deviation, dropout teachers (Group 3) were paired with the other groups
minimum, and maximum on each variable. across the five variables. Only for emotion, did Groups 1 and 2 also
The following graph (Fig. 1) may better illustrate the differences show a significant difference. Dropout teachers (Group 3) showed
among the four groups. low scores on the five variables when compared with other
The dropout teachers (Group 3) showed a remarkably different groups, which means they had low commitment, weak efficacy
pattern from the other three groups. They had the lowest scores belief, more burnout, low value and negative perception of power
across the five variables. As the higher score means positive states relations. Regarding emotion, the result also suggests that pre-
(e.g., more commitment, more efficacy, and less burnout), this service teachers who have not experienced student-teaching yet
implies that dropout teachers experienced these five factors more perceived that they would have less burnout in the teaching
negatively than the other groups. Also, among the five factors, value profession than do the pre-service teachers who have finished
had the highest score and emotion showed the lowest score. student-teaching. The following qualitative data further eluci-
Another interesting finding is that students who haven’t dates the quantitative findings by showing how they are different
and what the differences mean. Bryman (2006) suggested that the
Table 2
use of qualitative data can illustrate quantitative findings by the
Descriptive statistics of five measures and overall construct on each group. use of the metaphor ‘putting meat on the bones of dry quanti-
tative findings’ (p. 106).
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Commitment N 31 23 20 10
3.2. A close look at the differences: qualitative findings
Min. 26 32 8 44
Max. 56 56 50 56
Mean 44.90 47.48 32.75 49.30 3.2.1. Value
S.D. 8.32 7.46 12.37 3.50 Using the Wigfield and Eccles (1992) expectancy x value theory
Emotion N 31 23 20 10 framework, intrinsic value, which is the interest and enjoyment the
Min. 65 50 35 63
Max. 84 84 81 82
individual gets from the activity, and attainment value, which
Mean 78.74 70.83 57.10 74.50 refers to the importance of doing well on a given task, were used to
S.D. 4.23 8.67 15.33 6.55 guide the interview questions. Regarding intrinsic value, pre-
Value N 31 23 20 10 service teacher groups (Group 1 & Group 2) shared a theme
Min. 26 30 23 32
different from that of in-service teacher groups (Group 3 & Group
Max. 49 49 48 47
Mean 41.90 41.17 37.45 42.90 4). Pre-service teachers often stated their interest in becoming
S.D. 5.33 5.61 8.13 4.23 a science teacher in relation to their past schooling experiences. It
Micropolitics N 31 23 20 10 seems that both negative and positive experiences related to past
Min. 29 39 33 34 teachers influenced their interest to become a teacher. Sean, a pre-
Max. 75 80 67 69
Mean 57.65 61.96 48.90 56.30
service teacher in Group 1 (Block I), gave this explanation about
S.D. 8.58 8.88 10.54 9.93 how his negative experience affected his interest: “I had some
Efficacy N 31 23 20 10 teachers in high school that weren’t very good teachers and I
Min. 43 46 38 43 thought, ‘You know, I can do better than they did and I can make up
Max. 72 72 64 71
for the fact that they weren’t very good.’ So, that’s one of the big
Mean 58.32 59.70 51.50 57.20
S.D. 7.15 6.36 8.12 7.83 motivations that I want to become a teacher” (Sean 4-14-07, p. 4).
Overall professional Identity N 31 23 20 10 On the other hand, positive school experiences also had an impact
Min. 235.00 217 142 240 on pre-service teachers. For instance, Stephanie in Group 2 (Block
Max. 320.00 321 288 319 II) brought up her past experience in college, “I had this really good
Mean 281.52 281.13 227.70 280.20
S.D. 21.58 23.88 46.53 22.58
biology professor and he just really inspired me to like do what he
was doing, which made biology so interesting that I would want to
 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543 1535

Fig. 1. Different patterns of the four groups on the five factors.

learn it more. So, I just wanted to do the same for others, like for
younger generations” (Stephanie 4-25-07, p. 8).
As Cooper and Olson (1996) claimed, the pre-service teachers’
professional self is not yet substantive, but being constructed
Table 3 through the ongoing experience and interaction. Thus, their self is
Fisher’s LSD post hoc analysis.
