Peter D. Wiens & Sean Ruday �
Volume 22, Number 2, Fall 2014
Personality and Preservice TeachersDoes It Change, Does It Matter?
Peter D. WiensUniversity of Virginia
Sean RudayLongwood University
Issues in Teacher Education, Fall 2014
Introduction
Inthestudieduniversity,arecurringdiscussionamongpreserviceteacherscentersaroundwhethergoodteachersarebornormade.ScottandDinham(2008)examinedthisissueandfoundthatmanypreser-viceteachersbelievethatsomepeopleareborntobegoodteachersandthatthisisagenetictrait.Darling-Hammond(2006),however,arguesthat“teachersareborn,notmade”isamythandhighlydamagingtoteachereducationandtoeducationmorebroadly.Further,Harrison,Smithey,MacAffee,andWeiner(2006)describetheimportanceofhav-inga“teacher’sheart”butassumethatthiscanbedevelopedinteachercandidatesevenbeforeenteringtheteachereducationprogram. Theargumentthatteachersaremade,notborn,isespeciallycom-pellingtoteachereducators.Asteachersofteachers,teachereducatorsmustbelieveinthelearningpotentialofallpreserviceteachersadmittedintotheirprograms.Ifateachercandidatehasthemotivationtobecomeareflectivepractitionerofthecraftofteaching,thenateachereducatorbelievesthatthatpersoncan,indeed,developintoaneffectiveteacher.However,atitsheart,thisisanempiricalquestionthatneedstobeex-
Peter D. Wiens is an assistant professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wisconsin. Sean Ruday is an assis-tant professor in the Department of English and Modern Languages at Longwood University, Farmville, Virginia. Their e-mail addresses are [email protected] & [email protected]
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amined.Inarticlepaper,theauthorsattempttounderstandoneaspectofteachercandidates,personality,anditspotentialimpactonteachingquality.First,theauthorsexaminewhichpersonality,accordingtothefive-factormodel,preserviceteacherstendtohave.Thentheauthorsexaminethestabilityofpersonalityoverthecourseofateachertrain-ingprogram.Finally,theconnectionsbetweenteachingperformance,feelingsaboutteaching,andpersonalityareassessed.
Review of the Literature
Teachersarecrucialtothesuccessofschools,andresearchersbe-lievethatteachersarethegreatestin-schoolfactorforachild’ssuccessinschool(Nye,Konstantopoulos,&Hedges,2004;Rivkin,Hanushek,&Kain,2005;Rockoff,2004).Theresponsibilityforensuringthateachvacantteachingpositionisfilledwithacompetent,ifnotoutstanding,teacherhaslargelyfallentoschooldistrictrecruitersandtheteachereducationschoolsthatpreparethecandidates.Theroleoftheteachereducationschoolsinthisprocesshasdevelopedintoatwofoldrespon-sibility.First,teachereducationschoolsserveastheinitialgatekeepersintotheprofession,theoreticallyscreeningoutanyindividualswhodonotshowthepotentialtobeeffectiveteachers.Second,theseprogramspreparefutureteacherswiththenecessaryknowledgeandskillstobeeffectivewhentheyareplacedinschoolsasin-serviceteachers. Whilealternateroutestocertificationexist,theauthorsexaminedpre-serviceteachersenrolledinauniversityteacher-educationprogram.TheNationalResearchCouncil(2010)notedthat�0-80%ofaspiringteachers“areenrolledin‘traditional’programshousedinpostsecondaryinstitu-tions;therestentertheprofessionthroughoneoftheapproximately130‘alternative’routes”(p.2).Althoughalternativeprogramstendtoattractnontraditionalcandidatestotheteachingprofession(Rosenberg&Sinde-lar,2005),researchhasrevealedsomekeysimilaritiesinindividualsthatentertheprofessionthroughtraditionalandalternativeprograms.Bowe,Braam,Lawrenz,andKirchoff(2011)studiedaspiringSTEMteachersinalternativeandtraditionalcertificationprogramsandfoundthatthefutureteachersintheseprogramsweresimilarindemographicandmostaffectivecharacteristics.Thegoalsofalternativelicensureprogramstendtobeespecially“pragmatic,”“typicallycenteringonfillingspecificperson-nelneeds,suchashigh-needsubjectareasanddifficult-to-staffschools”(McCray,Rosenberg,Bronwll,Leko,&Long,2011,p.56). Inaddition toplacingeffective teachers ineveryclassroom, it isnearly as important to retain them. Retaining teachers has becomean important issue for school districts (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003), as
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evidencepointstotheharmfuleffectsofteacherturnoveronstudents(Boyd,Grossman,Lankford,Loeb,&Wyckoff,2008;Ronfeldt,Loeb,&Wyckoff,2013).TeacherturnoverhasbeenanongoingprobleminU.S.schools, with large numbers of teachers leaving within the first fiveyearsofenteringtheprofession(U.S.DepartmentofEducation,200�).However,teacherswhoentertheprofessionwithahighlevelofinitialcommitmentstay intheclassroommuchlonger (Chapman&Green,1�86;Rots,Aelterman,Devos,&Vlerick,2010).Therefore,examiningthecommitmenttotheprofessionandsatisfactionwithcareerchoiceofrecentlygraduatedpreserviceteachersmaybeusefulforunderstandinghowlongtheywillremainintheprofession. Understandingwhetherthereareindividual,non-malleableperson-alitytraitsthatpredictsuccessintheclassroomiscrucialforteachereducationandschooldistrictteacherrecruiters.Notallindividualswhodesiretoteachareequallycapableofbeingeffectiveteachers(Haber-man,1��5;Leigh,2010).Ifspecificpersonalitytraitscanbeidentifiedandshowntoreliablypredictteacherperformance,theselectionroleofteachereducationprogramsmustchangetoaccommodatethisunder-standing.Currently,teachereducationprogramstendtoadmitcandi-datesbasedonacademicskills,asevidencedbygradepointaveragesandstandardized tests (AmericanAssociationofCollegesofTeacherEducation,2012).However,uncoveringapersonalitytraitthatpredictsteachingsuccesscouldgiveteachereducationprogramsanothertoolforidentifyingandacceptingonlythosecandidateswhoarelikelytobesuccessful.Whilethisisapowerfulidea,itremainsunclearwhetherthereisalinkbetweenpersonalitytraitsandteachingperformance.
The Search for Predictors of Teaching Success
Thereisanongoingsearchamongeducationresearchersandschooldistrictadministratorstofindmeasurablecharacteristicsofteachersthatwillpredictsuccessinclassroominstruction(Rockoff,Jacob,Kane,&Staiger,2008).Alargeamountofresearchhasfocusedonadminis-trativecharacteristicsofindividualteachers,suchasachievementandcertificationtestscores,teacherpreparationroute,certificationstatus,andselectivityoftheuniversityattended(Goldhaber,2008). Whenfocusingontheseeasilymeasurablecharacteristicsofteachers,itcanbedifficulttofindmeaningfulpredictorsofteachereffectiveness.High-achieving individuals, as demonstrated by their attendance athighlyselectivecollegesanduniversities,doappeartobesomewhatmoreeffectiveinproducinglearninggainsintheirstudents(Boyd,Lankford,Loeb,Rockoff,&Wyckoff,2008).Similarly,certifiedteachersgenerally
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showbetterachievementgainsthandouncertifiedteachersinsimilarteachingenvironments(Clotfelter,Ladd,&Vigdor,200�).Theuncertifiedteachersoftentendtobelessacademicallysuccessfulandaremorelikelytobeteachinginasubjectaboutwhichtheyarenothighlyknowledgeable.Theteacherpreparationroutealsohasbeenusedtopredictteachersuc-cess.Thiscomparisonbetweentraditionalteachercertificationprogramsandalternativeteachercertificationhasshownsomesmalladvantagesfortraditionalcertification,butthesedifferencesarenegligibleafteracoupleofyearsofteaching(Constantineetal.,200�). Acommonrefrainintheseeffortsbyresearcherstoidentifypredic-torsofteachereffectivenessisthatindividualcharacteristicsaremoreimportant thanadministrative characteristics. Inotherwords, theseadministrationclassifications,whileeasilyaccessedbyresearchers,donotaccount forthemajorityof thevariance inteachereffectiveness.Manyofthedifferencesbetweenteachersremainunexplainedandarelikelyattributedtotheindividualcharacteristicsoftheteacher.
Measuring Personality
Inthepastseveraldecades,anempiricalstrategyhastakenpromi-nenceformeasuringandidentifyingpersonalitytypes.Researchinthisfieldhasledtothecreationofthe“BigFive”structureofconceptualizingpersonality(Costa&McCrae,1��2).Thefivefactorsincludeneuroticism,extraversion,opennesstoexperience,agreeableness,andconscientious-ness.Ripski,LoCasale-Crouch,andDecker(2011)describethefactorsasfollows:
Neuroticismischaracterizedbynegativeemotions,suchasanxietyandlowself-esteem.Extraversionisdefinedbybeingsociableandassertive.Thoseindividualshighonopennesstendtobecuriousandimaginative.Personswithahighdegreeofagreeablenessaresympatheticandeasilymoved.Finally,conscientiousnessischaracterizedbyahighdegreeofresponsibilityanddetermination.(pp.�8-��)
Further,theNEO-FiveFactorInventory(NEO-FFI)(Costa&McCrae,1��2;Costa,McCrae,&Dye,1��1)hasbecomeapopularinstrumentforassessingpersonalityinavarietyofsettings.
Personality—A Stable Trait or Changing Disposition?
