Swanson, Peter

English

Georgia State University

Georgia State University
ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University
World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications Department of World Languages and Cultures
2016
Building and sustaining our profession
Peter Swanson
Georgia State University, pswanson@gsu.edu
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mcl_facpub
Part of the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of World Languages and Cultures at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State
University. It has been accepted for inclusion in World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @
Georgia State University. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gsu.edu.
Recommended Citation
Swanson, Peter, "Building and sustaining our profession" (2016). World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications. 53.
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mcl_facpub/53
Building and Sustaining Our Profession  
Pete Swanson 
Following World War II, leaders in the United States and Canada called international attention to 
the need to increase the number of world language teachers in order to arrest the decline in the 
number of teachers in both countries (Flattau et al., 2006; Ray, 1978). After the launch of 
Sputnik, the U.S. government passed the National Defense Education Act of 1958, which 
provided funding to improve American schools and to promote postsecondary education. Again, 
second lan- guage learning was a focal point as congressional leaders noted a need to support the 
country’s educational system to meet the demands posed by national security requirements. 
However, decades later a shortage of language teachers continued (Swanson, 2008), and the 
shortage of language and cultural experts is even more pervasive today as teacher shortages are 
prominent in Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas (Swanson, 2010).  
Research has indicated that multiple factors play a role in the language teacher shortage, 
including teacher retirements, attrition, increased student enrollments, legislation at the state and 
national levels, and perceptions of the profession to name just a few (Swanson, 2013). In the first 
meeting of a foreign language teacher retention institute at Georgia State University in June 
2014, a fifth-year Spanish teacher who recently left the profession explained to the researchers 
that she felt a total lack of support from school administrators and parents, which echoes what 
the Survey of the American Teacher (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 2001) reported at 
the turn of the 21st century. That is, 28% of middle and high school teachers felt alienated at 
their schools, and 27% reported that what they thought about teaching did not count for much in 
the eyes of the administrators. As Ingersoll noted, there is a revolving door of teacher turnover in 
the United States that costs our school districts billions of dollars annually (Owen, 2015).  
While there is a dearth of research on the annual attrition of world language teachers, Konanc 
(1996) reported that in North Carolina the attrition rate of world language teachers after two 
years of service was higher (22%) than with teachers in other content areas (15–18%). When 
examined by content area, world language teachers had the highest rate of attrition after the 
second year (21%), the fifth year (38%), the 10th year (49%), and the 15th year (57%). She 
noted that males and high school language teachers were more likely to leave the profession. 
Nearby in Georgia, where I live presently, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission 
(2006) reported that the rate of attrition for world language teachers was lower (11%) than the 
rate in North Carolina. Nevertheless, the language teacher attrition rate remains higher than the 
rate of attrition for other content areas in the state including math, science, and special education.  
In recent studies, I have found that teacher attrition is linked to one’s sense of efficacy in 
