Comparing the satisfaction level of head English teachers with beginning teachers of English at high schools with different characretistics in Vietnam

Trần Thị Ngọc Bích Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 125(11): 161 - 165 161 COMPARING THE SATISFACTION LEVEL OF HEAD ENGLISH TEACHERS WITH BEGINNING TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AT HIGH SCHOOLS WITH DIFFERENT CHARACRETISTICS IN VIETNAM Tran Thi Ngoc Bich* Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam SUMMARY This study intends to examine the differences in satisfaction level with beginning English teachers at high schools based on characteristics such as public/non-public status and location. The framework for teaching performance was adapted from frameworks in Bransford, Darling-Hammond & LePage (2005) and Ball & Cohen (1999). In this framework, the complex activities of teaching are divided into 24 components clustered into the following 4 domains of teaching: knowledge of subject matter and curriculum, knowledge of teaching, knowledge of learners, professional attitudes and values. The research was carried at high schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, two biggest cities in Vietnam. The sample size is 94 head English teachers, asked to evaluate the teaching performance of beginning English teachers in their school. The findings show that the satisfaction level of head teachers with beginning teachers in non–public schools is higher than in public schools. The quality of beginning English teachers in non-public schools and schools in rural area was more highly appreciated than in public schools and schools in the city. Overall, the study seems to suggest that the government should have the resolutions to minimize the gap between the schools in the rural and urban area and between the public and private schools. Key words: beginning English teachers, high school, and satisfaction. INTRODUCTION* Since Vietnam implemented Doimoi, an open door policy welcoming foreign investment in 1986, the demand for highly qualified human resources has been greater than ever before. The government has regarded education as an important element to develop the country. An important function of public policies is to distribute public resources rationally. However the city – oriented policies have created the disparity between urban and rural areas in the field of education. The public resources are allocated unfairly and majority of high – quality education resources are concentrated in cities. This has already led to a serious unbalanced development in education. The unbalanced development in education has not only blocked the realization of public interest and equity of education but also restricted the harmonious social of development between urban and rural areas. It is necessary to look into public policies which * Tel: 0905556609; Email: ttnbich@moet.edu.vn have influence on the division of public resources and criticize them rationally to narrow the gap in education between urban and rural areas. Therefore, the study was intended to examine the differences in satisfaction level of head English teachers with newly graduated teachers at high schools based on characteristics such as public/non- public status and location such as in suburban and city center schools. The design of the study for the most part followed the quantitative research methodology despite the fact that the interviews were combined later. The research was carried out on the teaching performance of newly graduated teachers (beginning teachers) at high schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This study utilized data sources drawn from the heads of the English departments at high schools. The reason for this decision on sampling selection is that head English teachers know a broader segment of a teacher’s portfolio, especially those of Trần Thị Ngọc Bích Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 125(11): 161 - 165 162 beginning teachers through peer review. New teachers are supervised, assisted and evaluated by experienced teachers and head teachers. The head teachers have well understood the limitations and strong points of beginning teachers, and periodically report the evaluation of all English teachers to the principal Board. A questionnaire was distributed to 290 head teachers of high schools with the assistance of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Education Departments. 94 head teachers of upper secondary schools returned the completed questionnaires. The data were collected based on three major aspects namely: the background and the situation of recruitment of English teachers, rating of teaching performance and recommendation. The first part is the background of the high school and head English teachers with 14 questions about the school name, address, type, number of teachers and English teachers, education level, teacher experience, recruitment information, probation time, and probation content. The main parts were the rating by head English teachers, which contained 24 items. This part aimed to measure how well teachers performed their job. The 24 questions were clustered into 4 major domains: knowledge of subject matter and curriculum (6 items); knowledge of teaching (7 items); knowledge of learners (5 items); professional attitudes and values embedded across knowledge domains (6 items). This framework drew upon Bransford, Darling - Hammond and LePage (2005) and Ball and Cohen (1999). Respondents were required to rate the teaching performance of new teachers using a five point Likert scale. The last part consisting of two items is the recommendation to improve the quality of beginning teachers. In addition to the questionnaire, this study collected qualitative data from the interviews with experienced head English teachers as supplementary information to quantitative data in hand. The interview structure was developed ahead of field research with the main emphasis on causes of limitations among new teachers as evaluated by the head teachers. The data analysis was conducted based on the research questions.. T-test was employed to compare the difference in the overall satisfaction level at high schools with different characteristics. This statistical tool provided a meaningful base for comparison between schools that are statistically significant. The internal reliability of the head English teachers’ rating of new teachers’ performance was at desired criteria α = 0.82. After the analysis of the results from the surveys, the recorded data from in-depth interviews were transcribed, as were the interview notes. The framework for teaching performance was adapted from frameworks in Bransford, Darling - Hammond and LePage (2005) and Ball and Cohen (1999). In this framework, the complex activities of teaching are divided into 24 components clustered into the following 4 domains of teaching: Knowledge of subject matter, Knowledge of teaching, Knowledge of learners, Professional attitudes and values. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The Difference in terms of Rating Teaching Performance between the Schools with Different Characteristics The Difference between the Public and Non Public Schools Among 24 variables, the rating result of only 2 variables was statistically significant in the difference between public and non – public schools (p= 0.022, 0.020 < 0.05). The mean rating for ‘culture’ and ‘modeling ethical behavior’ in non-public school were higher than in public schools. Teachers’ knowledge of culture and modeling ethical behaviors in non-public schools are better than in public schools. Trần Thị Ngọc Bích Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 125(11): 161 - 165 163 The Difference between the Schools in Suburban Areas and City Centers The T-test analysis on the difference between schools in urban and suburban area in terms of rating teaching of speaking skills and assessment skills showed that the schools in city centers differed significantly from those in suburban areas in term of the rating result on the items ‘assessment’ and ‘speaking skills’( p = 0.028, 0.019 <0.05). Assessment and speaking skills of new teachers in city centers area are better than those of teachers in suburban areas Overall Satisfaction of Head Teachers with Beginning Teachers The five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) ‘very dissatisfied’ to (5) ‘very satisfied’ was used to rate the overall satisfaction of head teachers. Despite the fact that the head English teachers are not satisfied with new teachers at some variables, their overall satisfaction was rated at an average of (2.96). They are somewhat satisfied and dissatisfied with new teachers. The majority of head teachers rated the overall satisfaction level at the neutral level (57%), while 20% are not very satisfied and 20% are very satisfied. There is no school that showed a rating of very dissatisfied and only 3% of schools showed ratings of very satisfied. The Difference between Schools Having Different Characteristics in terms of Overall Satisfaction Levels The Difference of Overall Satisfaction Levels in Public and Non-public Schools. The overall satisfaction in the non-public schools is higher than in the public schools (p=0.016 <0.05) . It is understandable that the non–public schools have the right of recruiting the teachers by themselves, while the public schools have to recruit them through prefectural boards of education. Since the non-public schools recruit teachers according their demand and needs, they are more satisfied with the new teachers more than the public schools. The Difference in Overall Satisfaction Levels at Schools in Suburban and Urban Areas The overall satisfaction level of head teachers with new teachers at schools in the city centers is higher than in the suburban areas (p=0.00 <0.05). It means that the ability of new teachers in city centers is better than that of their counterparts in suburban area. After graduation, most teachers wish to live and work in city centers because working and living conditions are better than in rural or suburban areas, and they normally have extra income through part–time jobs. The excellent graduates usually choose the schools in city center to work. The schools in city centers have more opportunities to recruit the qualified teachers than in suburban areas. So it is understandable that the head teachers are more satisfied with the new teachers in city centers than in suburban areas. CONCLUSION Conclusion The main objective of this study was to compare the satisfaction level of head English teachers with beginning English teachers in schools with different characteristics. This may help the policy makers reduce the gap of quality between schools with different characteristics. There is a statistically significant difference between non-public and public schools in terms of the overall satisfaction level of head English teachers. The satisfaction level of head English teachers with beginning English teachers in non–public schools is higher than in public schools. The quality of beginning English teachers in non-public schools was more highly appreciated than in public schools. On the whole, based on the head teachers` opinions, there is a gap, in terms of the quality of beginning English teachers, between schools with different characteristics. Due to the advantages of location and their independent role in the recruitment of teachers, the schools in city centers and non- public schools have employed better English Trần Thị Ngọc Bích Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 125(11): 161 - 165 164 teachers than the schools in suburban areas and public schools. That is a possible issue for policy-makers to minimize the gap in the quality of teachers between locations and to facilitate the involvement of public schools in the recruitment of teachers. Implications The finding of this study shows that there is a gap between the schools with different characteristics such as public/non-public status and location (in suburban and city center). The quality of teachers in the schools with different characteristics has the gap. The new policies should make to distribute public resources fairly and rationally to narrow this gap. 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Trần Thị Ngọc Bích Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 125(11): 161 - 165 165 TÓM TẮT SO SÁNH MỨC ĐỘ HÀI LÒNG CỦA CÁC TỔ TRƯỞNG TỔ TIẾNG ANH VỚI CÁC GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH MỚI RA TRƯỜNG Ở CÁC TRƯỜNG PHỔ THÔNG CÓ CÁC ĐẶC ĐIỂM KHÁC NHAU Ở VIỆT NAM Trần Thị Ngọc Bích* Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, Việt Nam Mục tiêu của nghiên cứu này là xem xét sự khác biệt đối với mức độ hài lòng với những giáo viên tiếng Anh ở bậc Trung học Phổ thông dựa trên những tính chất như trường công lập/ tư thục và thành thị và nông thôn. Khuôn khổ phân tích của nghiên cứu này xuất phát từ nghiên cứu của Bransford, Darling-Hammond & LePage (2005) và Ball & Cohen (1999). Trong khuôn khổ này, những hoạt động giảng dạy được chia thành 24 nhân tố nhóm thành 4 lĩnh vực của giảng dạy: kiến thức của môn và chương trình giảng kiến thức của người học, thái độ và giá trị nghề nghiệp. Nghiên cứu này được tiến hành tại các trường THPT ở Hà Nội và TP HCM. Cỡ mẫu phân tích là 94 tổ trưởng tổ tiếng Anh của các trường, được hỏi để đánh giá việc giảng dạy của những giáo viên tiếng Anh mới vào nghề trong trường. Kết quả phân tích mức độ hài lòng của Tổ trưởng tổ tiếng Anh với những giáo viên trong trường Tư thục cao hơn trong trường Công lập. Chất lượng của những giáo viên tiếng Anh mới ra trường ở trường tư thục và ở các trường thành phố được đánh giá cao hơn trong trường Công lập và trường ở nông thôn. Tóm lại, nghiên cứu đưa ra một số các giải pháp đề nghị Nhà nước cần có những biện pháp để thu hẹp khoảng cách về chất lượng giáo viên đối với những trường ở nông thôn và thành thị hay giữa trường công lập và tư thục. Từ khóa: giáo viên tiếng Anh, THPT, sự hài lòng Ngày nhận bài: 27/8/2014; ngày phản biện: 03/9/2014; ngày duyệt đăng: 26/9/2014 Phản biện khoa học: ThS. Nguyễn Thị Thu Hương – Đại học Thái Nguyên * Tel: 0905556609; Email: ttnbich@moet.edu.vn