SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF LABOUR TURN OUT IN THE GHANAIAN EDUCATION SECTOR: THE STRIDES AND PREFERENCES

Samuel Asare Amoah

Department of Psychology and Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.

Keywords:Ghana education service, Collaborative reflective, Environment, Turn-out, Attrition, In-service training, Teacher retention, Mentor.

ARTICLE HISTORY: Received:31 May 2019 Revised:9 July 2019 Accepted:13 August 2019 Published:11 September 2019.

Contribution/ Originality:This study is one of the few studies which have investigated into the situational analysis of labour turn out in the Ghanaian education sector. It looked at the strides and preferences of teachers as to how they stay at a station and what influences them to be at their station.

1. INTRODUCTION

The most effective way to improve access to education and quality of education in Ghana, in line with the objectives of the ‘Education for All’ (EFA) Programme, is to attract and retain qualified teachers in classrooms especially at the Pre- tertiary level. According to Drayer (1992) ‘Classroom teachers are really the key to the quality of any educational system, therefore, there is the need to recruit and retain teachers in the classrooms’. Antwi (1992)  reiterates that the solution to the problem of quality in the basic school lies in educating and retaining qualified and dedicated teachers.

Available literature underscores the importance of good and qualified teachers in the teaching-learning situation (Akyeampong et al., 2006). Educationist such as Erinosho (2001) agrees that even though nowadays computers and projectors, among others are used in the instructional processes in most countries, the role of the teacher in ensuring meaningful teaching and learning is still significant where the strength of any good educational school system depends upon the extent to which good teachers are recruited and remain in the challenging environment within the profession. In Ghana’s education sector Antwi (1992) hold it that it could be suggested that the solution to the problem of quality education lies in educating and retraining training.

This suggests the need for bold and creative thinking about alternative approaches to teacher preparation, including more flexible models of pre-service preparation, a new balance between pre-service and in-service programmes, and the development of strong ongoing professional support programmes for serving teachers.

1.1. Statement of the Problem

Failure rate are high and deficient learning in school is a commonplace at both junior high and senior high levels in Ghana (Amoah, 2011). Among 45 countries involved in the 2003 TIMSS studies, Ghana rank among the lowest (placed 44 positions) in science and mathematics; it was observed that one major factor was poor teacher quality and high attrition rates (Anamuah-Mensah and Mereku, 2005). Amoah (2011) lamented over the unrealistic procedural selection of teachers in the Eastern region and concluded that the situation was no different in all regions in Ghana. Therefore the attraction of qualified teachers to achieve quality teaching and learning coupled with worrying challenges has engaged the attention of educational authorities and opinion leaders in the Ghana education sector for a long time. A casual observation of the teacher recruitment and retention situation in some education sector like the New Juaben Municipality and elsewhere gives an immediate impression that all is not well with the recruitment processes in terms of teachers desire to stay and teach in the Ghanaian schools, especially strict ununiformed recruitment procedures .This resulting effect is high level of attrition of professional teachers at the various levels of education and schools. Teachers posted to some districts stay for a short time and start lobbying to leave on transfer to other districts (Municipal Statistics on Teacher Transfer and posting, 2008-2011, Municipal Education Office) as a result of accepting offers not from their self-proclamation but rather due to none existent vacancies. The greatest problem now is to identify the factors that influence most teachers to be recruited as well as teacher attrition and what can be done to recruit highly qualify teachers and retain them for long in our education sector.

1.2. The Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to explore for the factors which influence the recruitment and retention of basic school teachers within the Ghana education sector especially the New Juaben Municipality.

1.3. The Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study were to:

1. Identify teacher demand and supply needs.
2. Determine the main causes of teacher attrition in the New Juaben Municipality.
3. Identify measures that may be employed to enhance the recruitment and retention situation of teachers.

1.4. Research Questions

The study sought answers to the following questions:

1. What is the recruitment procedure for basic school teachers within t4h Ghana education service?
2. What factors influence the recruitment and retention of teachers in the New Juaben Municipality?
3. Is it possible to retain teachers in the New Juaben Municipality based on what teachers feel?

1.5. Significances of the Study

The study will extend knowledge in the area of teacher retention and will provide information useful to the educational practitioner. The body of knowledge that emerged from the study offers fresh insights into the problems of teacher recruitment and retention in the Municipality and thereby enhances our understanding of issues connected with teacher education in the Municipality. The study support stakeholders of education to adopt suitable strategies that enhance recruitment and retention in the district.