teaching languages (Swanson, 2012a, 2014) and the congruence of a language teacher’s 
professional interests to the work environment (2012b). I have also found that the recruitment of 
new language teachers into the profession is linked to one’s beliefs about the profession, the 
match between a person’s vocational interests and the workplace (i.e., schools), and a genuine 
interest and passion for language learning (Swanson, 2013).  
As ACTFL president, I am deeply interested in identifying, recruiting, and retaining quality 
language teachers. I believe that in- service language teachers and professors need to be 
proactive agents whereby we recognize talented individuals in our classes and communities and 
begin to mentor them into the profession. By socializing future teachers, we can begin in earnest 
to develop a sustain- able population of highly effective language teachers. On a daily basis, we 
are having an impact on the next generation of Americans by working in close proximity with 
them, and our sphere of influence is much more than many of us realize. By encouraging 
language learners in our classes in middle school, high school, and college to consider joining 
our ranks and mentoring them into the profession, we can begin to ease the shortage of language 
teachers and develop future teacher-leaders. This year I encourage everyone to identify and begin 
mentoring at least one new future teacher to join our ranks. Over the next year, I plan to work 
collectively with the ACTFL board and other language organizations to develop national efforts 
aimed on building the next generation of language teachers. Please join me.  
References  
Flattau, P. E., Bracken, J., Van Atta, R., Bendeh- Ahmadi, A., de la Cruz, R., & Sullivan, K. 
(2006). The National Defense Education Act of 1958: Selected outcomes. Washington, DC: 
Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute.  
Georgia Professional Standards Commission. (2006). Status report: The Georgia educator 
workforce 2006 executive summary. Retrieved January 18, 2016, from http://www.gapsc. 
com/Commission/research_publication/down loads/2006%20Status%20Report.pdf  
Konanc, M. E. (1996). Teacher attrition 1980- 1996. Statistical Notes Number 002. North 
Carolina Department of Public Instruction (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 
400240).  
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. (2001). Survey of the American teacher. Re- trieved 
January 18, 2016, from https://www. metlife.com/metlife-foundation/about/survey- american-
teacher.html?WT.mc_id1⁄4vu1101  
National Defense Education Act, Publ. L. No. 85-864, § 341, 72 Stat. (1958).  
Owen, P. (2015, March 30). Revolving door of teachers costs schools billions every year. nprED. 
Retrieved January 18, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/03/ 30/395322012/the-
hidden-costs-of-teacher- turnover  
Ray, D. W. (1978). Cultural pluralism and the reorientation of educational policy in Canada. 
Comparative Education, 14, 19–32.  
Swanson, P. (2008). Efficacy and interest pro- file of foreign language teachers during a time of 
critical shortage. NECTFL Review, 62, 55–74.  
Swanson, P. (2010). The shortage of America’s foreign language teachers: A review of the 
literature. Journal of Teacher Recruitment and Retention, 1, 1–17.  
Swanson, P. (2012a). Second/foreign language teacher efficacy: Multiple factors and their 
relation to professional attrition. Canadian Modern Language Review, 68, 78–101. doi: 
10.3138/cmlr.68.1.078  
Swanson, P. (2012b). The congruence of vocational interests and the workplace environment: 
Reducing the language teacher shortage. Language Teaching Research, 16, 519–537. 
doi:10.1177/1362168812455588 Impact Factor: 0.851  
Swanson, P. (2013). Identifying and recruiting language teachers: A research-based approach. 
Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.  
Swanson, P. (2014). The power of belief: Spanish teachers’ sense of efficacy and student 
performance on the national Spanish exams. Hispania, 97, 5–20.  
 