not strictly determined by the present environment; rather, their
Group (I) Group (J) Mean difference (IeJ) Sig. teacher identity is in the process of being shaped by past experi-
Commitment 1 2 2.575 .296 ence and current circumstances. Also, as existing studies
1 3 12.153* .000 mentioned (Fuller, 1969; Fuller & Bown, 1975; Kagan, 1992), pre-
1 4 4.397 .178
service teachers often have vague perceptions and concerns about
2 3 14.728* .000
2 4 1.822 .590 the teaching career and their future self as a teacher. For instance,
3 4 16.550* .000 Sonya, a pre-service teacher who had just entered the teacher
Emotion 1 2 7.916* .003 education program (Group 1), answered, “It’s like I’ve never
1 3 21.642* .000 thought before, I don’t know, I guess you just teach” (Sonya 5-5-07,
1 4 4.242 .217
2 3 13.726* .000
p. 5). Although there were such differences, the four groups showed
2 4 3.674 .304 consistent themes for their interest in becoming or working as
3 4 17.400* .000 a science teacher such as (a) helping students learn, (b) interacting
Value 1 2 .729 .664 with students, and (c) enjoying science subject matter. In particular,
1 3 4.453* .013
over 60% of the interviewees across the four groups talked about
1 4 .9968 .653
2 3 3.724* .049 their interest in science. It is also interesting to note that teachers
2 4 1.726 .456 who dropped out of the profession (Group 3) expressed their strong
3 4 5.450* .023 interest in working as a science teacher. In one respect, this result is
Micropolitics 1 2 4.311 .096 aligned with the quantitative data. Among the five factors surveyed,
1 3 8.745* .002
1 4 1.345 .692
value has the highest score for the dropout teachers. This result
2 3 13.057* .000 suggests that value may not be the major contributing factor for the
2 4 5.657 .113 beginning teachers who made the decision to leave the teaching
3 4 7.400* .043 profession. However, it is important to note that dropout teachers’
Efficacy 1 2 1.373 .495
retrospective accounts of their interests related to teaching were
1 3 6.823* .002
1 4 1.122 .672 consistent across the seven dropout teachers. If dropout teachers
2 3 8.196* .000 had substantial interests in working as a teacher, then what made
2 4 2.496 .368 them dropout of the profession? How are the other five factors
3 4 5.700* .046 related? How should we interpret the fact that dropout teachers’
*The mean difference is significant at the .05 level. quantitative scores for value are lower than non-dropout teachers,
1536 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
but at the same time dropout teachers’ qualitative accounts for
value are as strong as non-dropout teacher? What does this
inconsistency mean for this study? Are there any other factors
disguised by these findings?
As Schutz, Nichols, and Rodgers (2009) mentioned, the diver-
gent findings from two different data sources invite the researcher
to ask new questions. In order to explore answers to these ques-
tions, the dropout teachers were divided into three sub-groups
based on their major reason for making a dropout decision. Bona,
Rosa, and Maree explained that they left the profession because of
the classroom management and discipline issue (Group 3-A:
Discipline). For Kirra, Joyce, and Christa, their decision was due to
family issues, such as pregnancy and taking care of their own
children (Group 3-B: Family). Finally, Kalli decided to leave the
profession because she could obtain another career opportunity
(Group 3-C: Career). The following analysis takes into account this
co-membership of participants in Group 3.
In terms of attainment value, interviewees from all four groups
talked about the importance of becoming a good teacher in order to
make a difference in the lives of students. Even if most of the
interviewees agreed that teaching is important because of its
impact on students, only in-service teachers (Group 3 & Group 4)
stressed the importance of increasing scientific literacy for
students. As an attempt to reform science education, National
Science Education Standards (NSES) (National Research Council,
1996) and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy (Benchmarks)
(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993)
introduced and defined science literacy as the knowledge and
understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for
personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs,
and economic productivity. Thus, scientifically literate students
understand science concepts and can identify scientific issues
underlying national and local decisions (NRC, 1996).
The concept of scientific literacy was reflected in both dropout and
non-dropout teachers’ perception of the importance of teaching
science. Bryan, who is currently teaching physical science to 9th
graders, articulated this view: “I think science literacy is the ultimate
goal of science courses, so that people can go through the world and
know why a tree is there, or know the purpose of a tree before they
cut it down, and to realise how important it is to recycle, or drive a car
that doesn’t get two miles per gallon” (Bryan 4-29-07, p. 4).
In contrast to these in-service teachers’ focus on improving
scientific literacy for students, pre-service teachers emphasised
their own personal satisfaction. Barbara, who finished student-
teaching (Group 2), expressed why it is important for her to be
a teacher: “It’s important definitely, because it’s what I want to do
for the rest of my life. . I guess because I’m afraid that if I don’t do
this then, there’s nothing else to do. Yes, so it’s personal satisfaction
and that, yeah, it’s a career that fits with what I want for my future”
(Barbara 4-23-07, p. 7). This comment echoes what Fuller (1969)
described as “concern about self”, which includes non-teaching
concerns, concerns about adequacy, and concerns about being liked
or liking.
3.2.2. Commitment
When participants were asked about the meaning of “being
committed” to becoming a science teacher or to working as
a science teacher, pre-service teachers (Group 1 and Group 2), and
in-service teachers (Group 3 and Group 4) revealed different
perceptions. In-service teachers thought that the commitment is to
become a life-long learner who is always looking for a better way or
better ideas to improve teaching, and to stay and continue teaching
regardless of difficulties. This perception of commitment has also
been reported in other international scholars’ studies such as Hong
Kong (Choi & Tang, 2009) and U.K. (Gu & Day, 2006).
Unlike these in-service teachers, pre-service teachers perceived
commitment in terms of successfully finishing the teacher educa-
tion program. For them, “being committed to become a teacher”
often means to follow through with the program and to complete it
successfully. In addition, only the pre-service teachers described
their commitment as a “calling.” They expressed this idea in this
way: “I feel like it’s what I’m called to do” and “I feel like it’s what
I’m meant to do.” As Serow and his colleagues pointed out, the basic
idea of the “goodness of fit” between the field’s work and one’s own
psychological aspiration seems substantially important for pre-
service teachers (Serow, 1994; Serow, Eaker, & Ciechalski, 1992).