1.6. Delimitation of the Study

The study was limited to the New Juaben Municipality area because the municipality has its peculiar recruitment and retention procedural structures. The study is further delimited to factors that influence teacher recruitment, factors responsible for challenges in teacher attrition, motivation and retention in the municipality.

1.7. Limitation

The study was carried out only in the Municipal area hence the results could not be used to generalize for the whole country. Again, the small size of the sample and the restricted sample area, the conclusions are drawn from the study were not expected to extend beyond the population sampled.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Teacher attrition/turnover has been a source of worry to school authorities and policy makers in the country. Several causes of teacher attrition/turnover have been identified in the literature. Guarino et al. (2004) show that with 'advanced degrees in “high market-value” subject such as mathematics, science, typically leave teaching for jobs in other non-education fields at higher rates than their colleagues without these educational qualities.

Other studies have shown that teacher attrition/ turn over can be divided into several types, each affected differently by social capital. Some teachers leave full-time classroom teaching either for jobs in unrelated fields or depart the workforce all together. According to Ingersoll (2001); Ingersoll (2003) others can remain working as teachers, but migrate to other schools. It is also argued that others may still leave the classroom temporarily, perhaps to have children, and then return to the classroom after a hiatus (Murnane et al., 1991). Yet some teachers leave for different jobs in the field of education (Anderson and Olsen, 2005).

Retirement is naturally assumed to be one of the primary reasons for teacher attrition. But research has shown that the number of teachers retiring from the profession is not a leading cause. In a study of teacher turnover by Ingersoll (2001) retirement was cited less often for leaving the teaching profession than job dissatisfaction or to pursue another job.

2.1. The Recruitment of Teachers

According to Richey (1963) recruitment is the process of attracting qualified practitioners for existing or anticipated job openings. This according to him, refers to an external search for qualified personal. He is of the view that internal searches should be considered as well. Richly further, notes that regardless of the type of recruitment strategy employed by the Human Resource Development Management the process is very difficult and time consuming.

Rebore (1982) states that, after the manpower planning process has identified current and further staffing needs, next step in the acquisition of personnel is recruitment. Recruitment as a process, according to Rebore, entails discovering potential applicants for anticipated vacancies. He identifies certain variables that influence the recruitment of teachers. Among these is the size of the school, school district or region, the employment conditions in the environment, working conditions, salary levels and fringe benefits, the rapid increase in student population and vacancies requiring special skills that current employees lack.

Rebore notes constrain on recruitments as affirmative action procedures, the reputation and policies of the school and the nature of the position to be filled. The following principles, according to him, are common to many vocational development theories and can be used to formulate recruitment strategies. First, people have different interest, abilities and personalities, which will qualify them for a number of occupations.

Secondly, the occupational preferences, competencies and self-image of people will change with time and experience making personal adjustment a continuous process. Third, both life and work satisfaction depends on how well individuals can utilize their abilities and find outfits for their interest, personality traits and values.

Supporting recruitment drive, Quansah (2003) posits that, the critical problem facing basic education in Ghana today is the problem of making available an adequate number of trained teachers for instruction in school. Further, when analyzing a trend of teacher demand and supply in basic schools within a five-year based period of 1997-2002, Quansah thinks that until the year 2001 when the Ministry of Education made it mandatory for all teachers seconded to organizations outside Ghana Education Service (GES) or deployed to administrative duties in GES to return to the classroom, there were 7269 teachers working in offices outside the school system. The underlying fact here is that conditions in the service were compelling teachers to find other alternatives of employment to the classroom.

2.2. The Retention of Teachers

Rebore (1982) suggests a number of activities that support the retaining employees on the job. These include staff development, appraisal, rewards and collective negotiations. Rebore notes that staff development is an activity to which each school system must commit human and physical resources in order to maintain a viable and knowledgeable staff. He argues that in the face of rapid changes in our society, it is literally impossible today for any individual to learn a job or enter a profession and remain in it for forty or so years without updating his skills.

In view of Rebore, the main purpose of establishing a reward policy is to attract and retain qualified employees who provide the type of service expected by the public. Rebore advocates the expectancy model whereby rewards are linked to employee behavior that both meets the objectives of the school system and satisfies the needs of the employees. Five variables, according to him, must be taken into consideration in a reward programme: employee performance, employee effort, seniority, skills and job requirements, with emphasis on performance. Re-echoing Rebore’s ideas Amoah (2011) believes that an efficient reflective collaborative environment that demands individual’s characteristics, mentor factor, the management of varied interpersonal attitudes are critical to support retention within teaching environment.