Building and sustaining our profession

ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University

Georgia State UniversityScholarWorks @ Georgia State UniversityWorld Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications Department of World Languages and Cultures2016Building and sustaining our professionPeter SwansonGeorgia State University, pswanson@gsu.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mcl_facpubPart of the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of World Languages and Cultures at ScholarWorks @ Georgia StateUniversity. It has been accepted for inclusion in World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @Georgia State University. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gsu.edu.Recommended CitationSwanson, Peter, "Building and sustaining our profession" (2016). World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications. 53.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mcl_facpub/53Building and Sustaining Our Profession  Pete Swanson Following World War II, leaders in the United States and Canada called international attention to the need to increase the number of world language teachers in order to arrest the decline in the number of teachers in both countries (Flattau et al., 2006; Ray, 1978). After the launch of Sputnik, the U.S. government passed the National Defense Education Act of 1958, which provided funding to improve American schools and to promote postsecondary education. Again, second lan- guage learning was a focal point as congressional leaders noted a need to support the country’s educational system to meet the demands posed by national security requirements. However, decades later a shortage of language teachers continued (Swanson, 2008), and the shortage of language and cultural experts is even more pervasive today as teacher shortages are prominent in Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas (Swanson, 2010).  Research has indicated that multiple factors play a role in the language teacher shortage, including teacher retirements, attrition, increased student enrollments, legislation at the state and national levels, and perceptions of the profession to name just a few (Swanson, 2013). In the first meeting of a foreign language teacher retention institute at Georgia State University in June 2014, a fifth-year Spanish teacher who recently left the profession explained to the researchers that she felt a total lack of support from school administrators and parents, which echoes what the Survey of the American Teacher (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 2001) reported at the turn of the 21st century. That is, 28% of middle and high school teachers felt alienated at their schools, and 27% reported that what they thought about teaching did not count for much in the eyes of the administrators. As Ingersoll noted, there is a revolving door of teacher turnover in the United States that costs our school districts billions of dollars annually (Owen, 2015).  While there is a dearth of research on the annual attrition of world language teachers, Konanc (1996) reported that in North Carolina the attrition rate of world language teachers after two years of service was higher (22%) than with teachers in other content areas (15–18%). When examined by content area, world language teachers had the highest rate of attrition after the second year (21%), the fifth year (38%), the 10th year (49%), and the 15th year (57%). She noted that males and high school language teachers were more likely to leave the profession. Nearby in Georgia, where I live presently, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (2006) reported that the rate of attrition for world language teachers was lower (11%) than the rate in North Carolina. Nevertheless, the language teacher attrition rate remains higher than the rate of attrition for other content areas in the state including math, science, and special education.  In recent studies, I have found that teacher attrition is linked to one’s sense of efficacy in teaching languages (Swanson, 2012a, 2014) and the congruence of a language teacher’s professional interests to the work environment (2012b). I have also found that the recruitment of new language teachers into the profession is linked to one’s beliefs about the profession, the match between a person’s vocational interests and the workplace (i.e., schools), and a genuine interest and passion for language learning (Swanson, 2013).  As ACTFL president, I am deeply interested in identifying, recruiting, and retaining quality language teachers. I believe that in- service language teachers and professors need to be proactive agents whereby we recognize talented individuals in our classes and communities and begin to mentor them into the profession. By socializing future teachers, we can begin in earnest to develop a sustain- able population of highly effective language teachers. On a daily basis, we are having an impact on the next generation of Americans by working in close proximity with them, and our sphere of influence is much more than many of us realize. By encouraging language learners in our classes in middle school, high school, and college to consider joining our ranks and mentoring them into the profession, we can begin to ease the shortage of language teachers and develop future teacher-leaders. This year I encourage everyone to identify and begin mentoring at least one new future teacher to join our ranks. Over the next year, I plan to work collectively with the ACTFL board and other language organizations to develop national efforts aimed on building the next generation of language teachers. Please join me.  References  Flattau, P. E., Bracken, J., Van Atta, R., Bendeh- Ahmadi, A., de la Cruz, R., & Sullivan, K. (2006). The National Defense Education Act of 1958: Selected outcomes. Washington, DC: Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute.  Georgia Professional Standards Commission. (2006). Status report: The Georgia educator workforce 2006 executive summary. Retrieved January 18, 2016, from http://www.gapsc. com/Commission/research_publication/down loads/2006%20Status%20Report.pdf  Konanc, M. E. (1996). Teacher attrition 1980- 1996. Statistical Notes Number 002. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 400240).  Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. (2001). Survey of the American teacher. Re- trieved January 18, 2016, from https://www. metlife.com/metlife-foundation/about/survey- american-teacher.html?WT.mc_id1⁄4vu1101  National Defense Education Act, Publ. L. No. 85-864, § 341, 72 Stat. (1958).  Owen, P. (2015, March 30). Revolving door of teachers costs schools billions every year. nprED. Retrieved January 18, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/03/ 30/395322012/the-hidden-costs-of-teacher- turnover  Ray, D. W. (1978). Cultural pluralism and the reorientation of educational policy in Canada. Comparative Education, 14, 19–32.  Swanson, P. (2008). Efficacy and interest pro- file of foreign language teachers during a time of critical shortage. NECTFL Review, 62, 55–74.  Swanson, P. (2010). The shortage of America’s foreign language teachers: A review of the literature. Journal of Teacher Recruitment and Retention, 1, 1–17.  Swanson, P. (2012a). Second/foreign language teacher efficacy: Multiple factors and their relation to professional attrition. Canadian Modern Language Review, 68, 78–101. doi: 10.3138/cmlr.68.1.078  Swanson, P. (2012b). The congruence of vocational interests and the workplace environment: Reducing the language teacher shortage. Language Teaching Research, 16, 519–537. doi:10.1177/1362168812455588 Impact Factor: 0.851  Swanson, P. (2013). Identifying and recruiting language teachers: A research-based approach. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.  Swanson, P. (2014). The power of belief: Spanish teachers’ sense of efficacy and student performance on the national Spanish exams. Hispania, 97, 5–20.   

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