Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A motivational perspective on teacher retention in special education: a critical case from Turkey

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Educational Research for Policy and Practice Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This qualitative study interrogates fourteen cases of general education homeroom teachers who were first transferred to special education teaching by the Ministry of Education in Turkey without their own volition and later preferred to stay in special education even after they were redeemed their rights to return to general education. Studying these teachers is critical in discovering what factors motivated them to stay in special education field compared to those who were dissatisfied in the field and preferred to return to general education. The results of the thematic analysis had close linkages to Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation, which indicated that primarily internal factors (motivation factors) affected teachers’ decision to stay or leave, and external (hygiene) factors supported their decisions. The findings present critical insights and implications for both practitioners and policy makers in regard to retaining qualified teachers in special education field.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akkok, F. (2000). Special education research: A Turkish perspective. Exceptionality, 8(4), 273–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aldridge, J. M., & Fraser, B. J. (2016). Teachers’ views of their school climate and its relationship with teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Learning Environments Research, 19(2), 291–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L., & Maude, P. (2017). Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life Science Journal, 14(5), 12–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arı, M., & Sipal, R. F. (2009). Factors affecting job satisfaction of Turkish special education professionals: Predictors of turnover [Türkiye’de özel eğitim uzmanlarının iş doyumunu etkileyen faktörler: İşten ayrılma işaretleri]. European Journal of Social Work, 12(4), 447–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, A. B. (2012). The relationship of perceived support to satisfaction and commitment for special education teachers in rural areas. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 31(1), 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billingsley, B. S. (2004). Promoting teacher quality and retention in special education. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(5), 370–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billingsley, B. (2007). A case study of special education teacher attrition in an urban district. Journal of Special Education Leadership, 20(1), 11–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billingsley, B. S., & Bettini, E. (2019). Special education teacher attrition research: A systematic literature review. Review of Educational Research, 89(5), 697–744.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunsting, N. C., Sreckovic, M. A., & Lane, K. L. (2014). Special education teacher burnout: A synthesis of research from 1979 to 2013. Education and Treatment of Children, 37(4), 681–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush, T., & Glover, D. (2012). Distributed leadership in action: Leading high-performing leadership teams in English schools. School Leadership and Management, 32(1), 21–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Çakıroğlu, O., & Melekoğlu, M. A. (2014). Statistical trends and developments within inclusive education in Turkey. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(8), 798–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, C. (2015). Principals play many parts: A review of the research on school principals as special education leaders 2001–2011. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(3), 213–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conley, S., & You, S. (2017). Key influences on special education teachers’ intentions to leave: The effects of administrative support and teacher team efficacy in a mediational model. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 45(3), 521–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • den Brok, P., Wubbels, T., & Van Tartwijk, J. (2017). Exploring beginning teachers’ attrition in the Netherlands. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 881–895.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diken, İ. H., & Batu, S. (2010). Kaynaştırmaya giriş [Introduction to inclusion). In İ. H. Diken (Ed.), İlköğretimde Kaynaştırma [Inclusion in primary school]. Ankara: Pegem.

