Thank you for coming to this page to find out more about this study.
Over the past couple of years my research has focused on why physics teachers leave the profession. My findings currently highlight the negatives of the profession, rather than celebrating the positives, and what became clear to me is that there are plenty of schools across England that are very successful at retaining teachers. We need to learn from those schools, just why they are successful at retaining teachers.
In this study I am looking to recruit 5 or 6 schools to take part in a series of interviews, with the headteacher (or deputy), the head of science, and one or two science teachers (including a physics teacher if possible), to identify the leadership practices within the school that participants feel contribute to their successful retention of teachers.
If convenient I would like to conduct the interviews in person, however I am happy to conduct these on MS Teams.
Please note that the criteria for inclusion in this study is that your school is a secondary, non-selective, state funded (LEA, Academy and Free) school in England (11-16, 11-18, 13-18).
So, if you work in such a school, and would like to be part of this study please get in touch with me at mark.whalley@chester.ac.uk .
Further information
Participant information sheet
The retention of science teachers, and in particular that of physics teachers, is a well-known problem. However, it is not all doom and gloom, there are clearly some schools who effectively retain their staff. The judgement as to whether a school is successful at retaining teachers is subjective, we all know that teachers move on for many positive reasons which do not reflect negatively on the school they leave, but school leaders will certainly be aware of their ability at retaining teachers. In this study, focusing on the retention of science/physics teachers, I want to uncover the positive practices of senior and middle leaders which help improve retention. The lessons learned will be of value across the teaching profession and will help colleagues across schools develop positive retention practices.
Please note that I will need the consent of the headteacher both to participate personally and for staff to be involved.
Please make sure to read the information on this page carefully. Please note that you must be at least 18 years old to take part in this study.
Method
This study will mostly involve interviews. In each participating schools I would like to interview:
• Headteacher (or deputy headteacher)
• Head of Science
• One or two science teachers (including, if possible, a physics teacher)
Interviews will last no more than one hour, they will be recorded (audio only if in person, audio and video if one Teams). Before the interviews, participants will be supplied with the questions I intend to ask. The questions will be focused on how the school has been successful in retaining teachers. Ideally I would like to conduct the interviews in-person, however I recognise that this may be difficult for colleagues in some schools; in this case I will use MS Teams to conduct the interviews.
In addition I will ask the Head of Science to complete a spreadsheet which will outline the composition of the science department and include subject specialism, length of time in your school, length of time in teaching, and number of schools taught in.
Use of data
The data collected during this study will be used purely for this research project and publication in academic journals. Recognising that this research will focus on successes, you may wish for your school to be named in any subsequent publications. If you do not wish the school to be identified, then the Headteacher should indicate this on their consent form. However individual participating teachers will be anonymised. Should you wish to withdraw from the study at any point you will be able to do so. If you do choose complete anonymity for your school then I will ensure that the school will not be identifiable from the data, and only I will be able to identify participants.
If you would like further information about the study, please contact the primary investigator, Dr Mark Whalley, mark.whalley@chester.ac.uk . If you have any complaints about the study, please address these to the Dean of the School of Education, David Cumberland, at education@chester.ac.uk . Please take a screenshot of this page or note down this support information for future use, as you cannot return to this page once you exit the study.
Thank you again for your interest in this research.
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