The role of teacher selection criteria and preparation on teacher self-efficacy, satisfaction, and commitment: an analysis of Kazakhstani TALIS data

ABSTRACT

In Kazakhstan, an increasing school student population, low rates of graduates entering the profession, and high novice teacher attrition have made the attraction and retention of quality teachers a critical issue. To investigate this problem, the authors draw on the 2018 TALIS dataset involving a survey of 5201 Kazakhstani teachers from 275 participating schools. The study, framed by Chapman’s teacher attrition model, uses a nested data design. As an outcome variable, the authors make use of a corollary of attrition, the self-reported career commitment variable in the Kazakhstani TALIS dataset. The analysis suggests that teachers who enter the profession with enhanced altruistic tendencies have improved self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Further, teaching-as-a-first-career-choice appears to drive both job satisfaction and career commitment, while learning to manage behaviour and mixed-ability settings also appears to drive improved long-term career commitment. Implications for teacher education and research in other Central Asian and post-Soviet countries are offered.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher retention
• career commitment
• TALIS
• teaching-as-first-career-choice
• teacher satisfaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2023.2176354

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew Courtney

Matthew Courtney is an Associate Professor of Educational Assessment and Student Achievement. He has a broad interest in student and teacher development and enjoys applying quantitative methods to answer questions about education and learning. Dr Courtney has publications in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of assessment, higher education, cyber behaviour and psychology, youth academic engagement, and quantitative research methods. He has developed extensive skills and experience in the application of IRT, multilevel modelling, VAM, and SEM models.

Mehmet Karakus

Mehmet Karakus is currently working as an Assistant Professor (Research) at the Centre Global Learning, Coventry University. Prior to his current position, he worked at Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. His main research interests are emotions in educational leadership, teacher psychology, equity and equality in education, quantitative methodology, multivariate analyses, and structural equation modelling in educational research.

Elaine Sharplin

Elaine Sharplin is a Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. Her major research fields are: teacher education; teacher professionalism and standards; research and professional ethics; educational leadership; rural and remote education; and English education. In addition, she is involved in research in higher education teaching and learning. Many of these topics intersect and relate more generally to issues associated with equity and diversity, experiences of disadvantage and the internationalisation of education.

Daniel Hernández-Torrano

Daniel Hernández-Torrano is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University. Dr. Hernández-Torrano obtained his PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Murcia in Spain, and has held research positions at the University College London (UK), Universidade do Minho (Portugal), and University of Connecticut (USA). He teaches graduate courses in quantitative research methodology, psychology of learning, and inclusive education. His main areas of interest are gifted education, inclusive education, the intersection between excellence and equity in education, and young people’s wellbeing.

Janet Helmer

Janet Helmer is an Associate Professor in the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education. She holds a doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota in Educational Leadership, Policy and Administration. Dr. Helmer has held numerous teaching and administrative positions in overseas International Schools and also worked with graduate and undergraduate students through teaching and research positions at Charles Darwin University in Australia. Much of her research has looked at educational and wellbeing outcomes for marginalised groups living in geographically isolated areas.

Zakir Jumakulov

Zakir Jumakulov is the Vice-Rector for Research and International Collaborations at the Kazakh National Women’s Teacher Training University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, USA. His research interests include organisational culture and leadership, internationalisation of higher education, adoption of policies in the field of education, human development, and financing of higher education.