Research Proposal: Determinants of Primary School Teacher Retention

This research proposal, submitted by Krishanthi Kanagalingam to Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, investigates the determinants of primary school teacher retention in New Zealand, focusing on the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions. The study aims to examine the influence of pay satisfaction, workload, and promotion/recognition on job satisfaction and turnover intention. It builds upon existing literature, highlighting the impact of job satisfaction as a mediator in these relationships. The proposal outlines the problem statement, research objectives, questions, and hypotheses, emphasizing the significance of addressing teacher shortages and improving the quality of education. The methodology includes a detailed discussion of the research approach, design, data collection, and ethical considerations. The literature review explores the relationships between pay satisfaction, workload, promotion/recognition, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. The study is designed to provide insights for government and educational institutions to improve the working conditions and retention rates of teachers, ultimately benefiting students and the education system. The proposal also addresses the recent strikes in New Zealand, highlighting the teachers' demands for better pay and working conditions.

Research Proposal for
Master’s in Management by Thesis
Research topic
“Determinants of Primary School Teachers Retention in New Zealand: Evidence from
BOP and Waikato Regions Predicting Primary School Teachers in New
Zealand retention using pay satisfaction and other variables.
Evidence from Waikato Region and Bay of Plenty in New Zealand”
Name of the student: Krishanthi Kanagalingam
Student ID: 30022713
Name of the Instititue: Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology

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Table of Contents
Chapter One...............................................................................................................................2
1.0 Introduction .........................................................................................................................2
1.1 Problem Statement...............................................................................................................2
1.2 Research objectives and questions.......................................................................................3
a. Pay satisfaction will influence job satisfaction and turnover intention..............................3
Research Questions....................................................................................................................4
a. Will pay satisfaction influence job satisfaction and turnover intention?............................4
1.3 Research Hypothesis............................................................................................................4
1.4 Significance of the study......................................................................................................5
Chapter Two...............................................................................................................................5
2.0 Literature review..................................................................................................................5
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................5
2.2 Conceptual Framework........................................................................................................6
Source of conceptual framework...............................................................................................6
2.3 Job Satisfaction....................................................................................................................7
2.3.1 Factors affecting job satisfaction level of Teachers..........................................................8
2.4 The Relationships between Pay Satisfaction, Job satisfaction & Turnover Intention.........9
2.5 The Relationships between Workload, Job satisfaction & Turnover Intention.................10
2.6 The Relationships between Promotion/Recognition, Job satisfaction & Turnover Intention
..................................................................................................................................................10
2.7 Research Gap.....................................................................................................................11
Chapter Three...........................................................................................................................11
3.0 Methods..............................................................................................................................11
3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................11
3.2 Research Approach............................................................................................................12
3.3 Research Design.................................................................................................................12

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3.4 Data collection, analysis and Sampling.............................................................................13
3.5 Reliability and Validity testing..........................................................................................14
3.6 Ethical consideration..........................................................................................................14
Conclusion................................................................................................................................15
References................................................................................................................................16

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Chapter One
1.0 Introduction
In light of the past literary sources, various authors have highlighted that in spite of increase
in education graduates, the shortage of teachers is still prevalent in the global market. This
problem still persists and various countries are facing issues in managing the pupil to tutor
ratio in majority of the countries. The global average shows that the PTR (pupil to tutor ratio)
has improved to 24:1 from 26:1 in primary education and 17:1 from 18:1 in the secondary
education (sundayfundayz.com, 2018). However, in 29 countries, the PTR ratio is more than
40:1 and in majority of the countries, the tutor to pupil ratio fell short by 20% in 63 countries
(sundayfundayz.com, 2018). Even though there has been significant need of teachers in
global market, it is essential to hire motivated and well-trained teachers. This has resulted in
the hiring of untrained professionals which may have negative impact on the quality of the
education. The analysis of the Asia Pacific region shows that there are still countries
suffering to manage their pupil to teacher ratio. The situation is no different in New Zealand
where shortage of quality teachers has become a major issue in primary and secondary
education.
The research proposes to scrutinize and investigate the association between job
satisfaction, pay and retention of primary school teachers. The investigation of the past
studies have shown that monetary rewards, non-monetary rewards, work environment,
workload and autonomy are significant factors affecting the retention rate of the employees.
Rewards are key to motivation for teachers as the pay scale are less when compared to other
industries. This shows the lack of parity in income among different sectors. Moreover,
workload and working has also been considered as key factors affecting the retention of
teachers. Teachers feel immense workload due to PTR in majority of the countries and
inexperienced teachers face significant issues in coping with the pressure. Moreover, teachers
require autonomy to teach students effectively but as majority of school management policies
and processes are stringent it hinders in unlocking potential of the teachers. … Retention of
high quality teachers is one of the critical issues in public education. In the past five years,
the industry has witnessed departure of twenty to thirty percent of the employees from the
teaching profession (Shah & Jumani, 2015Kaufman & Al-Bataineh, 2011). The increase in
number of teachers leaving their respective jobs have posed concern for providing quality
teachers. The high turnover rate is expected to have significant influence on the instability of