Ifpersonalityisamovingtarget,itcannotbeveryusefulforpredictingteachingsuccess.Similarly,personality,ifitisconstantlyinflux,wouldnotmakeaneffectiveconstructforunderstandingwhetherteachersarebornormade.Whilepersonalitycertainlychangesoverthecourseofa
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person’slife,thereneedstobeacertainlevelofstabilityofmeasureablepersonalitycharacteristics. Thereisdebateintheliteratureoverthestabilityofpersonalitytraits.CostaandMcCrae(1��4)arguethatpersonalityislargelystable.However,thereislongitudinalevidenceofpersonalitychangeoverthecourseofadulthood(Helson,Jones,&Kwan,2002).Inyoungadulthood,thepictureisevenlessclear.Thecollegeyearsareconsideredtobeatimeofgreatchangeinthelivesofyoungadults(Arnett,2000).Research,however,doesnotseemtosuggestthatpersonalitychangesinanygreatwayduringthistimeoftransition(Ripskietal.,2011;Robbins,Fraley,Roberts,&Trzesniewski,2001). Thestabilityofpersonalityinyoungadultsisimportantinteachereducationbecausepolicymakersandschoolofficialsareinterestedinmakingconnectionsbetweenmeasureablecharacteristicsandteachingsuccess.Ifpersonalityisstableandmeasurable,itmaybeusefulforpredictingsuccess intheclassroomor thecommitmenttoremain inteaching.
Personality and Teaching Quality
Outside of education, personality has been studied extensivelyrelatedtoworkplaceperformance.Inanextensivereviewofresearch,Ones,Dichert,Viswesvaran,andJudge(200�)arguethatpersonalityfactors,specificallytheBigFive,areausefultool,stating,“TheBigFivepersonalityvariablesasasetpredictimportantorganizationalbehaviors(e.g.,jobperformance,leadership,andevenworkattitudesandmotiva-tion)”(p.1010).Personalityhasshowntoberelatedtojobsatisfaction(Judge,Heller,&Mount,2002)and,incertaincircumstances,alsocor-relateswithjobperformance(Barrick&Mount,1��1).Inmanyways,however,teachingisauniqueprofession,andfindingsfromotherworkenvironmentsdonotnecessarilypertaintotheteachingenvironment. Personalityhasbeenstudiedbyeducationalresearchersfordecades.OneexampleofsuchresearchisMcCarthy’s(1�8�)4MATmodel,whichdivideslearnersintofourtypesbasedonpersonalityandlearningstyle:experiencing(Type1),conceptualizing(Type2),applying(Type3),andcreating(Type4).Thisassessmentmeasure,whilenoteworthy,focusesonstudents’attributesandnotonteachingperformance.Infact,therehasbeenaninabilitybyresearcherstomakeclearconnectionsbetweenpersonalityandteachingperformance(Rockoffetal.,2008).Whileperson-alityhasbeenlinkedtoeffectiveteachinginafewcases(Barrett,1��1),ithasnotbeenconnectedtobroadmeasuresofteachingeffectiveness.Rockoffetal.didfindthatcertainaspectsofpersonalityarepositively
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correlatedwithin-serviceteacherevaluationsbutonlymarginallywithstudentachievementresults.Whilehighlydistinguishedteachershavebeenshowntodifferfromotherteachersinmeasuredpersonality,Rush-ton,Morgan,andRichard(200�)didnotattempttocorrelateteachingeffectivenessandpersonality.Otherresearchonpersonalityinteachinghasshownlinksbetweenpersonalityandimportantfactorsotherthanstudentachievement.InnesandKitto(1�8�)foundthatteacherswhodemonstratedhighneuroticismweremorelikelytosufferfromstress. Littleresearchhasbeenconductedontherelationshipbetweenthepersonalityofpreserviceteachersandtheirteachingperformance.Inperhapsthemostcompletestudyconductedtodateonpreserviceteacherpersonalityand teachingperformance,Ripskietal. (2011) showedalink between conscientiousness and observed teaching performance.Further,Jamil,Downer,andPianta(2012)demonstratedalinkbetweenpersonality and teaching self-efficacy.They showed that extravertedpreserviceteachersweremorelikelytohavehighself-efficacyintheirteachingabilities.Thisdoesnotnecessarilyshow,however,thatextra-vertedpreserviceteachersaremoreeffectiveteachers. ThisstudyseekstobuildontheworkofRockoffetal.(2008)andRipskietal.(2011).Specifically,itseekstoreplicatetheworkofRipskietal.intheiranalysisofthestabilityofpreserviceteacherpersonalityandtobuildonthatstudybyaddinganoutcomemeasure.Asnoted,whileteachingperformancemaybehighlyimportant,retaininggoodteachersisequally,ifnotmore,important.Theimportanceofthesecon-ceptsinspiredthisstudy,whichusessurveyquestionsthatdeterminesatisfactionwith thedecision tobecomea teacherandmay indicatecommitmenttotheprofession.
