SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DILEMMAS IN TRAINED TEACHER RETENTION AT THE BASIC SCHOOL IN ATIWA DISTRICT OF THE EASTERN REGION

Abstract

The study examined socio-emotional dilemmas which characterised trained teacher posting and retention in the Atiwa District of the Eastern Region, Ghana. The study further assessed the social and emotional related motives for trained teachers’ willingness or unwillingness to accept posting and possibly stay in the district. Two hundred and seventeen (217) trained basic school teachers were randomly selected from Forty (40) basic schools in the district. The main instrument used in the study was a questionnaire. Both open and close ended items were included in the questionnaire. The items sought to obtain information on the extent to which trained teachers are willing to accept posting to the basic schools in the district regardless its location; whether socio-emotional attachment had influence in posting of trained teachers and their possible retention in the district. The questionnaires were validated and the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.7 was realised indicating that the instrument was moderately reliable. The data were gathered over a period of two weeks by the researcher with a return rate of 87%. The descriptive statistics was used to analyse quantitative data and the quantitative data generated from the open ended questions were grouped according to themes for emerging patterns. The study found that teachers are willing to stay in the district because they voluntarily opted for posting to the district. This is because of its proximity to either their home towns or market places. Teachers are also comfortable and satisfied with the way teaching and learning is going on in the schools within the district as such, they are ready to stay there for the next four years. The study found that socio-emotional motive was a major dilemma in trained teacher posting and retention in the Atiwa District and the main socio-emotional motives attracting trained teachers include teachers own desire to work in the district, peaceful social climate within the district, teachers’ desire to be away from their home district as well as mandatory Ghana Education Service postings after pre-service training in Colleges of Education. The conclusions drawn from this study was that because teachers voluntarily choose the district for posting for various socioemotional reasons, therefore, they are willing to stay in the district for a relatively longer period than they would have stayed if they were not part of the selection process. The recommendation made was that head teachers of the basic schools be given training on management styles on how to keep and maintain hardworking staff. This will enable them to retain qualified and hardworking teachers in the district.