The Relationship of Teacher Retention to Personality Style at VisionQuest National Limited
Problem. VisionQuest National Limited is a treatment and education program for court-placed students. Recruiting and retaining quality teachers is a problem faced by VisionQuest administrators. Over the course of a school year, there are usually several teaching-position vacancies, and turnover is high, especially in the first few months of employment. Method. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a derivative of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, was administered to all VisionQuest teachers to determine their personality type. The personality types of the VisionQuest teachers were compared to those of teachers in the general population. Length of employment of VisionQuest teachers was also analyzed in relationship to personality type. Additional qualitative data were collected from participants regarding their attraction to VisionQuest and their motivation to continue teaching at VisionQuest. Results. The analyses revealed that VisionQuest teachers are different from teachers in the general population in that VisionQuest teachers are more traditional and structured than public school teachers. There was not a difference in length of employment among VisionQuest teachers with different personality types. The qualitative data indicated that teachers are primarily attracted to VisionQuest simply for a job and that only a few join VisionQuest because of the program philosophy. However, a majority of teachers are motivated to continue teaching at VisionQuest because of the students. Conclusions. Since the VisionQuest teaching staff is comprised mostly of structured, traditional teachers who are motivated by their students, VisionQuest administrators may want to consider altering their current recruitment and retention practices. The fact that the majority of teachers are represented by one personality style affects curriculum, instruction, staff development, student expectations, and student achievement.
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