Qualities of Teachers that Impact Retention in the Teaching Profession: Why Do They Stay?

Abstract

Being able to identify and retain quality teachers is an issue faced by many school districts. There are some who possess innate personal characteristics inspiring their passion to remain dedicated to the teaching profession. The purpose of this research is to explore the qualities of teachers who are committed to the profession. The study explored personality traits from novice and experienced educators to understand their commitment to the profession from their own experiences. An embedded design was used to collect data from a personality assessment and in-person interviews. The personality assessment was analyzed to compare personality traits and years of teaching experience. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes in order to answer the research questions that guided this study. The population sample was seven teachers ranging from one year all the way to more than 16 years of teaching experience. The findings of this research provided information on how teacher’s self-identity evolved with more years of experience. The results identified four qualities of teachers that chose to remain in the profession.