Student departure from teacher education A study of compulsory school teacher education programmes in Gothenburg University

Abstract

Aim: Utilizing the information that Gothenburg University (GU) has about the cohort of students in compulsory school TE programmes that started their studies in autumn 2011, this current research aims to explore the possible emerging patterns regarding students’ decision to depart from their studies. Theory: As a data-driven research, the theoretical basis of this study lies on grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 2008) aiming to describe the phenomenon of student departure through the information that students have given to GU regarding their decision to leave. Method: The research followed the true cohort of 190 students in compulsory school TE programmes longitudinally during the timeframe of autumn 2011–autumn 2015. The data analysis comprised descriptive statistics for providing an overview of the scope of different forms of departure behaviour and Spearman’s rank-order correlation for exploring possible associations between those forms. Additionally, an inductive thematic analysis combined with descriptive statistics was conducted on the reasons students reported for leaving their studies. Results: The results show the rate of official non-completion of studies for the total sample to be 28.4%, whereas between the TE programmes, it varied from 22.2% for 0-3rd, to 30.8% for 4-6th, and 31.0% for 7-9th grade teachers. More women left their studies than men in all programmes and the most common timeframe for leaving was during first and third semester. 21.1% of the students were granted an approved leave from studies, with the distribution varying from 14.1% for 4-6th, to 24.1% for 0-3rd and 27.6% for 7-9th grade teachers. The most popular time to take a study break was during third and fifth semester; the most common duration of the break was two semesters. Moreover, results indicate that 44.4% of students who officially left from their TE programme, continued studies in the same university, whereas 55.6% did not. Most of the students that transferred inside GU remained in TE with an altered focus concerning the school level and/or the combination of subjects they would be teaching. The reasons students reported for departing tended to mirror a perceived mismatch between their expectations and the reality of the chosen education path, criticism towards the arrangement of TE, re-organisation of study path as well as personal and work-related issues. Lastly, this thesis directs attention to the phenomenon of the so-called ‘grey zone’ students and the effectiveness of the current application form for a non-completion of studies. Thesis ends with practical suggestions to GU for making the data collection regarding different forms of student departure behaviours more effective.