Thematic Analysis Assignment: Exploring Teaching Career Factors

This assignment requires a thematic analysis of responses from 50 teachers regarding the factors that led them into teaching. The student is tasked with identifying predominant reasons and generating codes based on the responses, grouping closely related wordings. The analysis involves writing codes alongside each response, and recognizing that a response can have multiple codes. After coding, the student refines the codes into themes, develops descriptions for each theme, and lists the respondent numbers corresponding to each theme. The assignment culminates in a class discussion of the themes and their descriptions, aiming to understand the diverse motivations and influences behind choosing a career in education. The provided solution demonstrates the coding and thematic analysis process, highlighting the varied factors such as love for children, influential mentors, desire to make a difference, and practical considerations like schedule and employment opportunities that shape teachers' career paths. The analysis also considers how factors like personal experiences, subject matter interest, and perceived impact on students' lives influence the decision to become a teacher.

Thematic Analysis Exercise
On the following pages you will find responses from 50 teachers who were asked the question, “What major
factors lead you into teaching?”
Your task is to read over the responses and determine the factors that seem to predominate. What reasons are
included in these responses?
 Read through all the responses.
 Look at closely related wordings from several responses and generate a code that is not mentioned
explicitly.
 Now write the codes in the columns beside the responses. Remember a response can have a number
of codes.

Responden
t
No.
What major factors lead you into teaching? Code here
1 I felt I could make a difference in childrens lives and teach
them effectively.
Talent
Teach effectively
Making a difference
6 Coaching, summer vacation, my love of working with kids Subject
Holiday
Love working with kids
12 I decided to go into teaching for several reasons. I love
children, I feel I have a natural gift to teach children, and it's a
great job for moms with children at home because of the
schedule.
Love children
Talent for it
Great job for moms
schedule
15 My husband died when I was 35 years old. I was content with
staying at home and raising our son. I realized I needed to do
something with my life. Going to school allowed me to be at
home when my son was there. Also, I saw how he was judged
by coming from
Self- motivation
Schedules
Life changes
compact
20 Helping kids, teaching science. Helping kids
subject
36 Love kids, always babysat Love kids
Experience
40 The fervor that my high school band director had for teaching
motivated me most.
Mentor
Role model
46 I enjoyed teaching swim lessons while in high school to
preschoolers. I ended up teaching middle school when I
discovered I didn't have the talent to teach the same students
all day.
Previous experience
Talent
49 Actually the very good and the very bad teachers I had were
factors that led me into teaching. Another major factor was
that I truly enjoyed high school.
Enjoy school as a kid
Previous experience with
teachers
50 I enjoy the learning process. I also like working with kids and
wasn't ready for the business world.
Eminisic value
Like working with kids
51 My lover of music and the desire to show others the joy music
can bring. I also enjoyed working with children.
Love of music
Talent
Subject
Enjoy working with kids
54 The need for employment. My original bachelor's is
chemistry. With no job prospects available in the field,
teaching seemed a good place to be (funny how destiny
works).
Employment
teaching
job prospects
57 A teacher I had in school, the subject area, and I come from a
long line of teachers.
School
teachers
64 I participated as a peer tutor in high school with students with
disabilities and enjoyed it. The teacher for the class was a
positive role model. I have always liked working with
children so it made sense.
High school
students with disabilities
positive role model
69 My desire to help and guide children, along with my love for
children led me into teaching.
Help and guide
Children teaching.

