Key Characteristics for Effective Teaching: Subject Qualifications or Something Else?

This research explored whether it was subject qualifications, or other behaviours or characteristics, that were key to teacher effectiveness. It also provided a response to government rhetoric that claims that the most effective teachers are those with the best subject specialist qualifications (DfE, 2010; DfE, 2011; DfE, 2016a; Foster, 2018; Teach First, 2018). This response is based on the findings of interpretivist research that explored stakeholder views and representations, through interviews and examination of teacher job advertisements, in secondary and further education.

From the analysis of the data gathered, several themes emerged. The results of teacher subject qualifications were not a unique signal of teacher effectiveness for stakeholders. For educational leaders, these qualifications formed one aspect of the holistic view of the teacher that they are recruiting. Qualifications, to teachers and to educational leaders, formed only a partial proxy of knowledge required to teach. In acknowledging this, the research indicates that teacher passion is a more effective signal of teacher effectiveness than teacher qualifications. Therefore, a tripartite model of teacher passion, comprising facets of passion for teaching, passion for learning and passion for a teacher’s subject is presented.

Specifically, the centrality of passion and enthusiasm to teacher effectiveness has reiterated teaching as an intrinsically motivated profession in which subject qualification results are not a unique signal of effectiveness. This highlights the need for change, away from a policy focus in relation to teacher subject qualifications, towards one which views subject qualifications holistically. The passion centric model of teacher effectiveness is presented as a model to support this and to aid wider teacher recruitment decision making and policy.