Methods
Procedures
Datawerecollectedatamid-Atlanticuniversity’sschoolofeducation,considered“mostselective”(U.S.News&WorldReport,2012),overfouryears,aspartofalargerdata-gatheringinitiative(Wiens,2014).Partici-pantsinthisstudywerepreserviceteachersinafive-yearbachelor’splusmaster’sdegreeprogram.Inthisprogram,studentsentertheteachereducationprograminthethirdyearoftheirundergraduateprogram.Theycompletethemajorityoftheireducationcourseworkandalloftheirundergraduatecourseworkbytheendoftheirfourthyear.Studentsthenparticipateinaone-semesterfallstudentteachingplacementintheirfifthyear.Here,theauthorsreporton8�participantsfromtwocohortsofstudentswhocompletedthesurveysthreetimesandrepresentap-
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proximately34%ofthetotalteachereducationstudentsineachcohort.Thesurveysusedinthisstudyarepartofarequiredblockofsurveysthat teacher education studentsare expected to complete eachyear,unlesstheyelecttocompletealternativeresearchassignments(Wiens,2014). Thesamplewas8�% femaleand11%male.Further,�4%of theparticipantsidentifiedthemselvesasCaucasian,11%asAsian,5%asAfricanAmerican,and10%asotherracialcategoriesorunspecified.Inthesample,54%wereseekinglicensureinelementaryeducation,15%inEnglish,6%inforeignlanguage,�%inmathematics,3%inscience,13%insocialstudies,and2%inotherareas.Measures
Dataforthisstudywerecollectedusingthreedifferentmeasures.Thetwosurveyinstrumentswereon-linemeasuresforwhichpreser-viceteachersrespondedtoquestionsandstatements.Thetwosurveymeasuresarepartofthesame,largersurveythatpreserviceteacherscompleteduringeachyearoftheirteachereducationprogram.Asnoted,thesurveysarecompletedinthespringsemester;therefore,thethirdadministrationofthesurveyswascompletedafterthestudentteachingexperienceinthesemesterpriortotheindividuals’enteringtheteachingprofession.Thethirdinstrumentwasastandardizedobservationaltoolforassessingteachingeffectivenessthroughexaminingteacher-studentinteractions.Preserviceteacherswerenotprovidedwiththeresultsofanyoftheinstrumentsforthedatareportedherein.
Personality measure.PreserviceteacherpersonalitywasmeasuredusingtheNEO-FFI,which,asnoted,identifiesfivepersonalityfactors:neuroticism,extraversion,openness,agreeableness,andconscientious-ness(Costaetal.,1��1;seeAppendixA).Participantsrespondedto60items on a 5-point Likert scale of 1=strongly disagree to 5=stronglyagree,forwhichhigherresponsesindicatedagreaterinclinationtothatpersonalitytype.Itemsfromthedifferentfactorsincluded,“Ioftenfeelinferiortoothers”(neuroticism);“Iliketohavealotofpeoplearoundme”(extraversion);“Ioftentrynewandforeignfoods”(openness);“MostpeopleIknowlikeme”(agreeableness);and“Ikeepmybelongingsneatandclean”(conscientiousness).
Teaching effectiveness measure. Preservice teacher effectivenesswasmeasuredbytheClassroomAssessmentScoringSystem(CLASS).CLASShasbeenrecognizedasanimportantmethodofmonitoringef-fectiveteachingandhasbeenselectedasamonitoringtoolforHead
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Startprograms(LaParo,Pianta,&Stuhlman,2004;LoCasale-Crouchetal.,200�).CLASSalsohasbeenutilizedbyvariousresearchersasaneffectivemeasurementinelementaryandsecondaryclassrooms(Graue,Rauscher,&Sherfinski,200�;LaParoetal.,200�;Malmberg&Hagger,200�).Studies sponsoredby several recognizededucational researchagencies,suchastheGatesFoundation,EducationalTestingService,andtheNationalInstituteofChildHealthandHumanDevelopment,alsohaveusedCLASS(Ewing,2008;GatesFoundation,2010). PiantaandHamre(200�)conceptualizedCLASSasanobservationtoolthatassessesthoseteacher-studentinteractionsthatcontributetostudentdevelopmentasaresultoftheclassroomexperienceanden-vironment.TheCLASSframeworkdividesclassroominteractionsintothreemajordomains:emotionalsupports,classroomorganization,andinstructionalsupports.Eachofthethreedomainsrepresentsasetoftenspecificdimensionsofacademicandsocialsupportsthatarelinkedtostudentdevelopment(Hamre,Pianta,Mashburn,&Downer,200�;Pianta&Hamre,200�).Finally,eachofthedimensionsissupportedby indicators that are demonstrable to the observer. For example, ateacherwhoisobservedprovidingrepetitiveandscaffoldedfeedbacktostudentsduringinstructionwouldbeassessedasappropriatewithintheinstructionalsupportdomain,thequalityoffeedbackdimension,andthefeedbackloopindicator. TheCLASSframeworkissupportedbyresearchinbotheducationandpsychology(Hamre&Pianta,200�)andisdesignedtobeausefulmetricforthesystematicresearchofclassroomeffectsinteacheredu-cation (Hamreetal., 