Developing new methods to improve the selection of prospective teachers
In brief
- Non-cognitive attributes play an important role in effective teaching, but they are difficult to measure
- Innovative new methods provide a cost-effective, valid and innovative method to assess the non-cognitive attributes of prospective teachers
- Development of Situational Judgment Tests and Multi Mini Interviews for prospective teacher selection is currently underway in the UK and internationally
A convincing body of evidence shows that teachers are the most significant in-school influence on student achievement. The process of selecting the most effective future teachers has implications not only for individual applicants and education systems, but for society as a whole.
The Team and Collaborators Behind the Research
Researchers from the Psychology in Education Research Centre (PERC) at the University of York are working to develop reliable, valid, practical and evidence-supported selection methods. Results show our pilot SJTs exhibit excellent psychometric properties and are significantly correlated with interview criteria, meaning that the tests may be useful for initial screening of non-cognitive attributes. Results to date demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and have provided a robust rationale for extending the work on a wider platform.
Our work has now been extended to Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Ireland, and Oman with a number of teacher training providers and education authorities involved in development of locally-relevant content and norms. Further development of SJTs and MMIs to reflect the differential non-cognitive attributes necessary for success in primary and secondary settings is in development.
We dream of the day when every teacher in every school is effective and inspirational for all learners
Rob Klassen
Lead Researcher
Professor and Chair
Psychology in Education Research Centre
University of York, UK
Collaborators
- Liverpool Hope University (England)
- Ministry of Education and Science (Lithuania)
- Ministry of Education and Science (Malawi)
- Stranmillis University College (Northern Ireland)
- Strathclyde University (Scotland)
- Sultan Qaboos University (Oman)
- Teach First (England)
- Teach for Bulgaria (Bulgaria)
- The University of New South Wales (Australia)
- University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
- University of North Carolina (North America)
- York St John University (England)