Pecku (1998) adds in part to Antwi’s view when he states: ‘It is important to mention that when a lot of effort has gone into the production of teachers, the ministry (of Education) should strain all nerves to retain them’ (p. 26). Pecku stresses this viewpoint because teachers, by virtue of the training they receive, are marketable in and often drifted to other sectors of the economy.

Akyeampong et al. (2007) referring to the president’s Committee on the review of the Education Reform (GOG, 2002) states that ‘’about 5 percent of primary schools in Ghana had only one or no teacher at all. Other research studies have noted that many newly trained teachers are unwilling to accept postings to deprived communities, and those who do, stay for a short period before seeking transfers’’ ( p.64). Akyeampong et al. (2007) indicate further that there is a lack of commitment to teaching by such types of teachers. They conclude, and rightly so, that the attitude of such teachers is bound to affect commitment hence teacher attrition.

3. METHODOLOGY

3.1. Research Design

The study adopted a descriptive survey design and employed the mixed-method approach, exploratory sequential, which is commonly referred to as triangulation (Creswell, 2008). This strategy supports the use of multiple methods to study validity of psychological traits, they encouraged others to employ their “multi matrix” to examine multiple approaches to data collection in a study.

This study was triangulated in different ways. Firstly, methodological triangulation was used as the study employed mixed methods of sampling, data collection and data analysis. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the teachers and directors for the study. Both survey (questionnaire) and interview were the techniques employed for the data collection.

The priority in this study was given to the quantitative method followed by the qualitative because quantitative research represents the major aspect of data collection and analysis in the study. Here, the researchers collected and analyzed the quantitative (numeric) data first. This was then followed by the qualitative (text) data. The rationale for this approach is simply that the quantitative data and their subsequent analysis provide a general understanding of the research problem. The qualitative data and their analysis refine and give detailed explanation to the statistical results by exploring participants’ views in more depth (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998; Creswell, 2003).

3.2. Population

The population for the study was all teachers, directors (frontline) and headteachers of basic schools in New Juaben Municipality. Thus, the target population consisted of all headteachers and directors (front line) in the Municipality. Table 1 provides information on the population for the study.

Table-1. Population distribution of the study.

Categories	Number (Percentages)
Deputy directors	3(6.7)
Circuit supervisors	9(20.0)
Headteachers and JHS teachers	63(73.3)
Totals	75(100)

Source: 2017 statistics from directorate.

3.3. Sample and Sampling Technique

The sample size of 36 teachers (headteachers and classroom teachers) and nine (9) directors/circuit supervisors were selected from the municipality using (Krejcie and Morgan, 1970) table of population and the appropriate sample size. Homogeneous sampling method was used to select the directors and circuit supervisors for the interview. This sampling strategy is employed when one decides to include people or sites with similar characteristics (Creswell, 2008). Four (4) respondents were purposefully selected and interviewed for the qualitative aspect of the study.

Table-2. Sample selected from each school.

Category	Sample
Headteachers & teachers	36
Director	1
Circuit supervisors	8
Total	45

Source: Fieldwork data (2014).

3.4. Instrumentation/Data Collection Procedure

The researchers met with the respondents when they visited the office to complete forms for their promotion. The Headteachers of the schools were served with letters of introduction and authorization for access to conduct research in the schools.

Copies of the questionnaire which contain statements describing the teacher retention, causes of retention and level of satisfaction working in the municipality. After doing this, the researchers explained the purpose of the study to the participants. The instructions stated in the questionnaire were also read out to them. The participants were given thirty five (35) minutes to respond to the questionnaire.

An in-depth focused group discussion and/or interview followed the administration of the questionnaire a week after the administration of the questionnaire. One director was engaged in a thorough discussion about the topic for the study at different dates and times during the data collection periods. This was done to ask the respondents to provide valuable information that could support those obtained from the questionnaire. The researchers personally administered the instrument

3.5. Validity and Reliability of the Instrument

3.5.1. Validity

Content validity was checked by experts in research, for comprehensiveness, logicality and adequacy of the instrument. The content validity was done using the content validity index (CVI) that sought to measure the intended variables. In addition, the instrument was pretested or piloted using headteachers who were not part of the study but were resident in the municipality.