  • Dierking, R., & Fox, R. (2013). Changing the way I teach: Building teacher knowledge, confidence, and autonomy. Journal of Teacher Education, 64(2), 129–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallant, A., & Riley, P. (2017). Early career teacher attrition in Australia: Inconvenient truths about new public management. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 896–913.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Girgin, G., & Baysal, A. (2005). Zihinsel Engelli Öğrencilere Eğitim Veren Öğretmenlerin Mesleki Tükenmişlik Düzeyi ve Bazı Değişkenler (İzmir Örneği) [The burnout level of special education teachers teaching children with mental disabilities and some other variables (The case of İzmir)]. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 18(18), 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. (1959). The motivation to work. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. (reprint 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  • Horvath, M., Goodell, J. E., & Kosteas, V. D. (2018). Decisions to enter and continue in the teaching profession: Evidence from a sample of US secondary STEM teacher candidates. Teaching and Teacher Education, 71, 57–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoy, W. K., & Tarter, C. J. (2007). A normative theory of participative decision making in schools. In W. Hoy & M. DiPaola (Eds.), Essential ideas for the reform of American schools (pp. 395–415). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, G. D. (2012). Teacher retention: Teacher characteristics, school characteristics, organizational characteristics, and teacher efficacy. The Journal of Educational Research, 105(4), 245–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelchtermans, G. (2009). Who I am in how I teach is the message: Self-understanding, vulnerability and reflection. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 15(2), 257–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelchtermans, G. (2017). ‘Should I stay or should I go?’: Unpacking teacher attrition/retention as an educational issue. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 23(8), 961–977.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Küçüksüleymanoğlu, R. (2011). Burnout syndrome levels of teachers in special education schools in Turkey. International Journal of Special Education, 26(1), 53–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kukla-Acevedo, S. (2009). Leavers, movers, and stayers: The role of workplace conditions in teacher mobility decisions. The Journal of Educational Research, 102(6), 443–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melekoglu, M. A., Cakiroglu, O., & Malmgren, K. W. (2009). Special education in Turkey. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13(3), 287–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newberry, M., & Allsop, Y. (2017). Teacher attrition in the USA: The relational elements in a Utah case study. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 863–880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, M., & Parker, N. (2012). Unsatisfactory saturation: A critical exploration of the notion of saturated sample sizes in qualitative research. Qualitative Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112446106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Özoglu, M. (2015). Mobility-related teacher turnover and the unequal distribution of experienced teachers in Turkey. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 15(4), 891–909.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G. (2015). Teachers’ autonomy. Research in Education, 93(1), 19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prichard, C., & Moore, J. E. (2016). Variables influencing teacher autonomy, administrative coordination, and collaboration. Journal of Educational Administration, 54(1), 58–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarı, H. (2004). An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish special school headteachers and teachers, and the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. Educational Studies, 30(3), 291–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, S. B. (2019). Factors influencing teacher burnout and retention strategies (no. 798). https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/798. Retrieved June, 2019.

  • Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2011). Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession: Relations with school context, feeling of belonging, and emotional exhaustion. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(6), 1029–1038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2015). Job satisfaction, stress and coping strategies in the teaching profession-what do teachers say? International Education Studies, 8(3), 181–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2017). Motivated for teaching? Associations with school goal structure, teacher self-efficacy, job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 152–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stempien, L. R., & Loeb, R. C. (2002). Differences in job satisfaction between general education and special education teachers: Implications for retention. Remedial and Special Education, 23(5), 258–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strong, L. E., & Yoshida, R. K. (2014). Teachers’ autonomy in today’s educational climate: Current perceptions from an acceptable instrument. Educational Studies, 50(2), 123–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, B., Peltier, G., & Medina, R. (2007). Reducing the special education teacher shortage. The Clearing House, 80(5), 233–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Towers, E., & Maguire, M. (2017). Leaving or staying in teaching: a ‘vignette’ of an experienced urban teacher ‘leaver’ of a London primary school. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 946–960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vittek, J. E. (2015). Promoting special educator teacher retention: A critical review of the literature. SAGE Open, 5(2), 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yada, A., Tolvanen, A., Malinen, O. P., Imai-Matsumura, K., Shimada, H., Koike, R., et al. (2019). Teachers’ self-efficacy and the sources of efficacy: A cross-cultural investigation in Japan and Finland. Teaching and Teacher Education, 81, 13–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin, C. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yinon, H., & Orland-Barak, L. (2017). Career stories of Israeli teachers who left teaching: A salutogenic view of teacher attrition. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 914–927.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, K. A. (2018). CO-CREATE: Teachers’ voices to inform special education teacher education. Issues in Educational Research, 28(1), 220–236.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey

    Şöheyda Göktürk

  2. School of Foreign Languages, Namık Kemal University, Değirmenaltı Campus Süleymanpaşa, Tekirdağ, Turkey

    Tijen Tülübaş

  3. School of Foreign Languages, Gebze Technical University, Gebze, Turkey

    Oğuzhan Bozoğlu

Authors
  1. Şöheyda Göktürk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tijen Tülübaş
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Oğuzhan Bozoğlu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tijen Tülübaş.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Göktürk, Ş., Tülübaş, T. & Bozoğlu, O. A motivational perspective on teacher retention in special education: a critical case from Turkey. Educ Res Policy Prac 20, 63–78 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-020-09267-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-020-09267-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation