How school leaders attract, recruit, develop and retain the early career teachers they want : positives and paradoxes

Bruce Johnson, Anna Sullivan, Michele Simons, Judy Peters

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

Abstract

Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers to the profession is of international concern as it has far-reaching economic and social implications for all nations. In Australia, discussion of teacher workforce development has focused predominantly on attracting and recruiting quality teachers, with less attention given to the broader retention process. In this chapter, we discuss how school leaders influence new teachers and foster their professional commitment. Furthermore, we identify the micropolitical activities that school leaders consciously use to promote the engagement and retention of the early career teachers they want to keep. We also present data and analyses which reveal the dilemmas and paradoxes that school leaders encounter when they attempt to reconcile the competing demands of different stakeholders in the staffing process. We juxtapose the mostly benevolent actions of leaders with their often-unintended consequences to establish the need for ongoing critical reflection about the impact of taken-for-granted human resources processes on early career teachers.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAttracting and Keeping the Best Teachers: Issues and Opportunities
EditorsAnna Sullivan, Bruce Johnson, Michele Simons
Place of PublicationSingapore
PublisherSpringer
Pages101-122
Number of pages22
ISBN (Electronic)9789811386213
ISBN (Print)9789811386206
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • teachers
  • employee retention
  • teacher turnover
  • labor supply
  • educational leadership
  • Australia

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