3.6. Reliability and Trustworthiness of Instrument

Reliability of the quantitative instrument was measured using factor analysis. Since the majority of the items was multiple scored and identifying those items that are specifically related to the study, factor analysis was deemed appropriate. The choice of the factor analysis was made on the merit of Ofori and Dampson (2011) who believe that factor analysis helps in selecting only the indicators or those items of the questionnaire instrument that tap the concept you are trying to measure or that are relevant to the research topic in an attempt to improve its construct validity. Using  Kaiser-Mayer Olkin measure of sampling accuracy described as marvelous if it is 0.90 or greater, meritorious if it is 0.80, middling if it is 0.70, mediocre if it is 0.60 and unacceptable if it below 0.50.  On the basis of this, the researchers rejected any item of the questionnaire which SMA is less than 0.50 and did not include it in the questionnaire for the main work. Validity of the qualitative part of the study was measured through communicative validation where the findings were evaluated by respondents and respondent validation or member checking- thus taking ones findings back to the subjects, where these people verify ones findings

3.7. Pretesting/Pilot Study of the Research Instruments

(Oppong (2004) citing Donald 1990) stresses the need for a pretesting or piloting of the study because it helps the researcher to decide the study is feasible and worthwhile to continue. It also provides an opportunity to assess the appropriateness and practicality of the data collection instrument.

The questionnaire for this study was pre-tested on a sample of 15 headteachers. The respondents’ characteristic was similar to those used for the study. The rationale for the pre-test was to validate the instrument for the main study.

3.8. Method of Data Analyses

Descriptive and thematic approach formed the data analysis procedures.

3.9. Extracting the Themes

The participants' own words were used by the researcher to support the argument raised. This according to Creswell (2003) will help bring up the relevant meaning as one would need to look at each case and draw meaning from it, as well as looking at a categorical aggregation from a collection of instances.

From a thorough and careful reading and rereading of the transcribed interview, within-school (case) and cross-school (case) analysis formed the main analytical strategies (Amoah, 2011). During the process, the researchers were guided by the following questions: How do teachers perceive teacher retention and attrition? What factors determine or influence the teachers to stay or leave the municipality? How can the attrition rate be minimised?  Those aspects that had no relation with and relevance to the focus of the study were discarded. This helped in identifying the narrations common issues that came from the participants.

3.10. Ethical Consideration

Ethical issues which touch on the credibility of this research were considered. The researchers took the appropriate steps or measures to protect stakeholders, the participants that were used from unethical issues to ensure that the study meets up with internationally accepted standards. The participants’ express consents were sought before they were involved in the research. Again, the respondents were adequately made aware of the type of information needed from them. Also the reason the information was being sought, what purpose it would be put to, and how the participants were expected to participate in the study and how it would directly and indirectly affect them were all dealt with prior to the study. The issue of confidentiality and anonymity was given serious consideration and that the information received from the participants were used strictly for the benefit of the study. Incentives were not given to participants because they could serve as inducements making the study unethical (Kumara, 2005).

4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

 4.1. Initial Analysis

This section, which is the overview of the data analysis provides pictorially representation of the results using pie-charts.

4.2. Teacher Classification

Figure 1 presents the analysis of categories of teachers who took part in the study.

Figure-1. Categories of teachers who were part of the study.

Source: Developed from fieldwork data (2019).

From Figure 1, the data shows that JHS heads were 10%, JHS teachers were 39%, Primary heads were 13% and Primary school teachers were 38%. Majority of the respondents were the JHS teachers who participated in the study. The indications are that these JHS teachers are encouraged to stay in the New Juaben Municipality.

4.3. Appointment Procedure

The appointment procedures captured in the study.

Figure-2. Appointment procedure for teachers.

Source: Fieldwork data (2017).

Figure 2 presents the appointment procedures that teachers are exposed to in the New Juaben Municipality. From the chart, in terms of ranking it could be deduced that transfers (37%) is followed by assurance letter (33%) and posted from the regional office (30%).

4.4. Reasons for Staying at Post

Reasons why teachers stay at post is explained in Figure 3.

Figure-3. Reasons for staying at post.

Source: Fieldwork data (2017).

From the analysis as per Figure 3, the reasons for working in the environment stem from the fact that the respondents wanted to be with their spouse (18%), to be away from home (17%), come from the municipality (17%) and majority prefer or like the municipality (48%). The preference for the municipality according to the respondents was about how they like the municipality.

4.5. Satisfaction at Work

Teachers views on how they are satisfied with their work is presented in Figure 4.

Figure-4. Satisfaction at work.

Source: Fieldwork data (2017).

Majority of the respondents (80%) were satisfied at work with a few (20%) indicating they are not satisfied with what goes on. This is in line with Quansah (2003) who believed that both life and work satisfaction depends on how well individuals can utilize their abilities and find out what fits for their interest, personality traits and values.

5. ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH QUESTION

This section provides an analysis of the research question generated for the study. The analysis of each research question is given thorough discussions.