200�;Pianta&Hamre,200�).Teacher-studentinteractionsarethe“proximalprocessesthatdeterminetheextenttowhichschoolingeffectivelyleadstodevelopmentandlearning”(Hamreetal.,200�,p.20).BecausetheCLASSframeworkfocusesonproximalprocessesinclassroominteractions,itisconceptuallyrelevantacrossgradelevels,frompreschooltohighschool.CLASS-basedstudieshaveconsistentlyfoundassociationsbetweenobservableclassroombehaviorsoutlinedintheCLASSprotocolandstudentdevelopmentandlearning(Curby,Rimm-Kaufman,&Ponitz,200�;Pianta,Belsky,Vandergrift,Houts,&Morrison,2008). Intheteachereducationprogram,preserviceteachersintheirfinalyearcompleteaone-semesterstudentteachingplacementinthefallsemester. The preservice teachers video-record themselves during aspecifiedperiodoftimewhentheyhavetakenonfullteachingrespon-sibilities.Fromthevideos,twosetsofCLASScodesaregeneratedbytrainedratersfromdifferentteachingsessionsthatarethencompositedintoonemeanscore.Raterswereinitiallytrainedtoreliabilityonthe
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toolthrougharigoroustwo-daytrainingsession,wheretheylearnedthe CLASS framework and conducted multiple practice tests.Then,observerspassedareliabilitytestbyusingtheCLASStoolsuccessfullyacrossmultipleclassroomsituations.Allratersmustdemonstratean80%agreementofwithinonescoreofamastercodinglisttobeconsideredreliable.Inthisstudy,theraterswereoftentheuniversitysupervisorsassignedtomentorandevaluatethestudentteachers.
Satisfaction with teaching and commitment to teaching.TheFactorsInfluencingTeachingChoice(FIT-Choice)Scalemeasuresthefactorsthatinfluencethechoicetoteachforpreserviceteachersandthefeelingsaboutthedecisiontobecomeateacher(Watt&Richardson,200�).Thisstudyusedasub-scaleoftheFIT-Choicescalethataddressessatisfac-tionwithteachingchoice.Thefiveitemsusedinthisstudybeginwith,“Your thoughts regarding teaching . . . ,”andparticipants rate theirresponsestothestatementsona�-pointLikertscalefrom1=notatallto�=extremely.Thefivequestionsareasfollows:
1.Howsatisfiedareyouwithyourchoiceofateachingcareer?
2.Howsureareyouthatyouwillpersistinteaching?
3.Howmucheffortwillyouputintoyourteaching?
4.Towhatextentdoyouaimtoundertakefurtherprofessionaldevel-opment?
5.Towhatextentdoyouaimtotakeupaleadershiproleinschools?
These five questions provide some indication of the commitment toteachingthatpreserviceteachersinthissampleholdinthesemesterpriortoenteringtheteachingworkforce.
Analysis
Asnoted,the60itemsinthesurveywerecompositedintofivefactors:neuroticism,extraversion,openness,agreeable,andconscientiousness.Cronbach’salphaswerecomputedforeachfactortodetermineinternalconsistency.Allfactorswerewellwithinacceptablerangesforreliability.Theneuroticismalphasrangedfroma=.85inthefirstyeartoa=.8�inboththesecondandthirdadministrationofthesurvey.Extraversionfactorshad lowerreliabilitycoefficientsbutwerestillwithinaccept-ableranges,froma=.84inthefirstyear,a=.82inthesecondyear,anda=.�8inthethirdyear.Reliabilitycoefficientsfortheopennessfactorwerea=.�5,a=.�6,anda=.�3forthefirsttothirdyears,respectively.Theagreeablefactorshowedstrongreliabilityaswell,withCronbach’s
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alphasofa=.82,a=.84,anda=.8�forthethreeadministrationsofthesurvey.Finally,conscientiousnesswasa=.8�forthefirstyear,a=.8�forthesecond,and.�0forthefinalyear. Longitudinalanddescriptiveanalysiswasconductedinthreeparts.Thepurposeof theanalysiswas tounderstandwhetheranyonecanlearntobecomeanexcellentteacherorwhetherthereisaninternalpersonalitytraitthatdeterminesteachingsuccess.Foratooltobeuse-fulinmeasuringapersonalitytrait,itmustfirstdemonstratestabilityofpersonalityovertime.Todeterminewhetherpersonalitywasastableconstructovertimeinthesampleofpreserviceteachers,NEO-FFIfac-torswereexaminedoverthethreeyearsoftheprogram.Theresultsofthisanalysis,conductedusingpairedsamplet-testsforthedifferencesbetweenthefirstand lastadministrationsof thepersonalitysurvey,weresignificant. Thesecondanalysiswasconductedtodeterminewhichpersonal-itytypeswerestrongestinthesampleofpreserviceteachers.Simpledescriptive analysis was run to determine the strongest personalitytypesofthepreserviceteachers.Meansandstandarddeviationswerecalculatedacrossthethreeadministrationsofthepersonalitysurvey.Similarly,descriptivestatisticswerecalculatedforteachingperformanceusingtheCLASSmeasure. Thefinalanalysisprovidedevidenceof theassociationsbetweenpersonality,theteachingsuccessofpreserviceteachersintheirstudentteaching placements, and their career choice satisfaction. BivariatecorrelationswerecalculatedusingalloftheNEO-FFIfactors,eachofthethreedomainsofCLASSscores(emotionalsupports,classroomor-ganization,andinstructionalsupports),andthefivequestionsfromthecareersatisfactionsurvey.AnalysiswasconductedusingSPSSsoftware,Version18.Resultsoflongitudinalanalysissupportedconductingthecorrelationanalysisusingonlythefinalyearsurveydata.ThisalsowasconsistentwiththefactthattheCLASSdatawerecollectedonlyinthethirdyearofdatacollection.