71 Being able to explain mathematical concepts to others easily.
Mathematical concepts
73 I like working with people, especially kids. I like having an
impact on the future of our world. I am well rounded; I knew
teaching involves many facets of other careers.
Kids
Future of our world
Teaching
74 Love of reading, summer off, father is a high school
administrator, enjoy being around kids.
Love of reading
administrator
77 Love of kids and content area, enjoy social dynamics of the
classroom setting
content area
social dynamics
80 A need/want to help others, love of learning and for children,
helping create that lightbulb over someone's head when they
finally get it.
help others
children
create that lightbulb
81 I love the working with children. I love the language (ASL). Love
children
language
83 Ability to impact lives, make a difference, improve lives, also
fondness of subject.
Ability
fondness of subject
85 Most of the teachers I had in school went out of their way to
help me do good in school.
Teachers
school
went out
88 I wasn't happy interviewing for and planning to be in various
kinds of sales. It didn't offer any intrinsic values. I hung out in
Bloomington trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my
BA in journalism and my business minor.
Planning
kinds of sales
business minor.
100 Desire to work with kids, amount of business classes taken
prior to choosing education, school calendar - time with own
children, same schedule.
work with kids
school calendar
same schedule
105 Summers off important when raising family, dealing with
children
Summers off
children
108 I love to instruct. Weekends, holidays with my family. I was a
nurse for 10 years before I became a teacher.
Instruct
Weekends
family
110 High school teacher
High school teacher
112 The ability to work with other people was one of my strengths
as a person.
Working with people
Strength
121 Family background, desire to help kids, coaching Background
coaching
123 My parents - they were both teachers, love of children, I
thought teaching looked like it would be a fun and enjoyable
career
occupation
124 Learning new things is my passion. passion
125 Hours - Summer off - vacations with my children are the
same. Also, love working with children.
Holiday
Love working with
children
126 The students. Making an impact in young peoples' lives. Students
young
peoples
128 Making a difference in children's lives. The ability to be with
my children as they grow. My love for children.
Talent
Love for children

129 Wanted to make a difference. My mom was an excellent
master teacher and example.
Mom
master teacher
131 I enjoyed teaching kids and helping them learn new things. I
always enjoyed my subject area, and saw that my teacher
enjoyed it.
teaching kids
teacher
enjoyed
134 One of my teachers told me I'd make a good teacher. good teacher.
136 The opportunity to administer to children in a positive
manner. Juvenile justice always had me dealing with bad
children, and I wanted to see if the world had well-behaved
kids
Opportunity
administer to children
well-behaved kids
137 The teachers in my life. My parents also encouraged me. Mentors
Role model
138 Wanting to help kids. Want to help kids
139 I felt it would be a service to people. I wanted my work hours
to coincide fairly closely with my children's school hours.
Schedule with work
145 Being able to help children, watching them learn, watching
them grow, the hours, the yearly schedule.
Able to help children
Watch them learn
Watch them grow
Talent
Schedule
151 I wanted to be able to help other children learn including my
own.
help other children
152 I wanted to make a positive impact on kids.
positive impact on kids
155 Some teachers who pushed me to be more than what I thought
was capable.
Teachers
pushed
capable
157 I loved working with children and everyone always told me I
would be a good teacher so I decided to try it.
Love working with
children
Tallent
162 The thought that I could help children better their lives. thought
children
lives
164 Ability to influence and make a difference to children, time
off.
Passion
Time off/Holiday
168 I was working at a playground and found I enjoyed being with
children far more than the courses I was taking to prepare for
nursing.
Previous experience
Enjoyed being with
children
Subject
 Once you have coded all the responses, now read through these codes and try to organise some of
them together to create themes. In this first stage you may have a large number of themes.
 Now try to refine the themes, as you may notice that some of them are similar in nature.
 Once refined, develop names for the themes.
 List the themes below and write a description for each theme.
 Write the respondent numbers that correspond to the themes listed. You should have a number of
responses for each theme.
 Once completed discuss your themes with your class.

Themes: Respondent number(s)
Talent management aid to make a difference and teaches all the individual effectively.
1
Teaching is being interested as per concern of different measures such as loving of
children which furthermore induce natural gift and also processed a particular
schedule with perfection. 12
Going to school helps to realize real life benefits and acceptance through which rate
of judgment taking also increases on continuous basis. 15

There are both good and bad factors that is related to teachers experience that
collectively process learning cycle in attractive manner. 49
The music induce a better joy by which working efficiency and its effectiveness also
get enhanced in desired manner. 51
Teacher is always act as a role model as they always make a sense and process the
studies as per in favour of all the students.
64
The children are having wider impact over the future and growth of world and they
get rebounded with the facets and rebound themselves as per concern of carrier. 73
The planning and valuing of different kind of sales is having direct impact over the
intrinsic values of an individual and it assist to process business minor with prospect
of BA in journalism.
88
To get work with other people is sometime turn into a strength as in this both working
capabilities and its effectiveness get shared in between all the team members. 112

Teaching is an enjoyable carrier and it is only be possible as I have my parents who are
teachers and loved to surround with teachers. 123
To administer the opportunity to be children always be relevant to positive instance
as it assists to leave and deal both bad and good situations. 136
To get worked with children is always be helpful and it help to get worked and
process future carrier as a teacher. 157