Research Question 1: What is the recruitment procedure for basic school teachers within the Ghana Education service ?

Table 3 and Table 4 presents the analysis for research question 1.

Table-3.  Position by appointment procedure.

Positions	Appointment procedure
	Assurance letter #(%)	Posted from regional office# (%)	Transferred #(%)	Totals #(%)
JHS head	4(100)	0(0)	0(0)	4(100)
JHS teachers	7(46.7)	4(26.7)	4(26.7)	15(100)
Primary head teacher	2(28.6)	2(28.6)	3(42.9)	7(100)
Primary school teacher	3(15.8)	6(31.6)	10(52.6)	19(100)
Totals	16(35.6)	12(26.7)	17(37.8)	45(100)

Source: Fieldwork data (2017).

From Table 3, the categories of personnel involved responded in various ways how appointment procedures were carried out within the municipality. All the JHS heads got posted there through assurance letters they provided to the authorities before they were posted. Seven out of the 15 JHS teachers responded that they provided assurance letters with four (4) each responding that they were either posted to the station from the regional office or were transferred.

However, with the Primary school teachers, mostly, 10(52.6%) of them were posted to the municipality through transfers. Again the majority of the teachers, 6(31.6%) were posted to the municipality from the regional office. The trend as observed from Table 3 indicate that teachers were posted to the municipality through varied routes.

As can be gathered from Table 4, the respondents' years in service as against the process of appointment procedure, it was revealed that, for those who have worked between one to four years, seven (58.3%) were posted from the region as well as those who were transferred. This seemed not to corroborate what Antwi (1992) said the problem of attracting persons into the teaching field; the difficulty of meeting subject area staffing requirements, and the freedom of Ghanaian workers including teachers, to choose the geographical locations in which they are willing to serve are some of the problems Ghanaian teacher encounter. Further, Rebore (1982) agrees with Stoner and Freeman (1989) that the objective of the selection process is to hire individuals who will be successful on the job.

Table-4. Years of teaching and appointment procedure.

Years of teaching	Assurance letter	Posted from region	Transferred	Totals
1-4	5(33.3)	7(58.3)	7(38.9)	19(42.2)
5-8	5(33.3)	2(16.7)	5(27.8)	12(26.7)
9-12	0(0.0)	2(16.7)	2(11.1)	4(8.9)
13-16	2(13.4)	1(8.3)	0(0)	3(6.7)
17-20	1(6.7)	0(0)	1(5.6)	2(4.4)
21-24	2(13,4)	0(0)	3(16.7)	5(11.1)
Totals	15(100)	12(100)	18(100.0)	45(100.0)

Source: Fieldwork data (2017).

For those who have worked between 21 to 24 years, the numbers from the responds showed they were few. Three,(3) (16.7%) were there from the transfer. the indication was that respondents with few years of teaching were more within the municipality from the different appointment procedures. To Rebore people who will be successful and remain on the job for a long time is very important personal process as such the process need to produce effective, committed and dedicated employees because the cost to the school is incalculable because of inadequate performance.

Research Question 2: What factors influence the recruitment and retention of teachers?

Table 5 presents the analysis for research question 2. The information provided includes the views of the respondents relating to the causes of teacher attrition in relation to the number of years the teachers have been within the Municipality.

Table-5. Causes of teacher attrition per number of years of teaching.

Causes	Frequency # (%)						Totals
	1-4 years	5-8years	9-12years	13-16 years	17-20 years	21-24 years
Hostile environment	27(60.0)	13(28.9)	1(2.2)	2(4.4)	1(2.2)	1(2.2)	45(100.0)
Educational upgrading	7(15.6)	8(17.8)	6(13.3)	7(15.6)	8(17.8)	9(20.0)	45(100.0)
Marital issues	9(20.0)	8(17.8)	3(6.7)	10(22.2)	12(26.7)	1(2.2)	45(100.0)
Authority influence	12(26.7)	23(51.1)	2(4.4)	4(8.9)	4(8.9)	0(0.0)	45(100.0)
GES quota system	34(75.6)	1(2.2)	5(11.1)	5(11.1)	0(0.0)	0(0.0)	45(100.0)
Academic qualification	28(62.2)	7(15.6)	2(4.4)	5(11.2)	2(4.4)	1(2.2)	45(100.0)

Source: Fieldwork data (2017).

