A validity perspective on interviews as a selection
mechanism for entry to initial teacher education
programmes
Lehane, PaulaORCID: 0000-0003-0856-3505, Lysaght, ZitaORCID: 0000-0002-0897-4710 and O'Leary, MichaelORCID: 0000-0002-6771-904X
(2021)
A validity perspective on interviews as a selection
mechanism for entry to initial teacher education
programmes.
European Journal of Teacher Education, 46
(2).
pp. 293-307.
ISSN 0261-9768
Across the world, teacher quality has come to be recognised as one
of the most important variables affecting student outcomes; consequently, the regulation of entry into the profession is the subject
of iterative review. The traditional ‘one-off’ interview, involving an
interviewee and two or more interviewers, is a common, but not
unproblematic, selection mechanism in the field. In particular, the
modest positive correlation between performance at interviews
and in clinical settings raises questions about using interviews as
a selection mechanism for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes. In this paper, we draw on validity theory and some key
commentaries and studies in the research literature to offer
a perspective on the extent to which the traditional interview
provides data that can be used to make good decisions about
applicants for ITE. The paper proposes a validity-based framework
for use by practitioners to enhance the conceptualisation, design
and evaluation of interviews in the process of teacher selection.