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learning environment (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2016). This deprives the students from receiving
the highest quality of education.
Teachers play a vital role in providing proper education to their students. Schools try
to hire high quality teaching staffs that can provide greater education to the students. The key
to developing good quality students lies on the ability of the schools to recruit highly
committed and qualified teachers (Tehseen & Hadi, 2015). This facilitates in securing the
future of any country as youth determines the progress of any nation. Therefore, the current
topic holds significant importance and analysing factors affecting the turnover of teachers is
necessary for developing better educational facilities for students in primary and secondary
education (Tehseen & Hadi, 2015).
1.1 Problem StatementResearch Problem and Background
The education industry has witnessed the biggest action taken by primary and
secondary school teachers in New Zealand by going into a strike. It was observed that more
than 50,000 teachers had participated in this revolt (Roy, 2019; Long, 2018). The labour
coalition government came into power in the year of 2017, since then the country
experienced three strikes from the teachers demanding better working conditions, respect and
pay rises (Roy, 2019; Long, 2018). These protests turned into an industrial action when all
the teachers united to protest for the cause. These teachers had already rejected the pay rise of
3% offered by the government and wanted a compensation growth of minimum 15% (Roy,
2019; Leung, 2019). However, the government has refused to pay more money claiming that
they have no money to spend on teachers (Roy, 2019). This has further aggravated the
situation in the education industry in New Zealand. As per the comments from the protestors,
there is a huge shortage of teachers in the country and they want the government to invest
into the future of the students and teachers (Roy, 2019; Leung, 2019).
Even though there are group of teachers willing to accept the pay offered by the
government and move on with their lives, the mega strike has changed the situation
completely (Walters, 2019). The opinion poll conducted in the year of 2018 has highlighted
that there is a need for reduction in class sizes, extra time for students having additional
needs, pay rise and more teaching time (Walters, 2019; Webb, 2019). ….). Moreover, the
general population had similar opinion as they want their children to receive the best possible
education which is only possible if the government invests more into the education industry
(Walters, 2019).

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On the other hand, the teachers have constantly rejected the pay increase of 9% worth
$1.2 billion proposed for thein the upcoming three periods as the government is unwilling to
address the concerns previously mentioned by the committees (Gerritsen, 2019Powell, 2015).
The teachers want allocation of funds instead of getting a pay rise so that the broken system
can be fixed. This shows that contradiction between the factors affecting the retention of the
teachers and are acting as motivators. It provides a valid reason to perform a research to
examine the factors actually affecting the retention rate. The government offer of pay rise
has not even come close to addressing the real issues faced in the education system in New
Zealand (Gerritsen, 2019Powell, 2015). The increase in compensation will not be able to
address the issue of more resource requirements and decreasing in work pressure,., hence all
issues are required to be addressed. The teachers claimed that they are not in the profession
for money. , however it is important for the government to pay them. It’s about the time,
value and respect of the teachers and the profession.
The evaluation of the past literary sources have shown constant difference in opinion
among the authors regarding the critical factors affecting the retention rate of the teachers. It
is due to the difference in motivators among people which is evident from the evidence from
the New Zealand industry.
…….
The above research problem suggests that pay is not the only motivator the teachers
working in the education industry and effective analysis is required on the factors affecting
the turnover intention of the teachers. The identification of these factors are expected to
develop effective strategies to improving the teachers’ retention rate.
1.2 Research objectives and questions
The objective of the investigation has been listed below:
 To examine the impact of To explore possible reasons and factors causing primary
school teachers to continue with strike.
 Ascertaining impact of primary school teachers strike on children’s growth and
development.
 Exploring possible solutions or suggestions for New Zealand government to deal or
address the issue.