From Table 5,  the analysis shows that teachers who have spent between one to four years in the municipality believed that teachers leave the municipality due to the hostile environment 27(60.0%), and due to the GES quota system 34(75.6). For those who are there for between five to eight years think it was due to authority influence 23(51.1%) and hostile environment13 (28.9). For those who have worked between 13-16years and 17-20years, it due to marital issues as observed 10(22.2) and 12(26.7) respectively. For those who have worked between 21-24 years, their concern, nine (20.0) was the fact that they do not have avenue for educational upgrading, The findings suggest that Teacher attrition/turnover has been a source of worry to school authorities and policy makers in the country and several causes of teacher attrition/ turnover have been identifying in the literature. For example confirming the findings, Guarino et al. (2004) posit that 'advanced degrees in “high market-value” subject such as mathematics, science, typically leave teaching for jobs in other non-education fields at higher rates than their colleagues without these educational qualities'.

The analysis provides for information concerning teacher attrition from the categories of teachers depending on the number of years the teacher has been with the environment. The conclusion is that depending on the number of years spent within the study area, reason(s) attributed to attrition vary. The number of years spent in the municipality dictates how the teacher either leaves or stays in the area.

The analysis as found in Table 6 is about factors contributing to teacher retention in the study area. The information suggests that living with a spouse, 20(44.4), native of the municipality 15(33.3) were among the factors that contributed to teacher retention in the study area. Again across the years one has spent in the municipality, living with spouse, 10(22.2), native of the municipality 8(17.8), also were issues the respondents felt contributed strongly to teacher retention.

The results of the analysis also point to the fact that the respondents were highly satisfied for living with their spouse, 19(42.2), and being the native of the municipality, 12(26.7). In conclusion teacher retention within the municipality rest on the individual residing in the municipality with the spouse as well as being a native of the municipality. These findings support what Rebore suggested in addition to educational preparation and training, certification, experience, working relationships and seniority in the school system should be considered are some of the issues. Rebore (1982) again provides for consideration to teacher retention. Further, Making the employee feel welcome and secure, helping the employee to become a member of the ‘team’, inspiring the employee towards excellence in performance, helping the employee to adjust to the work environment, providing information about the community, school system, school building.

Research Question 3: Is it possible to retain teachers based on what they feel?

5.1. Qualitative Analysis

5.1.1. Factors Influencing Ones' Preference to Stay at a Place

Three factors were identified to support the teachers to stay in the study area. These included Participant’s characteristics, the mentor factor and managing the variety of observations and attitudes of people within an environment

5.2. Participant’s Characteristics and the Study

Participants characteristics according to Matttessich et al. (2001) consist of skills, attitudes, opinions of the individuals within any environment. Specifically, the study provided evidence to show the regularity, the seriousness with which the participants engaged with activities which explain their commitment to stay around any place. They showed how they were enthusiastic that explains their willingness to stay in the municipality. Further it was revealed in the data how they adopted and used some roles they are entrusted to that suggest they either trusted or did not trust what environmental issues.

The participants’ idea regarding their special characteristics were grounded in how they considered their behaviors as contributing to how they discuss and understand their practices. Drawing from their narration, they each mentioned what made them behave the way they behaved and the conditions that influenced such behaviors.

Recounting on some of their background experiences in collaboration and reflection which seemed to influence how they integrated into the study, they mentioned social and professional factors. From the initial interviews, they disclosed how they engaged both their families and peers before deciding to go stay around the study area. To the words of one director: “we constantly talk about welfare and how we have integrated into the environment. Notwithstanding, this advantage, the participants were of the opinion that other personal and behavioral factors contributed to making their stay in the study area very interesting.

The implication here is that within any environment that is underpin by knowing more within an environment, historical life history, the current development agenda, school context as well as wider social and political influences cannot be overlooked but rather needed to be recognized as posited by Campbell et al. (2004).  Clearly how these factors influenced the way they engaged in the study was summed by director 1 who said: “I am glad to be here for my professional development as it is about how I have always championed the need for us to be engaging each other to think about ourselves”.

In terms of how they were committed and willing to be part of municipality Dr1 said “to be committed to stay in the municipality was because we are sometimes given autonomy and control of activities within in our small teaching environment”.  Further DR1 said “to make such autonomy and control easy, rest in how one is willing to take risk by providing one's action for critique”. We think Dr1’s idea seemed to suggest that commitment is tied to willingness and it is an important point raised. Further, we argue to support the point that, in any collaborative activity the participants need to show their willingness and commitments (Matttessich et al., 2001; Matttessich et al., 2005) but we suggest that, as DR1 remarked, this is difficult to achieve.

Table-6. Factors influencing retention of teachers.

