Who Became Teachers? --Long-term Changes in the composition of Taiwanese Teachers

教師是不是個專業長久以來一直是個 爭議不休的話題，Hoyle （1987 ）推測影響 教師社會地位的可能原因包括：（一）教師 鮮少出身於高社經背景家庭、（二）教師的 數量太多、（三）女性教師比例過高、（四） 擔任教師所需的學術要求不高、（五）教師 教學的對象多為心智不成熟的兒童、（六） 教師與學生間的關係缺乏神祕感等。本研 究以「一九九0 年台閩地區戶口及住宅普 查報告」資料，檢視教師組成結構，尤其 是從教師的性別、教育程度、出身背景等 社會特徵的角度切入，以檢驗Hoyle 的推測。 研究發現（一）我國教師的出身背景 以下層白領階級及藍領階級為最大宗， （二）女性教師的比例在近期高達七成， （三）仍有相當大比例教師的職前教育為 專科畢業程度。依照Hoyle 提出影響教師 社會地位原因的推論，這些研究結果均不 利於教師社會地位的提昇。但本研究也發 現近年來我國教師出身於較高社經背景家 庭者的比例已漸漸增加，加上一九九０ 年 代中期起教師法對教師權益的保障，以及 師資培育法要求中小學教師均需大學畢業 等措施的實施，可能有助於教師社會地位 的提昇。本研究因而提出兩項後續研究： （一）以本次一九九０ 年人口普查資料的 研究結果為基礎，建議再以二０００ 年人 口普查的資料，分析教師的組成結構，以 瞭解師資培育法、教師法公布施行前後， 教師組成結構的變化情形;（二）將教師的 組成結構與一般公認較為成熟的專業如醫 師、律師作跨行業的比較研究，以進一步 檢驗Hoyle 推測影響教師社會地位的可能原因。"Is teaching a profession" is a controversial issue. Hoyle speculates six factors that account for status of teaching being lower than the other professions: social origins of teachers, size of the teaching force, gender, academic qualifications, childhood status of teacher's clients, and the teacher's relationship with clients. A 1990 Taiwanese census data set is used to examine the composition of teachers, especially from the social characteristics such as social origins, academic qualifications and gender. The results are: (1) overall, Taiwanese teachers tend to come predominantly from blue-collar and lower white-collar workers, but more and more teachers are recruited from professional and administrative family background in recent decades; (2) teaching force has shifted from male-dominant to female-dominant, as more than seventy percent of the teaching force are female; (3) though academic qualifications for teachers have been upgraded, a considerably large proportion of teachers are still only junior college graduates. According to Hoyle's speculations, these disturbing results are the reasons why teaching is still regarded as semiprofessional. On the other hand, teacher's status in Taiwan might improve given that (1) more and more teachers are recruited from professional and administrative family background; (2) 4-year college education is required to become a teacher by the recently passed Teacher Preparation Act of 1994; (3) teachers' rights are well protected by the Teacher Act of 1995, and it is hoped this might attract more males and those of higher socio-economic background into teaching. Two follow-up studies are suggested: (1) a comparison study of teacher composition using 1990 and 2000 census data set to see if there are changes due to teacher education reforms; (2) a comparison study of who makes up the professions between teachers and mature professions, such as doctors and lawyers, to examine Hoyle's speculations