08-08-2014, 11:29 AM
ASSESSING SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS
TEACHING PROFESSION
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INTRODUCTION
When we ask someone about her / his attitude towards something, say her / his job, we are primarily
interested in finding out how s/he feels about her / his job and, in particular, whether s/he likes or dislikes
her/his job. Attitudes have been defined in a number of ways. The simplest definition is that, it is a feeling
for or against something (Remmers, Gage & Rummel 1960, p. 67). According to Britt (1958, p. 52), it is a
mental set of response. Fishbein (1967, p.12) defines it as a mental disposition of the human individual to
act for or against a definite object. Allport (1935, p.34) defines it as a mental and neural state of readiness,
organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to
all objects and situations with which it is related. Thurstone (1946, p. 39) has defined attitude as the degree
of positive or negative affect associated with some psychological object. By a psychological object, he
means any symbol, phrase, slogan, person, institution, ideal or idea towards which people can differ with
respect to positive or negative affect. A particular job, for example, may be a psychological object.
In the literature of psychology, the terms ‘affect’ and ‘feeling’ are used interchangeably. An individual who
has associated positive affect or feeling with some psychological object is said to like that object or to have
a favourable attitude towards the object. An individual who has associated negative affect with the same
psychological object would be said to dislike that object or to have an unfavourable attitude towards the
object. The above definitions show that an attitude is a preparation or readiness for response. It is incipient
rather than overt and consummatory. It is not behaviour, but the pre-condition of behaviour.
NEED FOR THE STUDY
Teachers who are generally unenthusiastic about the teaching profession (i.e. having a negative job
orientation) reported in one study, that they were more distressed about their teaching situation than were
teachers who were enthusiastic (Litt & Turk 1985, p.180). Thus, for the professional growth of the teachers
and improvements in education, the attitudes held by them are very important. How a teacher performs
his/her duty as a teacher is dependent, to a great extent, on his/her attitudes, values and beliefs. A positive
favourable attitude makes the work not only easier but also more satisfying and professionally rewarding. A
negative and unfavourable attitude makes the teaching task harder, tedious and unpleasant. In addition, a
teacher’s attitude also influences the behaviour of her/his students. Thus effective and productive learning
on the part of students can be achieved only by teachers with desirable attitudes. Thus, teacher’s attitude
towards teaching profession forms the major variable for the present study on secondary school teachers.
Operational Definition of Professional Attitude: In this study, professional attitude is the teacher’s
attitude towards teaching profession. An attitude is a more or less stable set or disposition of opinion,
interest or purpose, involving expectancy of a certain kind of experience and readiness with an appropriate
response. In the present study, attitude of teachers towards the profession of teaching is assessed as
‘Favourable’ and ‘Not-so-Favourable’.
Logical Validity
Logical validity of the developed scale was established. At the outset, all the accumulated knowledge on the
construct was critically studied and on the basis of this, the components which constitute the construct were
identified. The identified components were defined by specifying the universe of behaviours which may
describe the construct. Such identified components of the construct and universe of behaviours of each of
the components were referred to experts for their reactions. Incorporating the suggestions of experts, the
construct was operationalised. Following this, a pool of statements representing each one of the components
identified to constitute professional attitude towards teaching were developed. These statements along with
specifications of behaviours which may be sampled under the components and specific directions for
making the judgment regarding the representatives of the statements developed, acted as the guideline
against which judgments were made by competent persons. On the basis of the opinions and suggestions
and discussions with competent persons suitable modifications were brought in the format
CONCLUSION
A very significant area explored in the present study was professional attitude of teachers, where it was
found that majority of secondary school teachers displayed lack of positive or favourable attitude towards
their teaching profession. Teachers subdivided on the basis of gender showed difference in their level of
professional attitude. Males had less positive professional attitude than females. This connotes that
professional attitude of male teachers is highly negative than of female teachers. Healthy attitude of
teachers towards their profession is a pre-requisite for a healthy school system. If teachers will lose faith in
their profession and its contribution in making of the mankind and causing progress in the society; if the
honour of the ‘noblest of all’ profession is not acknowledged and respected by the teachers, then their job
satisfaction level will go down and the high position of teaching community will also be lowered. The
implication of current state of teachers holding less favourable or positive attitude towards their profession
is very dangerous as it not only kills the ‘professional self’ of a teacher but also dampens the spirit of the
school life. Teachers performing their duty only for the sake of salary and not liking or respecting the job in
which they are engaged bring forth a catastrophic situation taking the school system nowhere