Keynote speakers: Professor Qing Gu, University College London and Professor Geert Kelchtermans, KU Leuven

Chairs: Dr. Angela Canny Mary, Immaculate College and Associate Professor Helle Plauborg, the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University

Retaining teachers in the teaching profession is of immense importance to teaching quality and education policy (Chiong et al. 2017; Ingersoll 2001, OECD 2003, UNESCO 2016). In recent decades, teacher retention is increasingly discussed in connection to teacher shortages. In 2003, OECD warned that teacher shortages would prospectively become a major political challenge in the OECD countries and in 2016 UNESCO reports immense teacher shortages worldwide in primary and secondary schools (UNESCO 2016).

Existing research on teacher attrition and retention primarily focuses on teachers’ reasons for leaving the profession (Perrachione & Rosser 2008, Plauborg et al. 2022, Shields & Mullen 2020) apparently on the assumption that knowledge of reasons for drop out creates basis for insights into retention by reversing the signs. However, in a developmental perspective it might be more interesting to draw attention to what seems to keep teachers in the profession rather than their reasons for leaving. At this webinar we will examine teachers’ reasons for staying in the profession with particular focus on teachers in public primary and secondary schools. The webinar contributes to an incipient research interest in exploring reasons why teachers stay as research in the field has so far predominantly examined their reasons for leaving the profession. The ambition is thus to create a research-based foundation for working proactively with the problem, rather than reactively, thereby shifting the approach from prevention to a more positive discourse in relation to the teaching profession.

Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of previous studies have focused on newly qualified teachers (with 0-3 years of experience) as they are identified as the group most likely to leave the profession (e.g. Ingersoll & Strong 2012). Most of these studies (e.g. Ingersoll & Strong 2011, 2012; Long et al. 2012; Spooner-Lane 2017) focus on newly qualified teachers in relation to retention but they do so directing specific attention to whether and, if so, how induction and mentoring can contribute to retaining teachers. They do not focus on newly qualified teachers’ reasons for staying in the profession.

Equally concerning, in some countries there is an increasing tendency for teachers who have been in the profession for a number of years to leave the profession. Meanwhile, there is currently a dearth of studies with a longer-term perspective on retention, exploring why long-serving teachers remain in the profession (Day & Gu 2009, Shields & Mullen 2020). Furthermore, Chiong et al. (2017) point out that there are important differences in what seems to retain newly qualified teachers compared to long-serving teachers. Thus it cannot be assumed that newly qualified teachers' reasons for staying in the profession are equivalent to long-serving teachers' reasons for doing so and with long-serving teachers in the majority at schools in many Western countries (Day & Gu 2009; Chiong et al. 2017), it is important to understand both the tensions and challenges they experience and the factors and aspects of the job that support their ongoing commitment to teaching (Day & Gu 2009).

At the webinar we will focus on the following questions:

• The issue of problem framing: In what ways is teacher attrition/retention an educationally relevant/important issue?
• What do we mean by the concept of teacher retention? How can we redefine this concept to address contemporary needs of teachers?
• What could be possible ways of keeping teachers in the profession?
• How can professional development structures be used to enhance teachers’ professional identity over the continuum of teacher learning? (initial teacher education, newly qualified teachers, fully qualified teachers)?

The webinar is hosted by the TEPE network (Teacher Education Policy in Europe) and will be held on Zoom. It is free of charge. Sign up via this link: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c96jtRmNSjCcWoS809FlEA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

References

Chiong, C., Menzies, L. & Parameshwaran, M. (2017): Why do long-serving teachers stay in the teaching profession? Analysing the motivations of teachers with 10 or more years’ experience in England, British Educational Research Journal 43(6), 1083-1110

Day, C. & Gu, Q. (2009): Veteran teachers: commitment, resilience and quality retention, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 15(4), 441-457

Guarino, C. et al. (2006): Teacher recruitment and retention: a review of the recent empirical literature, Review of Educational Research, Vol. 76(2), 173-208

Ingersoll, R. M. (2001): Teacher turnover and teacher shortages. An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 499-534.

Ingersoll, R.M. & Strong, M. (2011): The Impact of Induction and Mentoring Programs for Beginning Teachers: A Critical Review of the Research. Review of Educational Research 81(2), 201-233.

Ingersoll, R.M. & Strong, M. (2012): What the Research Tells Us About the Impact of Induction and Mentoring Programs for Beginning Teachers, National Society for the Study of Education, 111 (2), 466-490

Long, J.S., McKenzie-Robblee, S., Schaefer, L., Steeves, P., Wnuk, S., Pinnegar, E. & Clandinin, D.J. (2012): Literature Review on Induction and Mentoring Related to Early Career Teacher Attrition and Retention. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnerships in Learning 20(1), 7-26.

OECD 2003

Perrachione, B.A. & Rosser, V.J. (2008): Why do they stay? Elementary teachers’ perceptions of job satisfaction and retention, Professional Educator, 32(2), 1-17

Plauborg, H., Wieser, C., Petersen, K.B. & Laursen, P.F. (2022): Lærere, der bliver i professionen, Pædagogisk indblik (17), Aarhus: Aarhus University Press

Shields, L.B. & Mullen, C.A. (2020): Veteran Teacher Resilience. Why do they stay? Cham: Springer

Spooner-Lane, R. (2017): Mentoring beginning teachers in primary schools: research review. Professional Development in Education 43(2), 253-273.

UNESCO (2016): The world needs almost 69 million new teachers to reach the 2030 education goals. UIS fact sheet, Oct. 2016, No. 39, downloaded 28 September 2022: http://uis.unesco.org/en/files/fs39-world-needs-almost-69-million-new-teachers-reach-2030-education-goals-2016-en-pdf