Teacher Field Placements and Career Outcomes
How does a student teacher’s practical training placement shape their chances of completing teacher education and remaining in the profession? This project examines whether the characteristics of field placements influence teacher students’ educational and career trajectories - and what this could mean for teacher shortages and inequality across schools.
From teacher training to the classroom
Practical training is a central part of teacher education, giving student teachers direct experience of schools and the teaching profession. Yet placements differ considerably in terms of school characteristics and working environments.
This project investigates whether these differences matter. We examine how the characteristics of practical training placements affect the likelihood that student teachers complete their training, as well as their subsequent career outcomes, including wages and retention in the teaching profession.
Understanding placements and inequality
The project combines administrative data on teacher education with register data on subsequent career trajectories. Using a quasi-experimental research design that exploits variation in placement characteristics, the study aims to better understand the relationship between practical training experiences and later outcomes.
The research also connects teacher education to broader questions of school segregation. Because placement characteristics are unevenly distributed across different types of schools, understanding their effects may provide new insights into both teacher recruitment and the distribution of teachers across the education system.