One of the interesting descriptions of pre-service teachers’
commitment was their extreme expressions such as “completely
committed,” “100% committed,” or “a 24/7 thing.” In contrast to
this, in-service teachers (Group 3 & Group 4) described their
commitment in a more practical way. Kirra, a 4th-year biology
teacher who dropped out due to family issues (Group 3-B: Family),
described her perception about commitment as follows: “I think
being a committed science teacher you have to know your limits
and do your best within your limits, but cut yourself off at 6:00. No
more work or whatever, or after the end of the school year, ‘I’m not
going to work this summer. Next summer I’ll take a science class,
but this summer I’m just going to have fun.’ You know those kinds
of things; knowing your limits and giving it your best within your
limits” (Kirra 3-15-07, p. 8). Her answer provided further insight
into the need for and importance of finding a balance between
commitment to being successful parents and commitment to being
an effective teacher in their career decision making. She continued,
“I would never want my commitment to science teaching to
supersede my commitment to my family, or my commitment to my
personal health” (Kirra 3-15-07, p. 8). Joyce in Group 3-B: Family
added, “When I’m working, I’m very committed to that almost to
the point where it would have interfered with my family. Having
two kids and also working would have been very stressful on our
family. .I needed to focus my commitments elsewhere [family] for
the time being. That was probably the main reason I stopped
teaching” (Joyce 2-19-07, p. 7).
In addition, dropout teachers in Group 3-B: Family showed the
connection between commitment and emotion. For example, Rosa
stated, “I think commitment is related to my decision, because I
knew I wanted to be a certain kind of teacher and I wanted to be
successful in the classroom. I felt like some days I wasn’t able to
accomplish that, and so I think that goes back to the emotional
drain” (Rosa 1-28-09, p. 6). Their unfulfilled expectations seem to
be perceived as a lack of commitment, which leads to their
emotional drain.
3.2.3. Self-efficacy
Regarding self-efficacydpeople’s judgments of their capabilities
to work as a successful teacherdparticipants in Groups 3 (Dropout
teachers) and 4 (Non-dropout teachers) revealed two common
themes that differed from pre-service teachers: (a) confidence
about the ability to give lectures and explain concepts and (b)
confidence about content knowledge. For example, Maree, a former
biology teacher in Group 3-A: Discipline, mentioned, “I’m most
confident about talking in front of the classroom. I think dealing
with lectures or explaining things, I can explain things fairly well”
(Maree 3-1-07, p. 8). This confidence was consistently found among
the three sub-groups of dropout teachers.
However, pre-service teachers in Group 1 and Group 2 often
expressed their overall lack of confidence. Stephanie in Group 2
(Block II) described her lack of confidence and even fear about
going through the first year of teaching: “I don’t really think I’m
competent in anything. I’m really scared about the first year, so I
really don’t know if I have something that I can for sure say that I’m
 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
confident about” (Stephanie 4-25-07, p. 9). Another pre-service
teacher in Group 1 (Block I), Stacey, also expressed her low efficacy
beliefs in relation to her teacher education program experience: “To
be honest, I’m not 100% confident in anything really like about
teaching. I’m still very scared. I just feel like I still don’t know a lot,
even though I’m taking e I’ve already taken most of the basic
education classes” (Stacey 5-18-07, p. 7). As several researchers
have reported (Ashton, 1985; Evans & Tribble, 1986), novice
teachers or pre-service teachers who have a lot of concerns, and
simultaneously confess a low sense of efficacy, are especially
vulnerable to stressful classroom realities, and are therefore at risk
for professional development.
Besides this overall lack of confidence, pre-service teachers can
be characterised by their confidence about building a relationship
with students as a friend or a general caregiver. For example, Stacey
in Group 1 (Block I) stated, “I guess I’m confident about being able
to talk to them as a friend. I’ve always been able to talk to kids
when I was baby-sitting or summer camp. If a kid wanted to come
to me and talk to me, I think I could definitely help” (Stacey 5-18-07,
p. 8). This confidence is quite different from non-dropout teachers’
confidence in building a relationship with students in a more
pedagogical way. Debbie, a 2nd-year physical science teacher
described her confidence about interacting with students: “I’m
most confident about relating to the students.. I’m able to gauge if
the students understood or not. . I think I’m really in tune with my
students on a communication level, like making eye contact and
nodding their head and not falling asleep or whatever” (Debbie 2-
13-07, p. 7). This finding resonates with Fuller’s (1969) develop-
mental conceptualisation of teacher concern. Early career concerns
tend to focus on teachers themselves instead of students.
Another difference among these four groups was found in the
area of classroom management. Participants in Groups 1, 2 and 3-A:
Discipline professed their lack of confidence in handling students in
the classroom. For example, Rosa, who left the career after two
years teaching experience (Group 3-A: Discipline), talked about her
difficulty and lack of confidence in classroom management: “How
do you handle the students? There was no textbook written on how
to handle a particular student. Yeah, we have books that give us
advice on classroom management, but it doesn’t work for every
child. So that was probably the piece that I was always wondering
about because it was always so unpredictable” (Rosa 1-28-07, p. 8).
Also, their low efficacy beliefs derived from classroom management
may have lead to negative emotions such as fear, stress, and
burnout. Bona in Group 3-A: Discipline mentioned, “I’m not
confident about discipline. There were classes where I knew I had
some big trouble makers, and I would dread every time they
walked into the classroom no matter what kind of great lesson plan
I had. I know I have a hard time getting over bad things that happen
in the classroom or it really stresses me out” (Bona 3-8-07, p. 7).
