This document summarizes a meeting between regional education facilitators to discuss factors that influence teacher retention and professional identity. It outlines six key factors of professional identity - value, efficacy, commitment, emotions, knowledge and beliefs, and micro-politics - and suggests questions for principals to consider about how they can support beginning teachers in developing a strong professional identity in each area to increase retention. The document emphasizes the important role principals play in retaining beginning teachers and developing their sense of professional commitment.

1. Sandhills/Southeast
Cross-Regional BT/Charter/IHE Meeting
Martha Anderson- Sandhills Regional Education Facilitator
Cindi Rigsbee- Southeast Regional Education Facilitator

2. Do You Agree?
0 Pre-service teachers tend to have a naïve and idealistic
perception of teaching.
0 Beginning teachers experience many different phases and
can easily become consumed with survival.
0 Teachers who leave the classroom show the most
emotional burnout.
Teaching and Teacher Education: International Journal of Research and Studies
Research article by Ji Y. Hong

3. Did You Know?
0 Nationwide, within the next ten years, 2 million
teachers will be needed to fill classrooms.
0 The Teacher Turnover Report data indicates North
Carolina is experiencing a 15% turnover rate.
0 The number one reason teachers are leaving the
classroom is for “personal reasons.”
0 The number one factor why teachers remain in the
classroom is directly linked to the PRINCIPAL’s
perception of the quality of their performance.

4. Professional Identity
Professional identity is a major contributor as to why
teachers leave the profession. There are six factors to
professional identity.
0 Value
0 Efficacy
0 Commitment
0 Emotions
0 Knowledge and Beliefs
0 Micro-politics
Teaching and Teacher Education International
Journal of Research and Studies

5. Value
0 What does it mean to be valued?
0 Why does this impact a beginning teacher’s decision
to remain in the classroom or leave the school?
0 How can a principal let beginning teachers know they
are valued members of the school’s staff?

6. Efficacy
0 What is efficacy? (self-efficacy)
0 How can a principal help a beginning teacher develop a
sense of self-efficacy?
0 What can a principal do to help build a beginning
teacher’s confidence in his/her ability to positively
impact student achievement?
0 How can a principal create school-wide efficacy?

7. Commitment
0 How does a principal promote the importance of
commitment to students and the school to beginning
teachers?
0 How does a principal demonstrate his/her own
commitment to the staff and students?
0 Why is commitment important and a factor in
retaining beginning teachers?

8. Emotions
0 For new teachers, teaching can be an emotional rollercoaster.
0 How can a principal identify the emotions of his/her
beginning teachers?
0 What strategies can a principal utilize to help a beginning
teacher understand, acknowledge, and control his/her
emotions?
0 Why do emotions play such a large role in a teacher’s
decision to leave a school or the teaching profession?

9. Knowledge and Beliefs
0 Why is it important for a principal to understand where
his/her teachers stand with regards to their knowledge and
beliefs about education?
0 What strategies can a principal use to identify a teacher’s
knowledge and beliefs about students, parents, instructional
practices, and working with a diverse population of
students?
0 How does this information impact how a principal interacts
with his/her teachers?
0 Why is this a factor in a teacher’s decision to remain in the
classroom or leave the school or his/her career?

10. Micro-politics
0 What does micro-politics mean?
0 Is this prevalent in schools? Education as a whole?
0 How can a principal help a beginning teacher navigate
through this within the school building, at the district
level, and outside of the classroom?
0 Why would this be a contributing factor as to why
beginning teachers leave the classroom?

11. Principal Engagement
0 How will you encourage principals to be more
engaged with their beginning teachers?
0 What ideas or strategies will you share with
colleagues?
0 How can IHEs utilize this information in their
education degree and masters programs?