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a. Pay satisfaction will influence job satisfaction and turnover intention.
b. To investigate the influence of wWorkload will influenceon job satisfaction and
turnover intention.
c. To investigate the influence of pPromotion and recognition will influence jobon job
satisfaction and turnover intention.
d. To critically evaluate the impact of jJob satisfaction will influence turnover intention.
e. To examine the mediating role of Job satisfaction will mediate theon the relationships
between pay satisfaction, workload, promotion/recognition and turnover intention.
Research Questions
What are the dynamics influencing the retention of primary school teachers in New Zealand?
What is the impact of primary school teacher strike on the children growth and development?
What are the factors affecting the satisfaction level of the primary teachers?
a. Will pay satisfaction influence job satisfaction and turnover intention?
b. Will workload influence job satisfaction and turnover intention?
c. Will promotion and recognition influence job satisfaction and turnover intention?
d. Will job satisfaction influence turnover intention?
e. Will job satisfaction mediates the relationships between pay satisfaction, workload,
promotion/recognition and turnover intention?
1.3 Research Hypothesis
H1: Pay is will significantly correlated influence with job satisfaction.
H2: Workload will significantly influence has a negative impact of job satisfaction.

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H3: Promotion & Recognition will significantly influence correlated with job satisfaction.
H4: Pay will significantly influence turnover intention.
H5: Workload will significantly influence turnover intention.
H6: Promotion & Recognition will significantly influence turnover intention
H74: There is a significant relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention.
H85: Job satisfaction mediates the relationship between pay satisfaction and turnover
intention.
H96: Job satisfaction mediates the relationship between workload and turnover
intentionWorkload mediates the relationship between pay satisfaction and turnover intention.
H107: Job satisfaction mediates the relationship between promotion/recognition and turnover
intention.Promotion & recognition mediates the relationship between pay satisfaction and
turnover intention
1.4 Significance of the study
The investigation will depict the different factors influencing the job satisfaction
level of the teachers along with the factors essential for reducing the turnover intention and
motivation of the teachers. The government in New Zealand can use the findings of the study
to develop strategies for improving the condition of employment in the education industry
(Galloway, Boswell, Panckhurst, Boswell & Green, 1985).
Even though, past researches have highlighted significant text of the topic, but this
study can be provide theoretical insights on the ways quality teachers can be retained and
motivated to perform better. Investigation and discussion of the problem in light of research
publications and literary sources, identification of key facts and evidences missing from past
studies is possible. The government and other authorities are expected to develop effective
measures for addressing the underlying problem in the research.
1.4.1 Significance to the Practitioners
The study will be significant for practitioners as it can facilitate in making changes to
government policies and structures in countries facing issues in managing their PTR. The
findings will highlight the key factors affecting the retention rate and how it can be
implemented in practical scenario for improving the conditions of the education industry.