In contrast, non-dropout teachers in Group 4 and dropout
teachers who belong to Groups 3-B: Family & C: Career expressed
their confidence about classroom management. For instance,
Andrew, who had taught biology and physical science to 9th and
10th graders for five years, stated, “I’m most confident about
classroom management and just dealing with kids. I’m pretty good
at controlling a classroom. I haven’t written a single kid up this
semester. I don’t have classroom problems” (Andrew 3-18-07 p. 9).
3.2.4. Emotions
Among a variety of emotions that teachers experience, this
study focused on emotional burnout and stress. Most of the
participants across the four groups agreed that the teaching
profession is associated with a high level of emotional burnout.
Andrew, who is currently teaching physical science and biology
(Group 4), explained how teachers perceive and experience
1537
emotional burnout: “How much is emotional burnout associated?
Oh, a lot. . When you teach and when you get home, you feel like
you’ve worked in the lumberyard for 15 straight hours. You’re just
wiped out. I mean you feel worn down and you feel like you’ve just
wore yourself out and you really hadn’t done any physical activity.
It’s just emotionally worn down. It’s a taxing job. It definitely puts
stress on you. I think it’s associated with it a lot and it’s why a lot of
teachers get out of it” (Andrew 3-18-07, p. 10).
Although the participants acknowledged a high level of
emotional burnout associated with the teaching career, not all of
them agreed that they themselves actually experience the burnout.
Pre-service teachers did not expect that they would experience
burnout in their future career. For example, Jacob in Group 1
(Block I) stated, “I don’t think it [burnout] will be a huge factor in it
with me as a science teacher because I just e I’m not easily stressed
out . I’m just the type of person” (Jacob 5-7-07, p. 10). As such, they
seemed to have a strong conviction that their “personality” will
prevent them from getting burned out easily; thus, they will not be
burned out even if a lot of burnout is associated with the teaching
career.
This belief is in line with the way they perceive the source of
burnout and stress. Pre-service teachers often attributed burnout
and stress to the individual teachers’ personality and characteris-
tics. Jacob in Group 1 (Block I) explained his perception about the
source of emotional burnout: “I think it [being burned out] goes
back to the kind of personality that a person has. If you’re a pessi-
mist or an optimist or if youdon how you view teaching and if you
enjoy your job and that kind of thing” (Jacob 5-7-07, p. 10). Such an
attribution implies that they believe the cause of burnout is stable
and internal to the individual, and not easy to change or control. As
Weiner (1985) suggested, what we attribute our success or failure
to is a reflection of our beliefs about the world and how we interact
with the world. For these pre-service teachers, attributing the
emotional burnout to their internal, stable and uncontrollable
personality may result in finding different careers when difficulties
arise, rather than searching for possible strategies and help within
the career.
These pre-service teachers’ views were totally different from the
dropout teachers (Group 3). The dropout teachers admitted that
they actually experienced huge emotional burnout and also
explained the source of stress as classroom management and heavy
workload. For example, Kirra, a former biology and chemistry
teacher in Group 3-B: Family, stated, “I had those days where I was
like, ‘I just can’t take it anymore.’ Most of the times that was
because of students I felt I couldn’t control, that were unruly or
disrespectful, not motivated, hateful or vulgar, those kind of things”
(Kirra 3-15-07, p. 11). Maree, a former biology teacher in Group 3-A:
Discipline, echoed the other dropout teachers’ responses: “I had
some incidents with students cheating and having the parents send
a note to higher-ups and get it overturned and that was upsetting. I
had students pour a bottle of Listerine into my rigor tank ecosystem
and kill all my fish and frogs and things. After incidents like that, I
just couldn’tdit was just too stressful. I just couldn’t do it anymore.
My husband says I take everything too personally. I’m not able to
just say, ‘Ah, that’s just the way kids are.’ I always am just hurt by it.
I felt like, I’m working so hard and this is what happens’” (Maree 3-
1-07, p. 10).
Three sub-groups of dropout teachers in Group 3 reported their
emotional burnout consistently, but teachers in Group 3-A: Disci-
pline tended to take negative events personally. For example, Bona
in Group 3-A: Discipline talked about this issue: “I’m taking things
too personally.I need to probably learn how to just let things go.
Things happen. You deal with it and just let it go, but I let things just
kind of stew inside and it carries on to the point where I lose sleep. I
get sick. My immune system becomes weakened and I get sick from
1538 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
it” (Bona 3-8-07, p. 9). Aultman, Williams, and Schutz (2009) sug-
gested that these teachers need to negotiate the appropriate
emotional ‘line’ or ‘boundary’ in building a relationship with
students, because it is important to find a balance between a sense
of professionalism and a useful level of involvement. In addition,
dropout teachers in this group consistently explained the direct
connection between dropout decision and emotional burnout due
to classroom management and discipline issues. When asked what
they thought about the benefits of making a dropout decision, they
mentioned, “less stress” and “less burnout.” These qualitative
results reflect the quantitative findings described in Tables 2 and 3,
and also provide more detailed explanations and insight for
dropout teachers’ emotional burnout.
Unlike Group 3-A: Discipline, dropout teachers in Group 3-B:
Family did not make direct connection between dropout and
emotional burnout in their profession. They attributed the dropout
decision to family issues, and also their emotional burnout expe-
rience was something manageable. As described above, Kirra in this
subgroup experienced emotional burnout due to classroom
management issues, but she also mentioned, “My emotional
burnout has been decreased. I got matured as a person and as
a teacher. I know how to distance myself from their problems”
(Kirra 3-15-07, p. 12). Consequently, the three teachers in this
subgroup plan to return to the teaching profession once the family
issues are resolved.
