Revealing the Voices of Efl Teachers in a Thai Context

TEACHER ATTRITION AND RETENTION: REVEALING THE VOICES OF EFL TEACHERS IN A THAI CONTEXT BY VIRASUDA SRIBAYAK A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING LANGUAGE INSTITUTE THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2017 COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP TEACHER ATTRITION AND RETENTION: REVEALING THE VOICES OF EFL TEACHERS IN A THAI CONTEXT BY VIRASUDA SRIBAYAK A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING LANGUAGE INSTITUTE THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2017 COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY LANGUAGE INSTITUTE DISSERTATION BY VIRASUDA SRIBAYAK ENTITLED TEACHER ATTRITION AND RETENTION: REVEALING THE VOICES OF EFL TEACHERS IN A THAI CONTEXT was approved as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English Language Teaching) on September 3, 2017 Chairman (Associate Professor Sucharat Rimkeeratikul, Ph.D.) Member and Advisor (Associate Professor Supong Tangkiengsirisin, Ph.D.) Member and Co-advisor (Chantarath Hongboontri, Ph.D.) Member (Assistant Professor Kittitouch Soontornwipast, Ed.D.) Member (Assistant Professor Pragasit Sitthitikul, Ph.D.) Member (Chirasiri Kasemsin Vivekmetakorn, Ph.D.) Director (Associate Professor Pornsiri Singhapreecha, Ph.D.) Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (1) Thesis Title TEACHER ATTRITION AND RETENTION: REVEALING THE VOICES OF EFL TEACHERS IN A THAI CONTEXT Author Virasuda Sribayak Degree Doctor of Philosophy Major Field/Faculty/University English Language Teaching Language Institute Thammasat University Thesis Advisor Associate Professor Supong Tangkiengsirisin, Ph.D. Thesis Co-Advisor Chantarath Hongboontri, Ph.D. Academic Year 2017 ABSTRACT This convergent mixed-methods research study aims to investigate factors influencing EFL teachers to consider leaving their teaching profession and factors encouraging EFL teachers to remain within the teaching profession. Forty-eight participants including 29 currently in-service Thai teachers, 11 currently in-service foreign teachers, 4 retired Thai teachers, 3 Thai teachers leaving full-time teaching career, and 1 Thai teacher moving to another institution completed the questionnaire. Twenty-three of them including 10 currently in-service Thai teachers, 5 currently in- service foreign teachers, 4 retired Thai teachers, 3 Thai teacher leaving full-time teaching career, and 1 Thai teacher moving to another institution gave an interview. Their teaching experiences varied between less than 5 and more than 30 years. The data collection tools used to strengthen the validity of the findings include a close- ended questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, written documents and artifacts. Findings showed that all three factors – employments, external, and personal factors -- affected teacher attrition. The teacher participants regarded inappropriate and inadequate salary, health conditions, limited opportunity in career advancement or job promotion, inadequate salary increase, family responsibility, especially child-rearing, job-related stress, wage structure or wage system for teachers, and excessive paperwork to meet the school requirements as the factors affecting their decision to leave or have an intent to leave their teaching profession. Also, this study showed Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (2) many employment factors including intrinsic and extrinsic work rewards and characteristics of the school as the factors the participants perceived affecting teacher retention. The teacher participants considered like of teaching, good relationship with colleagues, opportunities in professional development, job stability and job prestige as factors encouraging EFL teachers to remain within the teaching profession. It can be concluded from this study that there is a wide range of factors influencing teacher attrition and retention. This research study, to some extent, brings greater understanding of the situations and factors involved with teacher attrition and retention through the voices of EFL teachers. Keywords: Teacher Attrition, Teacher Retention, Teacher Shortage, Teacher Voice, Employment Factors, External Factors, Personal Factors Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (3) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all who supported me throughout my doctoral study and extend my special thanks to: Dr. Chantarath Hongbootri and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Supong Tangkiengsirisin, my dissertation advisors, for their great support and wonderful guidance The participants in my research study for all of the valuable data Khun Pang (Kobkorn Panmuang), the doctoral program staff, for her great assistance Art (Asst. Prof. Dr. Kittitouch Soontornwipast), my buddy, for his great help, support, suggestions, and encouragement My ELT and my LITU friends for their help and moral support My dissertation committee for their constructive suggestions Finally, I wish to thank my dad, my mom, Nut, and Jedi for their LOVE. Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (4) TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT (1) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (3) LIST OF TABLES (9) LIST OF FIGURES (10) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Teacher Shortage 1 1.2 Teacher Shortage in Thailand 3 1.3 Teacher Attrition and Retention and the Impacts 4 1.4 Research Objectives 7 1.5 Scope of the Study 7 1.6 Conceptual Framework 8 1.7 Chapter Summary 10 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 Factors Affecting Teacher Attrition and Retention 11 2.1.1 Employment Factors 13 2.1.1.1 Work Conditions 14 2.1.1.1.1 Characteristics of Schools 14 2.1.1.1.2 Characteristics of Students 17 2.1.1.1.3 Characteristics of Job Assignments 18 2.1.1.2 Work Rewards 19 2.1.1.2.1 Intrinsic Work Rewards 19 2.1.1.2.2 Extrinsic Work Rewards 19 2.1.1.3 Professional Qualifications 20 Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (5) 2.1.2 External Factors 21 2.1.2.1 Economic Factors 21 2.1.2.2 Societal Factors 22 2.1.2.3 Institutional Factors 22 2.1.3 Personal Factors 23 2.1.3.1 Demographic Characteristics 23 2.1.3.2 Family Circumstances 24 2.2 Teacher Voice 24 2.3 Previous Studies on Teacher Attrition and Retention 26 2.4 Chapter Summary 27 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28 3.1 Research Paradigm 28 3.2 Data Collection Tools 29 3.2.1 Questionnaire 30 3.2.2 Semi-structured Interview 30 3.2.3 Written Documents and Artifacts 31 3.3 Ethical Considerations 31 3.4 Data Analysis 32 3.5 Chapter Summary 32 CHAPTER 4 CONTEXT 34 4.1 Participants 34 4.2 THINK University 37 4.3 The Language Institute, THINK UNIVERSITY 37 4.4 Chapter Summary 38 Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (6) CHAPTER 5 RESULTS 39 5.1 Quantitative Results 39 5.1.1 The Demographic Data of the Participants 39 5.1.2 The Participants’ Perceptions of English Language Teaching 42 5.1.3 Reasons Why EFL Teachers Leave or Consider Leaving 42 Their Teaching Career 5.1.4 Factors Influencing Teacher Attrition and Retention 43 5.2 Qualitative Results 43 5.2.1 Factors Affecting Teacher Attrition 43 Work Policies 43 Work Requirements 44 Excessive Paperwork 53 Inappropriate Evaluation Process 56 Salary and Benefits 60 Characteristics of the Profession 63 Family Responsibilities 65 Health 67 5.2.2 Factors Affecting Teacher Retention 67 Like of Teaching 67 Good Relationship with Colleagues 75 High Opportunities in Professional Development 78 Job Stability 80 Job Prestige 80 Medical and Retirement Benefits 81 5.3 Chapter Summary 82 Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (7) CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION 83 6.1 Discussion 83 6.1.1 What factors influence EFL teachers to consider leaving their 84 profession? 6.1.2 What factors encourage EFL teachers to remain within their 87 profession? 6.2 Implications 89 6.2.1 Implications for Policy Makers 89 6.2.2 Implications for Teachers 90 6.3 Limitations of the Study 91 6.4 Recommendation for Further Studies 91 6.5 Conclusions 92 REFERENCES 93 APPENDICES APPENDIX A 103 APPENDIX B 112 APPENDIX C 116 APPENDIX D 127 APPENDIX E 129 APPENDIX F 130 APPENDIX G 131 APPENDIX H 132 APPENDIX I 133 APPENDIX J 134 APPENDIX K 135 APPENDIX L 136 APPENDIX M 137 APPENDIX M 138 Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (8) APPENDIX O 139 APPENDIX P 140 APPENDIX Q 141 APPENDIX R 142 APPENDIX S 143 APPENDIX T 147 APPENDIX U 154 APPENDIX V 158 APPENDIX W 159 APPENDIX X 163 APPENDIX Y 164 APPENDIX Z 167 BIOGRAPHY 168 Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (9) LIST OF TABLES Tables Page 1.1 Participants in Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collection 35 Procedure 1.2 Participants in Both Quantitative and Qualitative Phases 36 Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP (10) LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 1.1 Conceptual Framework of Factors Affecting Teacher Attrition 9 and Retention 1.2 Convergent Triangulation Mixed Method Design 29 Ref. code: 25605521320126CSP 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Teacher issues are also currently high on policy agendas because of concerns expressed by teachers themselves about the future of their profession – whether it is sufficiently attractive to talented new entrants, and whether teachers are sufficiently rewarded and supported in their work. As teachers are in daily contact with the students who potentially form the next generation of teachers, the enthusiasm and morale of the current teacher workforce are important influences on future teacher supply. (OECD Education and Training Policy, 2005, p.3) Overview This chapter presents an introduction of this study including the background of the teacher shortage and teacher attrition and retention and the impacts, the purposes of this study, the research objectives and research questions, the scope of study, the Conceptual Framework of Factors Influencing Teacher Retention and Attrition, and the chapter summary. 1.1 Teacher Shortage According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2016), teacher shortage has long been an ongoing global concern, and chronic teacher shortage will persist worldwide. An extra 9.8 million primary school teachers and 22.3 million secondary school teachers will be needed by 2020, rising to 17.8 million primary school teachers and 33.5 million for secondary school teachers by 2025, and 24.4 million primary school teachers and 44.4 million for secondary school teachers by 2030.

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