The presentation discusses factors influencing retention in pre-service primary teacher education in Malawi, highlighting issues such as attrition, resource availability, and satisfaction with training programs. Research identified primary dimensions of diversity, mentorship practices, and recruitment procedures as key elements affecting retention rates. Recommendations for improving retention include introducing tuition fees to attract committed candidates and regular payment of allowances for motivation.

1. University of LiverpoolUniversity of Liverpoolin partnership within partnership with
Laureate Online EducationLaureate Online Education
Second Presentation on EdD Thesis progress titled:Second Presentation on EdD Thesis progress titled:
Factors Influencing Retention inFactors Influencing Retention in
Pre-service Primary TeacherPre-service Primary Teacher
Education in Malawi Education in Malawi
byby
Elvis SalagiElvis Salagi
1313thth
February, 2015February, 2015
Doctoral Supervisors: Dr Lee Graham and Dr Peter KahnDoctoral Supervisors: Dr Lee Graham and Dr Peter Kahn

2. PillarsPillars
• Why I did it!!
• What I did!!!
• What I found out!!!

3. Presentation overviewPresentation overview
• Introduction
• Background context
• Purpose & questions
• Problem statement
• Methodology
• Findings
• Recommendations
• Further research
• Q&A

4. IntroductionIntroduction
• Quality education provision
• Revolves around 4 thematic areas: access,
equity, governance, mgt
• Hinges on resource availability
• Requires sound financial, human and
material resources
• Need for staff and infrastructural devt
• Provision of quality teacher education
• Challenges of attrition, motivation & limited
resource envelope

5. CC
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tt MALAWI

6. Structure of primary teacherStructure of primary teacher
education in Malawieducation in Malawi
Primary
teacher
education
2 year IPTE
certificate
(Conventional
mode)
1 year college
based phase
1 year rural
school based
phase (TP)
2 year IPTE
certificate
(ODL)
Term holiday face
to face sessions
2 year rural school
based phase (TP)
Module study
4 year BEd

7. • Overcrowding
• Work overload
Pre-service teaching in MalawiPre-service teaching in Malawi

8. • Rural TP
• Infrastructural
challenges
• Low staffing
Pre-service teaching in MalawiPre-service teaching in Malawi

9. Background context cont’d
•Tuition-free training programme
•Monthly stipend as a motivator
•Long time attrition
•Low retention
•Affects plans to reduce current PQTR of
1:78 to 1:60 by 2017

10. •Frustrates efforts by govt & DPs investment
•infrastructure, teaching & learning materials,
staff capacity development
Leads to:
•Low annual college output
•Low school staffing levels
•underutilized resources: infrastructure,
financial, material

12. This researchThis research
Purpose
To examine factors that
influence retention of pre-
service primary teachers in
Malawi.
Question
What factors influence
retention of pre-service
primary teachers in Malawi?

13. Secondary questions:
•To what extent do pre-service teachers’
primary dimensions of diversity and
professional experiences relate to their intention
to remain in teaching?
•How can recruitment procedures influence
retention of primary pre-service teachers?
•What mentorship practices influence retention
of primary pre-service teachers?
•What strategies do primary teacher education
institutions follow to promote retention?

14. What I did !What I did !

15. QuestionnairesQuestionnaires
Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male
less than 20 years 14% 9% 0% 3% 1% 0% 0% 0%
20-25 years 14% 16% 19% 14% 0% 1% 1% 1%
26-30 years 0% 1% 0% 3% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Over 30 years 0% 0% 3% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Total by sex 28% 26% 21% 20% 1% 1% 1% 1%
Totalbyyear
Totalbytraining
mode
Grandtotal 100%
54% 41% 3% 3%
95% 5%
Age
Primary Pre-service Teachers
IPTE - CONVENTIONAL IPTE - ODL
First year Second year First year Second year

17. Statistical analysis and justification
Quantitative analysis
•Use of SPSS version 20.
•Preferred because it is modern, fast and
simplifies process of analyzing quant. data
•Coding of descriptive responses
male & female; married & single coded as 1
& 2 respectively.
1st
Yr ODL, 2nd
Yr ODL, 1st
Yr conventional & 2nd
Yr Conventional were coded as 1, 2, 3 & 4
•SPSS analyzed data into descriptive statistics
eg frequency counts and percentages.