Non-dropout teachers (Group 4) also admitted some level of
emotional burnout, but it seemed not to seriously affect their
professional lives. Participants in this group explained how they
dealt with these negative emotions. Calvin, a physical science
teacher, explained how he avoided burnout: “I knew how to
separate, ‘Okay. That’s their problem and I care about it, but it’s not
my problem and I’m not going to fix their anorexia or I’m not going
to fix their drug problem. I care about it, but it’s not mine’. I think in
the beginning I viewed myself as just an older version of a high
school student. So, they were my buddies and we were kind of on
the same level, and so I think that wasn’t necessarily good. And so, I
think that I matured and knew how to distance myself from the
problem and align myself with my real peers, who were the other
teachers and administrators, and then I didn’t feel as drained and I
got a lot more help, too” (Calvin 4-16-07, p. 9). As such, these non-
dropout teachers try to establish appropriate emotional bound-
aries, which help them to reduce burnout and stress. As the
Aultman et al. (2009) study highlighted, too much or too little
involvement with students was perceived negatively by teachers
and thus it is important to find a balance between the two.
In relation to the differences between dropout teachers’ and
non-dropout teachers’ emotional experiences, it needs to be noted
that all the seven dropout teachers were females and the majority
of non-dropout teachers (five out of seven) were males. The
participants were recruited on a voluntary basis, and it resulted in
the gender disproportion which may function as a confounding
factor for these differences. Further study is necessary to examine
how gender is related to these perceptions and dropout decisions.
3.2.5. Knowledge and beliefs
Based on Borko and Putnam’s (1996) framework, this study
examined subject matter content knowledge, which refers to
knowledge of facts and concepts in subject matter, and pedagogical
content knowledge which means the transformation of content
knowledge into the way that best facilitates student learning.
Regarding content knowledge, participants in the four groups
consistently mentioned that they had strong knowledge of content,
facts and concepts in science subject matter. However, pre-service
teachers repeatedly mentioned the need to refresh their memories
about specific facts or terms and in-service teachers emphasised
different levels of content knowledge depending on the subject. Pre-
service teachers were not using their content knowledge on a daily
basis for teaching; thus, they may not have had an active schema. On
the other hand, in-service teachers focused on different levels of
content knowledge depending on different subjects and topics.
In terms of pedagogical content knowledge, there was also
a different pattern between pre-service teachers and in-service
teachers. Pre-service teachers tended to perceive that they had
weak pedagogical content knowledge, but in-service teachers
thought they knew pretty well about how to transform the subject
matter knowledge into a form that students could understand and
learn. Pre-service teachers tended to explain their lack of peda-
gogical content knowledge in relation to their lack of actual
teaching experience. However, in-service teachers explained the
way they develop pedagogical content knowledge through diverse
classroom teaching practices.
Regarding participants’ beliefs about teaching and being
a teacher, there was a difference between dropout teachers (Group
3-A: Discipline, Group 3-B: Family, and Group 3-C: Career) and the
rest of the participants (Group 1, Group 2, and Group 4). All of the
groups except the dropout teacher group stressed students’ active
role in learning. For instance, Joe, who finished student-teaching
(Group 2), explained teachers’ and students’ role: “Teachers need to
sort of help students realise that they are the ones trying to learn
and that they’re responsible for learning on their own. It’s up to the
teacher to help explain and help revise and help guide, but it’s up to
the students to be the ones that actually take the steps and to learn”
(Joe 5-11-07, p. 9). Another pre-service teacher, Kate (Group 1),
added, “20% depends on what teachers bring, and 80% depends on
the students” (Kate 4-18-07, p. 7). This view is quite opposite to that
of dropout teachers. Kirra, the former biology and chemistry
teacher in Group 3-B: Family, emphasised teachers’ active role and
responsibility: “Students don’t know how to communicate. So, it’s
a lot of responsibility on the teacher to not only know the content,
communicate the content, but also gauge the learner” (Kirra 3-15-
07, p. 12). Another dropout teacher, Rosa in Group 3-A: Discipline,
agreed with Kirra’s opinion: “I have those beliefs that students had
different learning styles that required me to do a lot more work,
a lot more remediation. May be one student needed me to read the
questions; whereas, other students didn’t or may be I had to make
up different activities for a student and other students didn’t
require that. I guess it all goes back to the emotional drain” (Rosa 1-
28-07, p. 10). As such, these dropout teachers tend to hold beliefs
that teachers should take charge of students’ learning and, thus,
their perceived role was a major determining factor in the quality of
education. These beliefs may have caused the dropout teachers to
expend additional effort and work by taking on what others
regarded as the students’ responsibilities, which generate their
emotional burnout and stress.
3.2.6. Micropolitics
As Ball (1987) and Blase (1987) claimed, school organisation is
not a rational, ordered, or unitary system, but a place where indi-
vidual differences, goal diversity, conflict, different values, and
informal power exist among teachers and administrators. Given
this assumption, interview questions were asked to understand the
participants’ perceptions of the micropolitics, which include power
relations and their connection to their teaching practice.
The participants in the four groups agreed that they perceived
that they have a high level of respect from teacher colleagues, but
do not have much power and control in the school organisation.