Factors	Frequency #(%)	Number of years at post (Years)						Level of satisfaction
		1-4	5-8	9-12	13-16	17-20	21-24	Highly satisfied	Moderately satisfied	Not satisfied
Living with spouse	20(44.4)	0(0.0)	1(2.2)	2(4.4)	1(2.2)	6(13.3)	10(22.2)	19(42.2)	1(2.2)	0(0.0)
Native of the municipality	15(33.3)	1(2.2)	1(2.2)	1(2.2)	2(4.4)	2(4.4)	8(17.8)	12(26.7)	1(2.2)	1(2.2)
Stay far from native town	6(13.3)	0(0.0)	0(0.0)	0(0.0)	0(0.0)	2(4.4)	6(13.3)	6(13.3)	1(2.2)	0(0.0)
Like the municipality	4(8.9)	1(2.2)	0(0.0)	0(0.0)	0(0.0)	1(2.2)	2(4.4)	4(8.9)	0(0.0)	0(0.0)
Totals	45(100)	2(4.4)	2(4.4)	3(6.7)	3(6.7)	11(24.4)	26(57.8)	41(91.1)	3(6.7)	1(2.2)

Source: Fieldwork data (2014).

Whilst the participant acknowledged that such characteristics influence their interactions, negative emotions accompanied how such characteristics were effectively used. Dr1said: “you can disagree or agree with what takes place within the environment, one can be emotional”.

It is reasonable to conclude that using the specific knowledge necessary for one to declare how to live in an area is important. Again such knowledge could help support others to gain or develop expertise from it gradually. However developing such tacit knowledge that is accumulated overtime becomes very difficult to observe. But they form part of the ‘artistry of practice’ (Schon, 1983) which professionals used to make sense of what they say.

The study evidence showed how the participants adjusted their behaviors upon seeing some unfamiliar situations. Expressing such surprise Dr2 said “to the best of my knowledge we do not normally talk to our colleagues how we enjoy staying within the study area, but we do”.  Such unfamiliar situation and the identifications of the discrepancy between their experiences, prior and contemporary, explains how in any environment individuals display their knowledge-for-practice, knowledge-in-practice, and knowledge-of-practice (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1999) for better and in-depth understanding of their views if possible. It is through this that we argue that teachers need to ensure that, as an integral part in their quest to search for in-depth knowledge they adopt and use specific roles during their interactions with their colleagues.

In summary, there was ample evidence from the interviews to lead to the conclusion that the special characteristics of the participants are crucial components that need to be given the recognition. Being willing and committed were a character that can support the participant being given the autonomy to organised their own activities. In addition, each needs to have expertise in an aspect of their thinking such that whatever information they put across can be trusted by their colleagues. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the need to identify participants with such characteristics is vital.

5.3. Mentor Factor

The mentor factor contributed significantly to decide why one wants to live in the study area. Reflective Collaborative activities intrinsically and extrinsically motivate individuals to come out objectively what one needs to do to be accepted in an environment, however the competitive culture within any environment tend to have both negative and positive influence which is likely to affect interpersonal relationships and attitudes between people living in an area (Johnson and Ahlgren, 1976).

‘How to integrate oneself into any environment was a crucial decision. This was to enable us strategize to manage the difficult situations of friction and tension, as these hinder effective interaction within any collaborative activity’ (as posited by Huxham and Vangen (2005)). Getting in-depth knowledge about the participants to me was important if I had to fit well in an interview’.

Dr1 at one point said: “I sometimes refuse to talk for fear of making mistakes in your presence” such comments impeded getting enough information to help strategies to attend to the complex multiple dynamics participants carried into such community of practice (Wenger, 2004).

From the excerpt, we think the mentor’s background knowledge and professional experience can make or unmake the effectiveness of any interactions, further we argue that in such collaborative activity participants need to have clear idea about the mentor, and not to be in doubt, such that his/her presence will not impact negatively on the participant as was observed by Dr1. The mentor therefore needs to be innovative (Bens, 2005) when it comes to directing activities within any collaborative activity and need not exert his/her ‘expertise’ role too much in the process.

As a mentor in any activity that is underpinned with developing understanding from individuals it is important to consider the following questions ‘how can one's background knowledge and professional experiences impact on how one facilitates?’ ‘How skilful can one be to engage in such systematic and continuous process?’ to us it is through this that one can strategise to interact with the participants within an interaction group. This explains that who the mentor is regarding his/her background information is crucial since the trust one has about who is providing information goes a long way to help the individual understand what is being discussed. This will again foster reflection action in a way to encourage talking in an objective manner in order to exam­ine practices for teaching as well as help structure a safe environment within which self-revelation can take place as requested by Hatton and Smith (1995).