18. • Data presentation in form of tables, bar
graphs and pie charts
• To enhance proper understanding of results
• Some instances, conducted Chi-square test
• Obtains the Pearson correlation co-efficient
• To determine statistical significance of
relationship between two categorical variables
(Byers, Steinhorst, & Krausman, (1984)
• The limitation!!! data needs to be sufficient
enough ie count of ≥ 5 per cell

19. Qualitative analysis
•Qualitative data collected through interviews
with teacher trainers, mentors and teaching
practice coordinators
•Responses were recorded and transcribed
into a narrative form
•Six-phase process of thematic analysis.
•Aronson (1994) views thematic analysis as a
focus on identifiable themes and patterns
emerging from respondents’ ideas in an
interview

20. Why thematic analysis?Why thematic analysis?
According to Alhojailan (2012)
•Allows a researcher to precisely determine
the relationships between concepts.
•Allows linking the various concepts and
opinions of interview respondents with data
that has been gathered in different situations
and at different times.

21. 6-Phase Thematic Analysis
6-Phase Thematic Analysis
((Braun & Clarke, 2006)

22. Pre-service teacher retentionPre-service teacher retention
has bearing on:has bearing on:
• Reasons for choosing teaching
• Significance of a teacher training program
• Satisfaction of pre-service teachers with training
program
• Relationship of primary dimensions of diversity
and professional factors to retention
• Relationship of recruitment factors to retention
• Relationship of recruitment procedures to
retention
• Influence of mentorship
• Strategies for retention

24. PreliminariesPreliminaries
Important reasons for choosing teaching
•desire to work with learners
•Advancing their career opportunities
•Love of subject matter
Less important reasons for choosing teaching
•lack of other career options
•parental influence
•Teachers’ influence

26. Significance of training programme
towards retention in rural schools
• IPTE is significant in preparing pre-
service teachers to stay in rural TP
schools
• Adequately prepares pre-service
teachers for hard-to-staff schools
• Does not adequately prepare them for
high-risk schools

27. • Possibly, attributes of high-risk
schools are not well covered and
integrated in IPTE
• Consistent with this finding, Tamir,
(2013) suggests that preparation can
have some effect on teacher’s
preparedness to teach in culturally
diverse environments and adapt to
challenging demands of hard-to-staff
schools

29. Satisfaction with trainingSatisfaction with training
programmeprogramme
• pre-service teachers are more satisfied
regardless of mode of training
• male pre-service teachers are more
satisfied than females
• both single and married pre-service
teachers express their satisfaction
• some female pre-service teachers are
dissatisfied.

31. What I found out !!What I found out !!

32. Question 1:
Relationship of primary dimensions of
diversity and professional factors to
retention
•Strong relationship between age and
retention
•gender is related to pre-service teachers’
retention.
•male pre-service teachers are more likely
to stay in teacher training than female pre-
service teachers.

33. • Strong relationship between pre-service
teachers’ interest and retention
• Marital status of pre-service teachers less
likely to influence retention
Relationship of recruitment factors to
retention
• include age of applicant, quality of entry
certificate, applicants’ orientation, gender
equity, performance in an entry aptitude
test and residence of applicant.

35. • Age of pre-service teachers is related to
retention
• Older ones are mature enough and settled in
their minds and stay in training
• Younger ones are unstable/undecided and
drop out
• Quality of entry certificate is related to
retention
• Some candidates with better subject grades
on entry certificate leave primary teacher
training as compared to those with fairly not
so good grades

36. • Performance in entry test is not related to
retention
• high performing or low performing pre-service
teachers in the entry aptitude test either stay
or drop out of teacher training
• Residence of pre-service teachers is strongly
related to retention
• are already acclimatized to such
environments as such they stay in teacher
training

37. • Induction of pre-service teachers contributes
to retention
• Properly inducted pre-service teachers stay
in training because they know expectations of
teaching career
• relatedness of equity to retention is very
limited
• more female pre-service teachers than males
continue to drop out mainly on health grounds
such as pregnancies
• Even those with SEN also drop