However, only teachers in Group 3 (Dropout teachers) and Group 4
(Non-dropout teachers) complained about lack of interaction with
administrators and the relatively weak power that they had con-
cerning school administration. Rosa, a dropout teacher in Group 3-
 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
A: Discipline, expressed her discontent regarding school adminis-
trators: “I think there’s even more of a disconnect between the
administrators and the school and the teachers. I think, they have
no idea what’s going on in the classroom. They came around. They
evaluated you and they pat you on the back and say you’re a good
teacher, but then they sit in the office all day so they really don’t
know what goes on. So that was basically it. So, control I would say,
you don’t have any power” (Rosa 1-28-07, p. 11).
There is an interesting point to note regarding teachers’ rela-
tionship with administrators. Although non-dropout teachers were
not satisfied with the relationship with administrators, they sup-
pressed it or did not make it a big deal. Hardi, an 11th-grade physics
teacher (Group 4), described how she felt and how she managed
the relationship with administrators: “I’ve never ever once spoken
to our Principal; like never. May be ‘Hi’ but never really talked to
him about anything. I’m kind of scared of him, not because he’s
a scary person, but he seems very set in his way and so I don’t really
want to go over that boundary. As long as he doesn’t make me do
really, really retarded things that I don’t think are useful I think I can
put up with that. People who I really work with on an everyday
basis are important to me more than the people above that” (Hardi
3-4-07, p. 13). According to Achinstein (2002), it is thought to be
essential in the teacher community to actively engage in conflict
and to have a dialogue about different opinions. The reason is that
conflict can create the context for improvement and renewal, and
also provides an opportunity to reflect upon taken-for-granted
assumptions (Schön, 1983; Tabachnich & Zeichner, 1991). Non-
dropout teachers’ lack of active engagement in administration may
have affected their professional development and growth of
teacher community in an unhealthy way.
In addition, dropout teachers in Group 3-A: Discipline and
Group 3-B: Family often mentioned how the unsupportive
administrators or ineffective administration made them feel frus-
trated and burdened with unnecessary tasks. For instance, Maree in
Group 3-A: Discipline said, “I had some incident with students
teaching and having the parents send a note to higher-ups and get
it overturned and that was upsetting” (Maree 3-1-07, p. 12). Christa
in Group 3-B: Family added, “Our principal was unable to make
a decision based on the students’ best interests and stick to it. We
were asked to complete a report card on each of our students. It
took hours to fill out, but we had just wasted our time since there
was then no follow through on what we did” (Christa 5-10-07, p.
14).
4. Discussion
The findings in the present study showed how teachers in
different stages of the teaching profession tend to perceive them-
selves differently, especially on the six factors of value, efficacy,
commitment, knowledge and belief, emotion and micropolitics
which constitute teachers’ professional identity. The findings from
this study align with existing research but add to the literature in
this area by providing detailed descriptive accounts of the teachers
at various stages along the teaching continuum and provide
insightful questions for further research. First of all, the findings
from the four groups resonate with the teacher development or
professional growth literature (Berliner, 1988; Bullough & Knowles,
1990; Bullough & Knowles, 1991; Fuller, 1969; Fuller & Bown, 1975;
Huberman, 1985, 1989, 1993; Kagan, 1992). As Fuller and Bown
(1975) mentioned previously, pre-service teachers in this study
showed ‘vague concerns’ for their profession. Contrary to this, in-
service teachers have much more concrete and practical concerns
such as class control, conveying content knowledge, and relations
with parents, colleagues, and administrators. In relation to this
developmental trend, Berliner (1988) further broke down in-
1539
service teachers into five stages, and then differentiated major skills
and tasks for each stage. Among the five, the second stage of
advanced beginner includes second and third year teachers. Inter-
estingly, the three dropout teachers in Group 3-A: Discipline (Bona,
Rosa, and Maree) were second and third year teachers and they all
struggled with the classroom management and discipline issues.
This study does not have enough empirical evidence to explore if
there is a difference between second- and fifth-year teachers, or
between first- and fourth-year teachers. However, the current
study brings attention to the need for further study regarding
developmental differences of teachers’ professional identity and
their dropout decisions.
Findings from the current study prompt us to pay more atten-
tion to Group 3-A: Discipline. Unlike the other two sub-groups,
these dropout teachers set their career goal in the teaching
profession and strived to achieve that goal. However, they chose to
leave due to pedagogical issues such as classroom management and
discipline. As discussed before, these teachers revealed several
interconnections among the six factors distinct from the rest of the
groups. Fig. 2 below highlights the unique pattern that emerged
only from the Group 3-A: Discipline.
As it is illustrated in the above Figure, emotional burnout was
a critical issue for their professional lives. Unlike other groups, the
unidirectional relationship between emotion and other factors
(commitment, efficacy, knowledge and beliefs, and micropolitics)
were highlighted for these dropout teachers in the current study. In
other words, they thought that unfulfilled commitment, lack of
efficacy, unsupportive administrators, and beliefs emphasising
teachers’ heavy responsibilities were contributing factors for
emotional burnout. However, it is necessary to note that the reverse
relationship has also been found to exist in other research studies
(i.e., emotions are contributing factors for other psychological
constructs), and thus a multi-directional relationship is more
commonly described in emotion research (Frijda, Manstead, & Bem,
2000; Lazarus & Smith, 1988), although it was not indicated in the
current study. Based on the findings, Fig. 3 below shows pre-service
and in-service teachers’ professional identity development in
relation to the decision to dropout within a particular time frame.
