"The Higher the Parental Interest, the Higher the Teacher Transfer Rate"

Number of Students per Teacher and Proportion of Contract Teachers Also Causes
Inversely Proportional to School Size

A study found that schools with higher parental interest have higher teacher transfer rates.

According to the paper "Analysis of the Relationship Between Teacher Transfers and Teacher Concentration" published by the Korean Educational Society on the 13th, the teacher transfer rate and parental interest showed a proportional relationship. The more parental demands there are, the more teachers transfer after fulfilling the required years of service.

A memorial altar for the homeroom teacher of Seo-i Elementary School who died by suicide at the Gangnam Seocho Education Support Office in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The study was based on teacher transfer data from 887 public elementary schools in Gyeonggi Province from 2012 to 2019. The transfer rate is the ratio of teachers who left the school compared to the total number of teachers employed. Parental interest was measured by the number of various service requests made by parents to the school per student.

It can be interpreted that demands originating from parental interest restrict teachers' work and influence teachers to avoid such working environments.

Factors increasing the transfer rate, besides parental interest, included ▲the number of students per teacher and ▲the proportion of contract teachers. The more students per teacher and the higher the proportion of contract teachers, the more teachers tended to transfer.

The research team analyzed that "the higher the number of students per teacher, the more difficult communication and individualized guidance with students become, increasing the teacher's workload." They also suggested that schools with a high proportion of contract teachers are likely located in areas less preferred by regular teachers, which could raise the transfer rate.

The transfer rate was inversely proportional to school size. The researchers interpreted that larger schools have more systematic and detailed division of labor, resulting in fewer miscellaneous tasks for teachers.

As the transfer rate increases and schools become less desirable, less experienced teachers were assigned. Since priority is given to experienced teachers during the transfer process, less experienced teachers who lose out in competition inevitably end up concentrated in less desirable schools.

The research team emphasized, "Although there are currently incentives for teachers working at less desirable schools, it is necessary to rigorously identify the level of incentives that can function more effectively."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.