Teacher attraction and retention in the face of teacher shortages is a global issue (Craig, 2017). The literature provides multiple reasons for this shortage. They include work/life balance, increased surveillance of teachers, deficit constructions of the profession in the media and by government, school culture and climate, school leadership, access to high quality professional development, requirement to teach out of field, student-teacher relationships and lack of preparation for working with high need students (see for example, Schaefer, Long & Clandinin, 2012; Towers & Maguire, 2017; De Neve & Devos, 2017; Vale & Drake, 2019). Building on this literature, the symposium will explore this shortage from the perspectives of those working in ‘hard-to-staff’ schools, and from the perspective of those at different stages in their careers.
Underpinning this symposium is a recognition that schools are not just places of learning but also workplaces and the issue of teacher attraction and retention is a social justice issue that affects the nature and context of teachers’ work. Whilst the symposium is principally concerned with teachers and their well-being in relation to matters of social justice, teacher attraction and retention also has equal social justice implications for students in terms of continuity and quality of teacher-student relationships and quality of pedagogy (Allen & McInerney, 2019; White, 2021). Most schools that are hard-to-staff are in marginalised communities where the lack of a stable teaching staff can compound educational disadvantages. Unfortunately, many of these communities suffer from stigmatisation that makes teaching in them seem like an unattractive proposition. As Allen and McInerney (2019, p.5) say in relation to England and the deficit views of certain communities held by many, ‘reputation matters’ for teacher recruitment.
The symposium consists of papers from four projects, three based in Australia and one located in England, concerned with teacher shortages. The papers are all shaped by theoretical considerations of social justice. The global significance of the issue will ensure that the symposium has international and European relevance beyond the country locations of the different studies. Two of the Australian studies are focussed on ‘hard to staff’ schools located in marginalised communities. One project examines the issue from the perspective of those teachers who remain in schools located in these communities. The other has a focus on early career teachers in these locations. The third Australian study focus is on the induction policies for teachers in precarious employment (casual and short-term contracts), especially as they relate to student behaviour. The English study draws on the importance of linking high quality teaching with teacher retention and recruitment.
Kelchtermans (2017), in a response to a special issue of the journal Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, on teacher attrition and retention, argued that many concerns about teacher attrition and retention are ‘meaningless’ if they do not also address ‘what constitutes good education or good teaching’. He defines the problem as ‘the need to prevent good teachers from leaving the job for the wrong reasons’. A key focus of this symposium then will be to address questions related to teachers’ motivations and reasons for remaining in or leaving the profession, what they understand to be good education and appropriate professional practice, and their attitudes towards students, families and communities.
