HEC 2016 – Paper proposal

HEC 2016 – Paper proposal
keywords (3-5)
teacher stress, resignation tendency, job-related activities, requirements and competences,
education-policy conditions, person-environment fit
title (max. 20 words)
Explaining teachers’ resignation tendency through individual activity and competence profiles and
education-policy conditions
abstract (max. 150 words)
Teachers represent one of the largest and most important groups of players within the educational
system and are confronted with diverse tasks and challenges by a range of (educational) actors. In
the national and international context the teaching profession belongs to those professions with a
particularly high potential psychological strain.
Against this background the contribution analyses teachers’ resignation tendency and explores if
teachers’ resignation tendency can be explained through certain individual and education-policy
factors and which aspects are more decisive. At the same time the fundamental question if a
person’s resignation tendency is changeable at all is approached.
The research questions are addressed in an empirical-quantitative way using structural equation
modelling and primary data on higher education graduates who work as teachers or trainee teachers
at general or vocational schools and who graduated in the years 2000/2001 (N = 375), 2004/2005 (N
= 366) or 2008/2009 (N = 409).
theoretical framework (max. 600 words)
Teachers represent one of the largest and most important groups of players within the educational
system. Especially in times of migration, inclusion, and all-day schooling they are often subject to
public debate and are confronted with new tasks and challenges by a range of (educational) actors
(Baumert & Kunter 2013; Eurydice 2004; Kiel 2015).
Due to their educational work with children and their important role for children’s success at school,
teachers perform a work of social relevance and influence (Paulick et al. 2013). Executing political
and bureaucratic educational decisions in their everyday work, teachers can be described as primary
agents of school reforms, who possess educational as well as political influence concerning
educational processes and developments (Tepe & Vanhuysse 2009; Vanhuysse & Sulitzeanu-Kenan
2009).
However, in the national and international context the teaching profession belongs to those
professions with a particularly high potential psychological strain (Künsting et al. 2012;
Schaarschmidt 2005). In the long term, this potential strain can manifest itself in higher rates of
absence, disabilities, and early retirements as well as in poor teaching and a bad school climate (Doll
2010; Freitag 1998; Jehle & Schmitz 2007). Therefore, further school development can mainly be
ensured with resilient and dedicated teachers. Moreover, health resources play an important role
with regard to teachers’ individual satisfaction and quality of life (Rothland & Klusmann 2012).
Against this background, teachers’ resignation tendency, which indicates how resilient persons are to
job-related requirements and which plays an important role in the development of burnout
symptoms, shall be observed in this contribution.
Considering the research on teacher stress and work strain as well as public debates, often the
question of what causes teacher stress und how it can be explained arises. In this context a special
role is assigned to individual factors on the one hand and to education-policy factors on the other
hand (Becker et al. 1994; Hackman & Oldham 1975; Lazarus 1974; Rudow 1994; vbw 2014).
That is why this contribution analyses if teachers’ resignation tendency can be explained through
certain individual and education-policy factors and if individual or education-policy aspects are more
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decisive. At the same time the fundamental question if a person’s resignation tendency is changeable
at all is addressed.
In order to explain resignation tendency teachers’ self-reported job-related activities, requirements
and competences are identified. The individual fit of teachers’ competences to their job-related
activities and requirements in terms of a person-environment fit is considered as an individual factor
in the explanatory model of teachers’ resignation tendency. In this context further questions arise,
such as which activities and requirements teachers report from their everyday working life, how
teachers perceive their own competences and how their individual fit of activities/requirements and
competences is. As education-policy factors different structural and local aspects are integrated into
the explanatory model of teachers’ resignation tendency. Structural conditions which are considered
are the school location, the school’s supervisory relationship (staff-student ratio), the school type
and the school sponsorship. Local conditions which are considered are the self-reported school
autonomy as well as the perceived school climate in terms of the school leadership practice and the
perceived support among the school staff.
methods (max. 400 words)
The research questions are addressed in a theory-based and empirical-quantitative way using
structural equation modelling (Stata 13).
Therefore, the explanatory model of teachers’ resignation tendency is operationalised und primary
data of the KomPaed project (Braun et al. 2013) (field phase: December 2013 – February 2014) is
used. In addition to the project survey (see Braun & Brachem 2015), further questions could be
integrated and additional data on teachers could be collected.
The primary data of the KomPaed project comprises data on higher education graduates who
graduated in the years 2000/2001, 2004/2005 or 2008/2009 from German universities and who
participated in the Graduate Panel Surveys of the German Centre for Higher Education Research and
Science Studies. The random sampling took place in the context of the Graduate Panel Survey
projects and covers the whole of Germany as well as all different types of higher education
institutions and areas of study.
In this contribution graduates are focused, who work as teachers or trainee teachers at general or
vocational schools at the time they were interviewed or who indicate that they will return to the
teaching profession after a short period of career interruption (max. 14 months; N = 1,150). These
teachers graduated in the years 2000/2001 (N = 375), 2004/2005 (N = 366) or 2008/2009 (N = 409)
and possess between 4 and 13 years of professional experience.
findings and conclusions (max. 300 words)
The analyses show that individual as well as education-policy factors can explain teachers’
resignation tendency to a certain extent. On the education-policy level, the perceived school climate
seems to play a particularly important role in explaining teachers’ resignation tendency. But
teachers’ individual activity and competence profiles seem to be relevant, too.
The analyses indicate that the resignation tendency tends to be more pronounced, the higher the
teachers’ individual work overload. In the case of a work overload, the resignation tendency
increases significantly (p < 0.01) by 12 percentage points. With regard to the school type, it can be
shown that the resignation tendency is significantly (p < 0.10) reduced by 7 percentage points if
teachers are working at a rather content-related school type such as comprehensive schools (in
comparison to primary schools). Moreover, the analyses indicate that the school type is connected
indirectly to teachers’ resignation tendency, mediated over their individual activity and competence
profiles. Hence, working at rather content-related school types such as the German Gymnasium or
vocational schools (in comparison to primary schools) seems to reduce the risk of work overload.
Additionally, teachers’ resignation tendency is reduced significantly (p < 0.01) by 18 percentage
points, the more positively the local school climate is perceived by the teachers themselves.
The results suggest that potentials for preventive and supportive action with regard to teacher stress
exist on the individual and on the (higher) education-policy level. The relevance of the perceived
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school climate points out the special role of education-policy in general and of the local school
players. The potential importance of teachers’ individual activity and competence profiles with
regard to resignation tendency emphasises the crucial role of (higher) education-policy action, for
example within the field of teacher selection and teacher training.
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