Factors influencing the teacher choice of parents of first grade students: A mixed method study

Knowing that classroom teachers have important effects on the development and future of children, most parents may search for qualified teachers during the school enrolment process. The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting the parents who prefer a teacher for their first-grade children, the factors that are effective in these preferences and the effectiveness levels of these factors. In order to realise these aims of the research, an exploratory sequential mixed design was used in which first qualitative and then quantitative methods were used. In the qualitative study within the scope of the research, snowball sampling and maximum diversity sampling methods were used and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 24 parents to determine the factors and information sources that are effective in teacher preference. As a result of the analyses made on qualitative data, it was determined that parents used different sources such as parents of graduated students, school staff, close environment and their own experiences as sources of information in teacher preference. Qualitative findings also showed that parents pay attention to both personal (liking children, being male/female, being friendly, etc.) and professional characteristics (good communication, being disciplined, being competent in their branch, etc.) when choosing a teacher. In the quantitative study within the scope of the research, a questionnaire was applied to a total of 693 parents who were determined using the purposeful sampling method in primary schools in Karşıyaka district of İzmir province in the 2023-2024 academic year. The questionnaire was developed based on the findings obtained from the qualitative study of the research. Descriptive statistics calculations such as frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean and standard deviation were used in the analysis of quantitative data. As a result of the analyses made on the quantitative data, it was determined that parents preferred school staff as the primary source of information, being honest and reliable among the personal characteristics affecting teacher preference, and being competent in classroom management among the professional characteristics were seen as important by the parents. Keywords: Teacher preference, primary school, first grade student, parent, mixed method