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1.4.2 Significance to the Academics
In case of the academics, the current research will expect to address the gap in the
past literature and will provide a deeper understanding of the issues faced by the teachers in
New Zealand. The success of the study will provide scope to implement this investigation in
other scenarios to improve the conditions of teachers in other countries.
1.5 Scope of study
The scope of the research is prediction of New Zealand primary school teachers’
retention using pay satisfaction, work load and recognition. The research will examine the
factors influencing the current strikes among the teachers in New Zealand.
Chapter Two
2.0 Literature review
2.1 Introduction
This segment of the research will review previous studies on job satisfaction,
employee turnover intention, pay satisfaction, workload, promotion and recognition and other
relevant factors to highlight the key factors for this research problem. Underpinning theories
for this research will be establish in this chapter and relevant hypotheses will be
hypothesized. Retaining skilled and qualified teachers is one of the major issues discussed in
the past literature for understanding the challenges faced in primary and secondary education.
The purpose of this section is to critically evaluate and find the arguments made by different
authors for developing a new conceptual model for further analysis. This will evaluate the
different factors such as pay satisfaction, workload, and recognition and promotion on job
satisfaction and turnover intention. …..
According to Sass, Seal and Martin, (2011), more than 20% of the new teachers quit their
jobs in less than 5 years of joining the service and analysis of new teachers in Ontario,
Canada showed that teachers having turnover intention are strongly dissatisfied with the lack
of support. Studies conducted in Australia and Great Britain have shown similar attrition rate

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in the education industry. This is truer for the new teachers in industry as the teachers are
unable to feel the sense of belongingness due to the immense pressure and workload they are
put on. Considering this context, the study investigates literary studies on job satisfaction,
different factors turnover intention of primary school teachers.
2.2 Conceptual Framework
The analysis of the past researches have shown significant relationship between pay
satisfaction, workload and promotion and recognition on the satisfaction level of teachers and
employees in other industry. The analysis of the past researches in some instances significant
relationships were not developed which creates a dilemma regarding these factors. Moreover,
job satisfaction has significant influence on the turnover intention of employees. However,
there are studies were unable to highlight relevant results. Therefore, it makes it necessary to
evaluate this framework.
………
Source of conceptual framework
Pay Satisfaction – Job Satisfaction (Roy, April 2019)
Pay Satisfaction – Turnover Intention (Memon, Salleh, & Baharom, 2017)
Workload-Job satisfaction (Ud-Din-Jalal & Zaaheer, 2017)
PAY SATISFACTION
WORKLOAD
PROMOTION &
RECOGNITION
JOB SATISFACTION TURNOVER
INTENTION
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
Source: As created by author

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Workload – Turnover Intention (Kar & Suar, October 1, 2014)
Promotion & Recognition – Job Satisfaction (R.D & Jeevan, 2009-2010)
Promotion & Recognition – Turnover Intention (Cao, Chen, & Song, 2013)
Job satisfaction – Turnover Intention (Tzeng, 2002)
2.3 Job Satisfaction
As emphasised by various equity theorists, there is significant importance of
achieving an equilibrium between the skills, knowledge, and efforts invested by the
employees and the reward, compensation and recognition received. Shah and Jumani, (2015)
states that people evaluate their job performance and fairness of their rewards based on the
peer groups working in the same organisation or in a different company. Wells, (2015)
Sharma and Jyoti, (2009) states that equity can be achieved only when the ratio of the
employees output and input is equal. This means that satisfaction depends on the incongruity
between the work done by the employees and the compensation they are receiving.
On the contrary, the social exchange theory had developed a framework which has
been able to explain the relationship between turnover intention, work engagement and pay
satisfaction. As stated by Memon, Salleh and Baharom, (2017), social exchange is the
fundamental relationship between individuals. This refers to the voluntary actions made by
the employees as they have anticipated returns and benefits in exchange. Therefore, positive
perception of workforce towards payment are expected to motivate them.
According to Arnup and Bowles, (2016), job dissatisfaction leads to stress for
teachers. In addition to that, Skaalvik and Skaalvik, (2016) portrayed the significance of job
satisfaction among teachers for developing effective educational reforms. Therefore, for
reducing the turnover of teachers and develop reforms in the educational industry,
identification of the different factors affecting the job satisfaction are critical. Wells, (2015)
Ololube, (2006) performed an investigation on the characteristics of teachers’ schools, pay,
background and work condition in respect to work satisfaction and highlighted that there was
favourable relationship amid working conditions and satisfaction level of teachers. Roy,
(2019) states that when there is increase in interest and motivation towards achieving their
organisational gaols, it signifies that there is an increase in organisational commitment and