Results
Analysisofthestabilityofpersonalityoverthethreeyearsofthefive-yearbachelor’splusmaster’sdegreeprogramshowednochangefromyearonetoyearthree.Resultsofthepairedsamplest-testsarereportedinTable1.Thechangeinfactorscoresfromthefirstyeartothethirdyearisrecordedinthesecondcolumnfromtheright(a).Thechangesinscoreswerequitesmall,rangingfrom.08to.01.Noneofthedifferencesbetweenthefirstandthirdyearswassignificant,withvaluesfromp=.141
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top=.838.Thedemonstratedstabilityofpersonalityoverthethree-yearteachereducationprogramallowedforfurtheranalysisofthedata. The secondset ofanalysis sought tounderstand thepersonalitytypesofpreserviceteacherswhocompletedthesurveyatallthreetimepoints.DescriptiveresultsarepresentedinTable2.Inthethirdyear,preserviceteachersinthissampledemonstratedhighestscoresintheagreeableness(M=4.01)andconscientiousness(M=4.00)factors.Extra-version(M=3.68)andopenness(M=3.48)weresomewhatlessstronglyassociatedwithpreserviceteachersinthissample.Basedonthesurveyresponsescollectedinthisstudy,preserviceteachersshowedtheleasttendencytowardneuroticism(M=2.53) Correlationswerecalculatedtoestimatetheassociationbetweenpersonality,teachingperformanceasmeasuredbyCLASS,andcareersatisfaction.ResultsofthebivariatecorrelationsaredisplayedinTable3. For these preservice teachers, there was no relationship betweenpersonalityasmeasuredby theNEO-FFIandteachingperformanceasmeasuredbyCLASS.Thiscanbeseeninthelackofsignificantcor-relationsbetweenanyoftheNEO-FFIfactorsandthethreeCLASSdomains. Correlations between personality and CLASS ranged fromr=.006tothelargestassociationofr=.204;however,noneofthesewasstatisticallydifferentfromzero. Personalitydidhavea relationshipwith career satisfaction.Theneuroticismfactorshowedanegativerelationshipwiththreeoftheques-tionsonthesatisfactionsurvey.Preserviceteacherswhoscoredhighinneuroticismwerelesslikelytobesatisfiedwithteaching(r=-.2��,p
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topersistinteaching(r=.210,p
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termsofclassroomorganizationwerelesslikelytobehappywithteach-ing(r=-.348,p
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Incontrast,studentsinthisstudyshowedalowinclinationtowardtheneuroticismfactor.Thiscanbeseenasapositiveoutcomebecauseresearchindicatesthatneuroticismisassociatedwithnegativeaffectandatendencytowardpsychologicaldistress(Costa&McCrae,1�80).WhilenotdirectlycorrelatedwithteachingperformanceasmeasuredbyCLASSinthissample,certainlyteacherswhoarelessinclinedtoemotionalandpsychologicalstressmaybebetterequippedtocontendwiththechallengesofenteringtheteachingprofession. Additionalanalysissuggeststhatpersonalitytypeasmeasuredbythefive-factorinventoryisnotcorrelatedwithteachingperformanceasmeasuredbyCLASS.Thesefindingssuggestthatpersonalityisnotapredictorofteachingperformanceandshouldnotbeusedinteachereducationadmissiondecisionsorinthehiringdecisionsofschools.Thenon-significantrelationshipbetweenpersonalityandpreserviceteach-ingeffectivenessmirrorsresultsfoundbyRockoffetal.(2008).Intheirstudy,theyfoundapositiverelationshipbetweenconscientiousnessandextraversionandteachereffectivenessforfirst-yearin-serviceteachers,butitalsowasnotsignificant.Thesedataareencouragingforteachereducationprogramsbecausetheyindicatethatallpersonalitytypesareequallycapableofbecomingexcellentteachers. Therewas,however,asignificantrelationshipbetweenpersonal-ityandcareersatisfaction.Thepreserviceteacherswhoscoredhighinneuroticismwerelesslikelytobehappywiththeircareerchoice,lesslikelytopursueteachingasacareer,andlesslikelytoplanonputtingeffortintoteaching.Teacherswhoaremorecommittedtoteachinguponexitingtheteachereducationprogramtendtostayinteachinglonger(Chapman&Green,1�86;Rotsetal.,2010).Thus,itbearsnotingthatcertainpersonalitytypes,extraversionandagreeableness,appearmorepredisposedtopersistingintheteachingprofession. Finally,thefindingthatpreserviceteacherswhodemonstratelowinstructionalqualityarelesslikelytopersistinteachingwarrantsspecialconsideration.Perhapsthisisanindicationthatsomeofthepreserviceteacherswhoarenotsuitedtoateachingcareerarevoluntarilyremovingthemselvesfromtheprofession.Thisalsomayindicatetheimportanceofthestudentteachingplacement.Thesepreserviceteacherscompletedthecareersatisfactionsurveywhentheirmostrecentandmostimportantteachingexperiencewasaone-semesterstudentteachingplacement.Followingthatplacement,someofthepreserviceteachershaveclearlydecidedthatteachingisanotagoodcareerchoiceforthem. Thedatapresentedinthisstudysuggesttworelated,butsomewhatcontradictory,findings.First,datafromthisstudysuggestthatspecificpersonalitytraitsarenotspecifictoteaching,asthesetraitsarenot
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associated with teaching performance. However, teachers of certainpersonalitytypesmightbemoresatisfiedwithteachingasacareerandstayintheprofessionlonger.
Limitations and Future Research
Thesampleforthisstudyisaveryspecificpreserviceteacherpopu-lation.Thefactthatitcompromisedonlyone-thirdofstudentsintwocohortsatahighlyselectiveuniversitycertainlylimitstheabilitytomakegeneralizationsoutsideofthesample.Itispossiblethatcertainpersonalitytypesarelikelytoattendhighlyselectiveuniversitiesand,therefore,thevariabilityinpersonalitydistributionislimitedinthissample.Thesmallsamplesizealsomayhavelimitedthestatisticalpowertodetectsignificantrelationshipsbetweenvariablesmeasuredinthisstudy.Inaddition,thepreserviceteachersrepresentedinthissample represent specificdemographics,with theirparticularages,genders,ethnicities,andsocioeconomicstatuses.Replicatingthisstudyinabroaderpopulationofpreserviceteachersmayyieldevenmoreconclusiveresults. Theauthorsbeganbyaskingwhethergreatteachersarebornormade.Theevidencehere suggests thatpersonality,asa cornerstoneofwhoteachersare,doesnothavearelationshiptoteachingquality.However,theremaybeotheraspectsofpersonalitynotmeasuredbytheNEO-FFIthatdopredictteachingquality.Perhapsmotivationorreflectivebehaviorscouldbereasonablepredictorsofteachingquality.Futureresearchneedstobeconductedusingawidervarietyofperson-ality-relatedmeasurestounderstandthisissuemorefully. Thisstudyalsowaslimitedbytime.Theauthorstestedtherela-tionshipbetweenpersonalityandteachingeffectivenessinthestudentteachingplacement.Future research shouldbe conducted that teststhesamerelationshipbutalsofollowspreserviceteachersintothefield.Furtherlongitudinalanalysisneedstobeconductedthatfollowspre-serviceteachersthroughtheirteachereducationprogramandintothefieldtobegintounderstandwhatcharacteristicsofpreserviceteacherspredictteachingquality.