38. Recruitment factors
influencing retention
•Low entry qualifications
•Clear job description,
requirements and
expectations in teacher
training advertisement
•Harmonized institutional
recruitment schedules
•Interest in teaching job
•Tuition fees to attract
serious minded ones
•Written & oral interview
• Factors not influencing
retention
• rural TP placement
• entry aptitude test
• high score-based intake
• credit grade in English
at MSCE
• bonding to teach in
rural areas
• tuition-free course
• age limit of 35 years
• Un-harmonized
recruitment

39. Importance of factorsImportance of factors
influencing retentioninfluencing retention
• Factors that influence retention are accorded
different levels of importance
• Include availability of resources, faculty support,
clear professional career, community support,
peer support, parental support, upkeep allowance
and mentoring
• All are important in influencing retention but extent
of importance differs
• clear professional career has highest influence on
retention followed by parental support, faculty
support, and mentoring

41. Research Q2:Research Q2:
Influence of recruitment proceduresInfluence of recruitment procedures
to retentionto retention
• In Malawi, recruitment of pre-service
primary teachers takes into consideration
a number of procedures

43. • Scores in the aptitude test are for
selection purposes but negatively
correlate with certification scores
• Strong relationship between retention and
the recruitment procedures
• Slight gender differences in perceptions
on extent of relationships
• More female than male pre-service
teachers feel the procedures are related to
retention
• Why do they think so?

44. • Some who score highly in aptitude test fail
training assessments and are withdrawn
• procedure of using entry aptitude test
scores does not predict retention
• Hence retention of some pre-service
teachers is not achieved
• I also found it necessary to consider
extent of impact of recruitment procedures
on retention

46. • Perceptions on the impact registered slight
gender differences
• More male than females feel procedures
exert a large impact on the retention
• More female than males feel procedures have
some impact
• But procedures comprise various aspects that
might exert their own share of extent of
impact

47. Q3: What mentorship practices
influence retention of pre-service
primary teachers?

48. How mentoring influences
retention
• Skill transfer
• Professional support
• Guidance and counselling
• Rapport

49. How mentoring fails to
influence retention
• Lack of capacity building
• Lack of incentives
• Work overload

51. Mentoring practicesMentoring practices
• Most practices highly rated as useful for
retention
• Varying extent of usefulness
• Professional meetings, mentor observing
lessons and observing mentor’s lesson
rated highly useful
• SEJ work viewed by some few participants
as not useful

53. • Slight gender differences in perceptions
on usefulness of mentoring on retention
• More females than males feel mentoring
practices are useful for retention
• Fewer respondents feel SEJ work is not
useful though males outnumber females
• Both male and female feel professional
meetings and mentor observing lessons
are useful for retention

54. What strategies do primary teacher
education institutions follow to
promote retention?
• Upkeep allowances
• Tuition-free course
• Orientation
• Role modelling
• Community-TPS partnership
• Readmission

55. ConclusionConclusion
• Pre-service teachers attribute various
reasons for choosing teaching career esp
desire to work with children
• Reasons have a bearing on retention
• Various factors influence and impact on
retention of pre-service teachers in Malawi
• primary dimensions of diversity and
professional experiences have a positive
correlation with retention

56. RecommendationsRecommendations
Implications for practiceImplications for practice
• Introduce tuition fees to attract committed
applicants
• Regular payment of upkeep allowances to
sustain motivation
• Harmonize recruitment of trainees for different
professional training programmes
• Introduce oral interviews to ascertain
commitment and interest for training
• Enhance the school experience journal work

57. Teacher retention model

58. Further researchFurther research
• Effect of mentors’ gender differences in
respect of the mentoring practices for
retention of pre-service teachers.
• Determine candidates’ commitment for
primary teacher training during recruitment
• Establish impact of introducing a tuition
fee- paying arrangement and non-financial
incentives on retention

59. • Thanks to Dr Lee and Dr Peter for your
commendable advice for the study
• Thanks to audience for your attention

60. Q & AQ & A