Pre-service teachers’ future-oriented perceptions about themselves
may play a role of forming their future behaviour and, thus, their
perceptions cannot be separated from in-service teachers’ view of
self. In other words, the way in-service teachers perceive their
current teacher self has been shaped through their continuously
forming array of self-knowledge, which includes the pre-service
teachers’ future self-perception that they had at the pre-service
stage.
Teachers’ Professional Identity
Commitment
Value Emotion
Knowledge&Beliefs
Efficacy
Micropolitics
Fig. 2. Interrelations among the six factors for dropout teachers (Group 3-A:
Discipline).
1540 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
Environment
Futu re
Good Teacher/Effective Teacher/Quality Teacher
Dropout
Commitment
Value Emotion
Efficacy
Knowledge&Beliefs
Present
Micropolitics
Beginning Teachers’
Professional Identity
Pre-service Teachers’
Professional Identity
Commitment
Value Emotion
Past
Knowledge&Beliefs
Efficacy
Micropolitics
Fig. 3. Highlights of the hypothesized model of teachers’ professional identity devel-
opment and dropout decision.
As Fig. 3 showed, pre-service teachers presumably begin to
shape their professional identity during their teacher education
program, which includes key psychological factors such as value,
commitment, efficacy, emotion, knowledge and beliefs, and
micropolitics. This professional identity is continuously being sha-
ped through their concrete classroom and school experiences, as
they move into the teaching profession. However, for the teachers
who dropped out due to classroom management and discipline
issues, emotional burnout seems to play a key role in the develop-
ment of their professional identity and school lives. Researchers
have emphasised emotions as a significant and ongoing part of
being a teacher (Day et al., 2006; Hargreaves, 2001; Kelly, 1999;
Schmidt & Datnow, 2005; Zembylas, 2003). They noted two
aspects of emotions, first, emotions constitute one’s inner essence,
and thus identification of emotions depends on the identity of the
person, second, emotions are socially constructed and managed
through interaction with others. Teachers construct their emotions
through transactions among students, teachers and administrators,
and it becomes a vital and integral part of being a teacher. The
current study also confirmed the importance of emotions for
teachers’ decision to dropout and their professional identity.
In spite of the importance of emotions in education, it seemed
not to be much of an issue for the pre-service teachers who
participated in this study. As described in the Results section, they
did not think they would experience emotional burnout in their
teaching, because their personality was strong enough to withstand
whatever difficulties might come. Such an optimistic view, which
seemed to not be grounded in the reality of their limited classroom
experiences in the role of teacher, overlooked the relational aspect
of emotions and underestimated the impact of environment on
individual’s emotions. The current study also revealed that pre-
service teachers in Group 2, who had just finished student-teaching
showed a much lower score on emotions than Group 1, who had
not experienced student-teaching and that the mean difference
between the two groups was statistically significant (See Table 3).
That means that pre-service teachers who completed student-
teaching held less idealistic views than those who hadn’t done
student-teaching (i.e., those who had not yet been in the classroom
as a teacher). There might be a fine line between healthy optimism
and unrealistic idealism. The question we need to ask is: “Is
a realistic perception about emotional burnout useful for pre-
service teachers’ professional development?” This is a necessary
question for pre-service teacher education because it is important
in teacher training programs to foster pre-service teachers’ healthy
perception and successful sense of self.
The participants’ teacher education program as designed did not
provide any information or opportunities for pre-service teachers
to explore this issue. Stephanie in Group 1 (Block I) said, “I don’t
know if we really covered any of that [emotional burnout] on that
topic really. . There’s got to be a point where everyone’s kind of
down, but as far as the program itself and with the emotional, we
haven’t really gone through that, I guess, or talked about it”
(Staphanie 4-25-07, p. 21). Most of the pre-service teachers seemed
to get ideas about emotional burnout through observation and
interaction with students during their student-teaching or prac-
ticum experience. Beck in Group 2 (Block II) mentioned, “They
[faculty members at the Teacher Education Program] warn us about
it, but I don’t think they really have any influence. They tell us that it
does happen, but really I think the reason why I have all these
perceptions of burnt out teachers is because I’ve seen it. I’ve seen
the teachers first-hand” (Beck 4-15-07, p. 19). The lack of systematic
efforts to provide pre-service teachers with a realistic under-
standing of teachers’ emotional experiences and developmental
stages raises one of the most important issues in teacher education
programs. Bridging the gap between theory and practice is critical
in this situation, because the gap between the educational theories
pre-service teachers learn in college and the demanding reality in-
service teachers live in the classroom and in the broader school
context can make them feel lost. Under the confusion and feeling of
lost, pre-service teachers may adapt strategically to the given
context without confirming their beliefs and theories. This surface-
level behaviour, which is not rooted in their own beliefs and values,
can lead to a lack of motivation and their identity as a teacher can
be destabilised.
Bullough (1997) has emphasised the importance of teacher
education programs in forming pre-service teachers’ professional
identity. He stated: “Teacher identitydwhat beginning teachers
believe about teaching and learning and self-as-a-teacherdis
a vital concern to teacher education; it is the basis for meaning
making and decision making . Teacher education must begin,
then, by exploring the teaching self” (p. 21). Therefore, teacher
education programs play a critical role in building teachers’
professional identity and need to be improved in a way that
emphasises the practicality of teaching, increases awareness of the
significance of emotions, and prompts pre-service teachers to
reflect on their own professional identity formation.