Conclusion
Aregreatteachersbornthatway?Evidencesuggeststhatpersonality,astabletraitthroughyoungadulthood,isnotassociatedwithteachingability.Thisanalysiscontributestoanempiricalunderstandingthatanyonecanbecomeagreatteacher.Thepurposeofthisarticlewasnot
Personality and Preservice Teachers22
Issues in Teacher Education
tomakeadefinitiveargumentaboutwhethergreatteachersarebornormadebutsimplytocontributetothediscussion. Thedatareportedinthisarticlehaveimplicationsforteachingedu-cationprograms.Thefirstoftheseimplicationsisthatpersonalityisnotapredictorofteachingperformanceand,therefore,shouldnotbeusedinadmissionsdecisionsforteachereducationprograms.ThisisbecausepersonalityasmeasuredbythefivefactorinventoryisnotcorrelatedwiththeCLASSmeasurementofteachingperformance.Thisfindingbuildsonpreviousresearch(Rockoffetal,2008)thatsuggeststhatteacherswithavarietyofpersonalitytraitscanbecomeeffectiveteachers. However, thedataalsosuggest that teachereducationprogramslookcarefullyatpre-serviceteachersenrolledintheirprogramswhodisplaycharacteristicsofneuroticismtohelpthoseindividualsdecidewhethertheywillultimatelyenjoyteachingasacareerandstayintheprofession.Becausepre-serviceteacherswhoscorehighinneuroticismwerelesslikelytobehappywiththeircareerchoice,lesslikelytopursueteachingasacareer,andlesslikelytoplantoputeffortintoteaching,itmaybehooveteachereducationprogramfacultyandadministratorstolookforvisiblesignsofanxietyandlowself-esteemamongtheirpre-serviceteachercandidates.Afteridentifyingstudentswhodisplaythesecharacteristics,teachereducatorscancloselymonitorthemandobservetheirprogress.Monitoringandtrackingtheprogressofthesestudentscanallowteachereducatorstogaugetheireffectiveness.Ifanxietyandlowself-esteemappeartobehinderingthepre-serviceteachers’likeli-hoodofbecominghappyandeffectiveteachers,teachereducatorscanthenmeetwiththesestudentstohelpthemdecidewhetherteachingisultimatelythebestcareerforthem.
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Appendix A
NEO-5 Factor Inventory
Neuroticism 1.Iamnotaworrier*6.Ioftenfeelinferiortoothers11.WhenI’munderagreatdealofstress,sometimes,IfeellikeI’mgoingto pieces16.Irarelyfeellonelyorblue*21.Ioftenfeeltenseandjittery26.SometimesIfeelcompletelyworthless31.Irarelyfeelfearfuloranxious*36.Ioftengetangryatthewaypeopletreatme41.Toooften,whenthingsgowrong,Igetdiscouragedandfeellikegivingup46.Iamseldomsadordepressed*51.Ioftenfeelhelplessandwantsomeoneelsetosolvemyproblems56.AttimesIhavebeensoashamedIjustwantedtohide
Extraversion2.Iliketohavealotofpeoplearoundme�.Ilaugheasily12.Idon’tconsidermyselfespecially“light-hearted”*1�.Ireallyenjoytalkingtopeople22.Iliketobewheretheactionis2�.Iusuallyprefertodothingsalone*32.IoftenfeelasifI’mburstingwithenergy3�.Iamacheerful,high-spiritedperson42.Iamnotacheerfuloptimist*4�.Mylifeisfast-paced52.Iamaveryactiveperson5�.Iwouldrathergomyownwaythanbealeaderofothers*
Openness to Experience3.Idon’tliketowastemytimedaydreaming*8.OnceIfindtherightwaytodosomething,Istickwithit*13.IamintriguedbythepatternsIfindinartandnature18.Ibelievelettingstudentshearcontroversialspeakerscanonlyconfuse andmisleadthem*
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23.Poetryhaslittleornoeffectonme*28.Ioftentrynewandforeignfoods33.Iseldomnoticethemoodsorfeelingsthatenvironmentsproduce*38.Ibelieveweshouldlooktoourreligiousauthoritiesfordecisionsonmoral issues*43.SometimeswhenIamreadingpoetryorlookingataworkofart,Ifeela chillorawaveofexcitement48.Ihavelittleinterestinspeculatingonthenatureoftheuniverseorthe humancondition*53.Ihavealotofintellectualcuriosity58.Ioftenenjoyplayingwiththeoriesorabstractideas
Agreeableness4.ItrytobecourteoustoeveryoneImeet�.Ioftengetintoargumentswithmyfamilyandco-workers*14.SomepeoplethinkI’mselfishandegotistical*1�.Iwouldrathercooperatewithothersthancompetewiththem24.Itendtobecynicalandskepticalofothers’intentions*2�.Ibelievethatmostpeoplewilltakeadvantageofyouifyouletthem*34.MostpeopleIknowlikeme3�.Somepeoplethinkofmeascoldandcalculating*44.I’mhard-headedandtough-mindedinmyattitudes*4�.Igenerallytrytobethoughtfulandconsiderate54.IfIdon’tlikepeople,Iletthemknow*5�.Ifnecessary,IamwillingtomanipulatepeopletogetwhatIwant*
Conscientiousness 5.Ikeepmybelongingsneatandclean10.I’mprettygoodaboutpacingmyselfsoastogetthingsdoneontime15.Iamnotaverymethodicalperson*20.Itrytoperformallthetasksassignedtomeconscientiously25.Ihaveaclearsetofgoalsandworktowardtheminanorderlyfashion30.Iwastealotoftimebeforesettlingdowntowork*35.Iworkhardtoaccomplishmygoals40.WhenImakeacommitment,Icanalwaysbecountedontofollowthrough45.SometimesI’mnotasreliableordependableasIshouldbe*50.Iamaproductivepersonwhoalwaysgetsthejobdone55.Ineverseemtobeabletogetorganized*60.IstriveforexcellenceineverythingIdo
*Itemisreversecoded.