In a talk-in-interaction where analysed information is used to develop an understanding of issues if mentor presence prevents free flow of information and participants express doubt about the competence of the mentor, the mentor can become ineffective. The emotional attachment to such ineffectiveness can be minimized if participants can be supported to disabuse their initial opinion about the mentor.

5.4. Expressing his View of this Dr2 Said

Initially when I came to the municipality, I felt uncomfortable, however, with time and the way my senior colleague guided me in whatever that I was doing I became so much elevate and confident in whatever I did.

This acknowledges the need for a mentor. This means Dr2 thinks that underpinning tenets of living in a new environment is crucial. But through cooperation, mutual respect and trust (Matttessich et al., 2001; Matttessich et al., 2005) we suggest that, as remarked by Dr2, some underpinning inhibiting factors makes it difficult for people to be satisfied from where one lives. Despite this difficulty, the data explains variety of approaches adopted with the help of mentor to support each to manage one's professional lives.

Prompting, questioning, engaging in all activities leading to professional lives were some of the strategies mentors use to support others to be efficient within the municipality. Using these strategies seemed to undermine the participant's initiatives, it however made them have control over whatever they did in the municipality. Sounding more satisfied with the strategies Dr2 said: “my mentors initial attempt to support me through prompting and questioning has really made me understand live in the municipality.

In sum the mentors' initial roles as gathered from Dr2’s assertion provides an example of a situation where the mentor’s initiative encourages teachers to think about and discuss the sorts of meanings they would construct to be able to live within an environment. However, it also undermines the aim of the study to look at labour turn-out out of the ordinary.

5.5. Managing the Variety of Observations and Attitudes of People within an Environment

Managing the variety of attitudes of the group during discussions seemed a significant outcome from the study. Notably, how to notice and their preferences influence what they say. Developing understanding under such complex conditions vary. The study evidence indicated that the continuous unending, irregular arguments was tied to such multiple opinions expressed.

When participants express multiple opinions from expressing their views, one significant reason to such behavior rests on how the individual reflects or analyzes what he/she observed about his/her opinion. Such analyses also depend on their preferences on what they observed or noticed. Developing understanding can also vary and become subjective. For example DR1 has this to say in relation to developing understanding: the way I may understand what I see may be different from what each one can understand”.

Different analyses from each of the participants could have been considered important as different issues and ideas can be expressed, but the study evidence indicated, from the outset, the creation of tension and conflicts. This is not surprising since in any discussion that is characterized with cross hierarchical levels, mostly multiple behaviors tend to underlie the activities within the discussions. If consensus building is the aim, it is a fact that, the heterogeneous nature of such a group promotes multiple behaviors which more often renders discussions within such interactions complex rather than develop consensus. However developing consensus can be done with time as well as managing the complex nature of the interactions.

In any group discourse, certain factors contribute to the complexity of the discussion. One of the reasons may be that, when teachers meet to talk about their practices the first they do is to express their individual unique ideas on subject and pedagogy content.  The next is that they try to justify from their own understanding of what they observed from their practice, their claims from their assessment perspectives what they see, as the attempt to provide their technical know-how of the issue at stake. More importantly, their views are underpinned by their beliefs and values. This supports the suggestions that beliefs shape practice and orient practical knowledge (Marland, 1998; Kupari, 2003; Huxham and Vangen, 2005). In the same vein, social factors and access to a range of complementary skills (Aguirre and Natasha, 2000) underpin what teachers say as they discuss their practices. It is on the strength of this premise that it became crucial to focus on how to manage the observations and attitude in the group interaction.

6. CONCLUSION

With the purpose of exploring teacher turn-over in the study area, various reasons account for either teacher retention or teacher attrition. Various Factors tend to contribute to whether a teacher stays within the municipality or leaves. Basically, the teachers' quest to leave, which is a general factor of unsafe environment prevent teachers to be living within the municipality. Engaging in regular reflective dialogue is a way of seeing teacher staying within the municipality as it provides a conducive environment to live in.

7. RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that:

1. Effective in-service training is needed to train mentors in the municipality such that teacher can be given effective counselling and mentorship training.
2. Reflective collaborative activities need to be encouraged so that teachers can interact with their colleagues in a more worthwhile activities that can promote their professional well-being in the municipality.

7.1. Suggestion for Further Studies

The study can be replicated in the Abuakwa South Municipality which has about the same characteristics as the New Juaben Municipality. This will give better exposure to why teachers love to be teaching in this municipality.

Funding: This study received no specific financial support.

Competing Interests: The author declares that there are no conflicts of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

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