The current study also suggests several implications for begin-
ning teachers’ professional identity development. The challenge to
support and retain beginning teachers is a continuing burden for
 J.Y. Hong / Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (2010) 1530e1543
today’s schools. However, the retention of teachers should not only
focus on short-term attractions, but also on the long-term agenda
of establishing their professional identity and creating better plans
that are truly related to teachers’ professional lives.
As the current study shows, emotional burnout is the most
salient feature of dropout teachers’ retrospective explanations of
their professional identities and the factors that influenced their
decision to leave teaching. As Fig. 2 shows, the burnout is connected
to their efficacy, commitment, knowledge and beliefs, and micro-
politics. In addition, dropout teachers’ interview data revealed that
classroom management was one of the sources of burnout, and
often their lack of efficacy in handling disruptive behaviours led to
emotional burnout. According to Bandura (1977), people who are
not confident about a particular activity tend to consider it as
a threat and, thus, try to avoid it. Therefore, teachers who doubt
their ability to handle students’ misbehaviours may have a hard
time developing into quality teaching professionals. In relation to
the issue of teacher retention, the importance of building
a supportive, encouraging and collaborative teacher community
has been continuously emphasised in teacher education literature
in both the U.S. and internationally. In particular, beginning
teachers need opportunities to reflect on their practice by partici-
pating in earnest conversations with teacher colleagues (Park,
Oliver, Johnson, Graham, & Oppong, 2007). In addition, Johnson
et al. (2001) found that beginning teachers who felt supported by
the community interacted with their colleagues more frequently
and were also more willing to share responsibility for the school.
International scholars have also found that supervisors, assistants,
and parents’ support and positive feedback influenced beginning
teachers’ success and well-being in Chile and Israel (Avalos &
Aylwin, 2007; Oplatka & Eizenberg, 2007). The current study also
shows the importance of teacher community and collaboration.
One of the dropout teachers (Group 3), Rosa, stated, “The rela-
tionship with the teachers actually kept me there longer than I
wanted to stay, but I think it did help me stay longer. I think it’s
really important to have a good relationship with your co-teachers,
especially those that have been there for a while, because they
know the history of the school and of the students and they can
give you some insight on what to expect” (Rosa 1-28-07, p. 15).
The relationship with colleagues is important, but it is also
crucial to have a balanced and supportive relationship with school
administrators. Dropout teachers in the current study often felt that
their school administration was not really effective or supportive
and they did not think they had enough power to influence the
administration. According to Kelchtermans (1996), teachers’
emotions are shaped by experiences of power and powerlessness,
and it is important to empower teachers so that they can take the
leadership roles in their school. When teachers are given the
opportunity to be actively involved in decision making and
problem solving in their school, they may feel less vulnerable and
their professional identity may be less threatened.
Finally, it is also necessary to reconsider dropout teachers’ beliefs
about teaching and learning. If the teachers’ beliefs guide their
judgment and action in a way that burden them, then they may fail
to extricate themselves from hopelessness or helplessness. Maree,
one of the dropout teachers held the belief that teachers should take
charge of students’ learning, which led her to say, “It’s hard e I don’t
know how anyone fits the teaching profession right now. I feel like I
know a lot of teachers who are not good teachers and may be that’s
why they stuck with it, because they don’t work that hard and
they’re not stressed out because they’re not working that hard. So,
good teachers I think burnout and leave, because in order to be
a good teacher you have to work so hard” (Maree 3-1-07, p. 17). For
Maree, there was no way out to make the good teachers stay in the
teaching profession and so she also eventually dropped out.
1541
Existing studies already pointed out the difficulty of changing
one’s beliefs (Gregoire, 2003; Hoy et al., 2006) and teacher educa-
tion researchers suggested focusing on changing pre-service
teachers’ beliefs, although beliefs are known to be fairly resistant to
change (Brownlee, 2001; Brownlee, Purdie, & Boulton-Lewis, 2001).
Teacher educators have begun to teach pre-service teachers in
a way that challenges their pre-existing beliefs about teaching,
learning, subject matter, and self as a teacher (Ashton & Gregoire,
2003; Borko & Putnam, 1996). This challenge will make pre-
service teachers’ implicit beliefs explicit, thus increasing the
opportunity to confront conflict and inadequacy of their beliefs.
Such an attempt to change pre-service teachers’ beliefs should be
extended to beginning teachers as well. The beliefs that beginning
teachers have about teaching and being a teacher are the under-
pinning for their professional identity and also the beliefs that
influence their judgment and behaviour in the classroom (Pajares,
1992; Walkington, 2005). Thus, it is important that professional
development is ongoing and include activities that will help
beginning teachers to continually reflect on the beliefs which will
hopefully result in belief modification keeping them engaged long-
term.
Retention of beginning teachers is imperative and, thus, the
current study tries to understand the teacher attrition issue using
the lens of professional identity. The results of this study indicated
different patterns of professional identity depending on the stage in
the teaching trajectory and that emotional burnout was the most
salient pattern for dropout teachers. Teacher retention and attrition
are such a complicated educational phenomena with so many
factors intertwined, thus future research needs to be developed by
including other possible contributing factors. Based on the findings
of this study, suggestions for pre-service teacher education
programs and implications for in-service teachers’ professional
development were provided. This study, although exploratory in
nature, adds to the knowledge of teacher retention and professional
identity, and also provides practical implications for teachers
themselves, teacher educators, and school administrators.
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